There is a preference for this but it does take a bit of work to find it because of the unusual name: (1) In a new tab, type or paste '''about:config''' in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk. <i>'''WARNING: Changing preferences through this interface not officially supported''' Hidden settings edited using the about:config tool are explicitly not supported, which means that Mozilla makes no guarantees they will be supported in the future, or that Mozilla will fix them if they break. Mozilla does not test these preferences, and will not in the future. That includes security and performance testing which these preferences may affect. </i> (2) In the search box in the page, type or paste '''handoff''' and pause while the list is filtered (3) Double-click the '''browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar''' preference to switch the value from true to false Success? ''More info on about:config:'' [[Configuration Editor for Firefox]]. ''[Warning added by moderator.]''

that worked! thank you!!