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Awesome bar is suggesting random websites instead of what it used to do.

Shift+Delete no longer works to remove these erroneous results. I've never heard of, used, visited, or wanted to visit "http://nycsubway.org/" or anything related to it, but now firefox's "awesome" bar sends me there instead of Netflix, which I use daily. I've turned off all the random suggestions for the address bar but these random, wrong, ads keep popping up. If I've never used it, and I'm not searching for it, putting it there must mean "http://nycsubway.org/" has paid you to be an annoyance in or lives. Or why else would you do this?!

Shift+Delete no longer works to remove these erroneous results. I've never heard of, used, visited, or wanted to visit "http://nycsubway.org/" or anything related to it, but now firefox's "awesome" bar sends me there instead of Netflix, which I use daily. I've turned off all the random suggestions for the address bar but these random, wrong, ads keep popping up. If I've never used it, and I'm not searching for it, putting it there must mean "http://nycsubway.org/" has paid you to be an annoyance in or lives. Or why else would you do this?!

All Replies (14)

Is that part of firefox Browser or a Addon?

You may have ad/mal-ware. Further information can be found in this article; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware?cache=no

Run most or all of the listed malware scanners. Each works differently. If one program misses something, another may pick it up.

If the above scan doesn't clear it, could you share your extensions list? You can copy/paste it from the Troubleshooting Information page. Either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

Scroll down past "Application Basics" and "Firefox Features" to "Extensions". Then you can select and copy the table that follows (not the entire page, please, that's too much information) using either Command+c or right-click > Copy and then paste it into a reply. It will be messy, but we're used it.

If you immediately spot something you don't mean to have in your browser, you can view, disable, and often remove unwanted or unknown extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

  • Command+Shift+a (Windows: Ctrl+Shift+a)
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
  • type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions.

Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. Anything suspicious or that you just do not remember installing or why? If in doubt, disable (or remove).

Any improvement?

WestEnd said

Is that part of firefox Browser or a Addon?

Not part of an add-on or extension. I haven't changed those in ages and the behavior happened specifically after an update to Firefox, on multiple machines. Still happens without any extensions.

FredMcD said

You may have ad/mal-ware. Further information can be found in this article; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware?cache=no Run most or all of the listed malware scanners. Each works differently. If one program misses something, another may pick it up.

I already had their recommended anti-malware software, haha. I scanned, and tried other scanners just to be sure. But to be clear, the behavior started happening on all machines I use Firefox on, all after updating Firefox.

jscher2000 said

If in doubt, disable (or remove). Any improvement?

I have very few extensions, certainly none that should be doing anything with the address/search bar at all. Either way, I disabled them all, closed Firefox, and rebooted, to no avail. I'll check the work machine tomorrow, but I believe the only extension on that one is uBlock Origin. Even on that machine, the problem only started after a Firefox update. That one is a Windows PC, my home is a Mac, and they both started the same suggestion behavior after the same Firefox update.

Adblock Plus 3.4 Decentraleyes 2.0.8 Google Reverse Image Search 64.1.0 Google search link fix 1.6.7 (I take that back, could this be causing my issues? It isn't supposed to do anything with the address bar, specifically, from what I understand) Imagus 0.9.8.65 Privacy Badger 2018.10.3.1 Reddit Enhancement Suite 5.12.6 Stylish - Custom themes for any website 3.1.8 uBlock Origin 1.17.2 YouTube Plus 1.9.6

This is the home machine, on macOS Mojave, the Windows/work machine should only have uBlock and possibly Imagus.

Google search link fix removes tracking from links in search result pages. It doesn't modify the address bar drop-down or redirect searches from the address bar.

Maybe I misunderstood the problem. Where does the subway site appear? For example, you type the letter n and

  • the site shows as a search suggestion in the drop-down (magnifying glass, query text, no URL)
  • the site shows as a history suggestion in the drop-down (title and URL)
  • the site shows as a bookmark in the drop-down (star icon, title, and URL)
  • the site shows in some other manner in the drop-down
  • the site shows only in the URL bar itself

The site shows only in the URL bar itself. Normally this would be populated with my closest matching bookmark, as that's the only thing I have turned on to be suggested. So I'd type n and http://www.netflix.com/browse would populate the URL bar, meaning I could type "N" then "enter." Now, even if I type out "netf" I get "http://netflix.com/" not my bookmark. In the Netflix case, it loads the same, but the difference between many websites' home page, and the page I want, is vast.

Normally, I think Firefox only displays top-level domains in the bar, not full URLs (from bookmarks or history). For those, you normally need to arrow down. ??

Anyway, to get rid of the unwanted site, try this:

(A) Visit the site once

(B) Open the Library window to History (Ctrl+Shift+h or "Show All History")

(C) In the search box at the upper right of the window, type subway or enough text to isolate the visit to that site

(D) Right-click that history entry and choose Forget About This Site

That should thoroughly clear Firefox's memory of the site from history, cookies, storage, etc., although it may take a few minutes because it is run as a background task.

jscher2000 said

Normally, I think Firefox only displays top-level domains in the bar, not full URLs (from bookmarks or history). For those, you normally need to arrow down. ??

No, being able to type the first few letters of a bookmark has been my favorite feature for a couple YEARS. Which is why the new changes are so hard to get used to, I've hit my bookmarks with the same couple keystrokes thousands of times.

Anyways, I don't normally tell Firefox to keep history, so the history panel is empty. Even after opening a site in a new tab, then opening history and typing part, or all of the website in, absolutely nothing shows at all. Another common one is "Newegg.com" which now pops up before "netflix.com" and "netflix.com/browse" which is my actual bookmark. I've opened newegg in another tab, then opened history, but there is nothing to delete. It's like the awesome bar is just giving me suggestions, I can't understand why it is so useless now after being good for so long.

MyArrowKeysStink மூலமாக திருத்தப்பட்டது

Really missing how quickly I was able to get to specific bookmarks, any chance FireFox plans on fixing this in the future?

MyArrowKeysStink said

Really missing how quickly I was able to get to specific bookmarks, any chance FireFox plans on fixing this in the future?

I don't remember any version of Firefox showing full URLs as in-URL-bar autofill suggetsions, sorry. What was the last version of Firefox you used that had the desired behavior? On Windows, you can experiment with "Portable" Firefox builds. For example:

Judging by the date I posted these, looks like 63.0 was the update that broke this feature. I don't use windows at home but I can try to get the exact last version without this bug.

Lets side step the bug of not getting the suggestions I used to. Is there ANY way to disable the sponsored results we now get, without downgrading to an older firefox? When all I type is "B" the bar autofills "bestbuy.com" which is not a bookmark, nor is it in my history. My history auto-clears upon exit. But I double-checked by opening history to find nothing. I quit firefox, restart computer, log back in, open firefox, type the letter B and "bestbuy.com" is in my address bar. AFTER clearing all history (not that I've visited that site in months), and after restarting the computer/firefox, it's still there. If it's not an ad, it's a bug. There are MANY of these sponsored results I simply don't want. I think it's absolute crap a company can pay to annoy my browser experience trying to suggest themselves.

I don't get that suggestion. Since you clear all your history at shutdown anyway, could you remove your places.sqlite database file? Here's how:

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Show in Finder" button. If Finder highlights an icon with a semi-random name like a1b2c3d4.default, double-click it to display the contents of that profile folder.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Quit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Quit
  • (menu bar) Firefox > Quit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename places.sqlite to something like placesOLD.sqlite. If you see a file named places.sqlite-shm or places.sqlite-wal, you can delete those.

Start Firefox back up again. Any difference in your suggestions?

If your bookmarks are missing, use the Restore function: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer.