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disabling "Firefox suggests" URLs - Android

  • 11 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 30 views
  • Last reply by Karen Guy

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How can I remove "Firefox suggests" URLs from the address/search bar on Android? I found the help article "Firefox Suggest for Mobile" (last updated 4/22/24) but when I follow its directions, I only see the first 3 toggleable options. "Suggestions from Firefox" and "Suggestions from sponsors" don't appear at all. The suggested URLs are frequently sites I have never been to and never want to go to, and their appearance is extremely irritating. Attached is a screenshot of the settings page as it appears to me, with only 3 options.

How can I remove "Firefox suggests" URLs from the address/search bar on Android? I found the help article "Firefox Suggest for Mobile" (last updated 4/22/24) but when I follow its directions, I only see the first 3 toggleable options. "Suggestions from Firefox" and "Suggestions from sponsors" don't appear at all. The suggested URLs are frequently sites I have never been to and never want to go to, and their appearance is extremely irritating. Attached is a screenshot of the settings page as it appears to me, with only 3 options.
Attached screenshots

All Replies (11)

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Hi

Are the suggested options that you do not want to see bookmarked sites that you have saved?

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Paul said

Hi Are the suggested options that you do not want to see bookmarked sites that you have saved?

No, they are not. I double checked before posting here to make sure that there weren't default bookmarks hiding somewhere. I'm pretty sure it's coming from the no longer visible toggles mentioned above since the website that's annoying me the most is (Microsoft) office. I've never used their website/cloud service on my desktop, let alone on my cellphone.

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Have you used the Microsoft cloud service on a desktop or laptop computer through Firefox that is connected to your mobile device through Firefox Sync?

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Paul said

Have you used the Microsoft cloud service on a desktop or laptop computer through Firefox that is connected to your mobile device through Firefox Sync?

No, I have not. I have clicked the suggestions by accident; when I do, I go into my history and clear it out from there, so it shouldn't be coming from my cell's history, either.

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If you do not mind me asking, what do you type into the search bar for these sites to appear?

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Paul said

If you do not mind me asking, what do you type into the search bar for these sites to appear?

For office specifically, I'm wanting to visit "old.reddit" and typing in just an "o" USED to reliably bring that up as the first result. Now it frequently defaults to "office" instead. This isn't making Firefox unusable, it's just driving me up a wall that I can't get it to *stop doing that*.

I can't remember what other sites that I've never been to pop up; this is the one that happens daily. (There are other sites that I've been to one singular time that will pop up rather than ones I frequent (like "twgtea" popping up instead of "twitter" if I type in "tw") but at least with those I know why they pop up, even if the frequency with which they are suggested is baffling.)

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Inkedphoenix, you may be happy to know you're not the only one experiencing this. If I type just an "o" in my address bar, it immediately autocompletes to office.com. I have never visited office.com either and I don't have Sync enabled. This tells me Firefox is using a global autocomplete list of the most popular visited sites that it serves to everyone using Firefox.

I wish I could see this default list for every first letter or first two letters typed. Here's what I see - a few are definitely sites I've visited at least once, the others I've never visited. The lines in bold font are the default suggestions I tested myself.

Suggested sites for address bar autocompletion:

Modified by NoahSUMO

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NoahSUMO said

Inkedphoenix, you may be happy to know you're not the only one experiencing this. If I type just an "o" in my address bar, it immediately autocompletes to office.com. I have never visited office.com either and I don't have Sync enabled. This tells me Firefox is using a global autocomplete list of the most popular visited sites that it serves to everyone using Firefox.

This is very interesting and I really wish I could turn it off! I assumed it was something on their end- which is why I tried following their own directions for turning off "suggestions from Firefox" and "suggestions from sponsors." It seems inconsistently applied, too, since I get "twgtea" as a recommendation for "t" at least as often as "twitter" despite Twitter being the default and a site I use far more often!

I do appreciate knowing I'm not the only one haunted by this unwanted website autocomplete.

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We include this list of domains as part of the component we use to build a browser. I can't see any way to remove it without recompiling Firefox.

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I love & appreciate Firefox \ Mozilla💙. But I loathe his auto suggestions too. I 99% of the time know what i want, type what i want & find this flashing up with every letter i type, of a dozen site suggestions, which alters with each letter i type in, extremely irritating to my mind & EYES. I amazingly have in my Android 11, updated Firefox settings a toggle with "search" setting to turn off auto suggestions. Must default back to on with new updates. So today I turn that toggle off, go back to search for something & there it all shows again. Perhaps the usual MO is i have to close & restart the app. Idk, just fed up with having to spend inordinate amounts of time on basic stuff that apps should keep settings u choose. And supposedto remember every tiny nuance of where wotev is in settings, if u get an option or not & on & on. And literally most apps updated these days u have to fk around with. And why the heck does mobile version issues seem so very few links compared to PC Mozilla? I just prefer to search rather than often half arsed support for most apps really..

I'm sure most Firefox users do so so on mobile. Will restart & see if toggle it off worked.

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PS. I don't mind the option to toggle on "search in bookmarks". That is great common sense thankfully. And doesn't make my eyes hurt with flashing movement as i don't have a billion bookmarks!

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