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I can change my default search engine to google, but after I close Firefox it resets it back to Bing Search Engine, How do I make it so it stays on Google?

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Whenever I change my default search engine to Google it will stay the default search engine for the remainder of the time I have firefox running. As soon as I close Firefox, it changes it back to Bing and I have to continuously change it back to Google manually each time I re-open Firefox. Has anyone else experienced this problem, if so, how would I fix it?

Whenever I change my default search engine to Google it will stay the default search engine for the remainder of the time I have firefox running. As soon as I close Firefox, it changes it back to Bing and I have to continuously change it back to Google manually each time I re-open Firefox. Has anyone else experienced this problem, if so, how would I fix it?

All Replies (5)

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You can directly go to the web address below to begin editing the Search you want.

about:preferences#search

When you are on the Search Page, you choose in the Default Search Engine the choice you want like Google. That you did of course. However, that will not be enough, you also have to go to the section,

One-click search engines

And remove each search engine you do not want to see. In your case, you did not want Bing, therefore, you left click on Bing to highlight it, then you click the remove button. It will be gone from the One-Click search engine as well as the Default Search Engine list above.

When you complete these tasks, close out Firefox, and then restart. Bing will be gone and your Google will stay.

One last point... in the one-click search engine section, you can remove all but one. You keep your Google and remove all the rest. You should not have any more issues.

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If you have done any install as of late before this change please also do this as there is malware that does change your page from google to bing : Please use more than 1 scanner as each uses diff tech :

Save your Report and google each before deleting anything as do not want to delete something you need, If need help :

Post in only 1 forum, then wait.

Also if none of the above is the issue then please follow up with this : Please Refresh but do this 1st:

then

TEST....... If no issues then Extensions which need to be added back in 1 at a time and tested ..... Or it is your Profile : Make a new one and test ...:

If is your Profile :

Note: Any customization will revert back to default, you will also need to reinstall Extensions.

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

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You can check for recently installed suspicious or unknown extensions.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Appearance
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window

You can also check for problems with preferences.

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felixthecat said

You can directly go to the web address below to begin editing the Search you want. about:preferences#search When you are on the Search Page, you choose in the Default Search Engine the choice you want like Google. That you did of course. However, that will not be enough, you also have to go to the section, One-click search engines And remove each search engine you do not want to see. In your case, you did not want Bing, therefore, you left click on Bing to highlight it, then you click the remove button. It will be gone from the One-Click search engine as well as the Default Search Engine list above. When you complete these tasks, close out Firefox, and then restart. Bing will be gone and your Google will stay. One last point... in the one-click search engine section, you can remove all but one. You keep your Google and remove all the rest. You should not have any more issues.

I had the same issue, downloaded AdwCleaner and ran it. It showed me the locations of the files that were causing the problem. Specifically, the files were dsengine.cfg and dsengine.js. The backups to these files were in the folder lavasoft\web companion.

Delete all instances of these files, and the problem of Bing becoming the default search engine every time you restart FireFox, even after removal, goes away.

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Hi HaraldWil, good catch, the official one is "Bing" and the Lavasoft/AdAware one is "Bing Search Engine".