Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How do I make the search bar function in v 39.0?

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 11 views
  • Last reply by how_tenji

more options

I have installed V.39.0 and the search bar looks fine but if I enter a search and press return, nothing happens. If I click on the icon to chose a search engine, nothing happens. There are some fixes for similar issues in earlier versions of firefox but none work here. Problem persists in safe mode.

I have installed V.39.0 and the search bar looks fine but if I enter a search and press return, nothing happens. If I click on the icon to chose a search engine, nothing happens. There are some fixes for similar issues in earlier versions of firefox but none work here. Problem persists in safe mode.

Chosen solution

hi, this is likely happening because something on your system has overwritten all the default search providers in firefox. in order to recover please download and reinstall firefox from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ on top of your existing version.

since this is a behaviour often caused by adware on a system, please also run a full scan of your system with different security tools like the free version of malwarebytes and adwcleaner.

Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (6)

more options

Chosen Solution

hi, this is likely happening because something on your system has overwritten all the default search providers in firefox. in order to recover please download and reinstall firefox from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ on top of your existing version.

since this is a behaviour often caused by adware on a system, please also run a full scan of your system with different security tools like the free version of malwarebytes and adwcleaner.

Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware

more options

You can check if you have the XML files of the default search engines including Google in the browser\searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder.

If not then you need to reinstall Firefox.


You can use the SearchReset extension to reset some preferences to the default values.

Note that the SearchReset extension only runs once and then uninstalls automatically, so it won't show on the "Firefox > Add-ons" page (about:addons).

Try to delete the search.json file and possible search-metadata.json and search.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder to reset the search engines to the default.

You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder:

Firefox will rebuild the search.json file from the default search engines in the "browser\searchplugins" folder in the Firefox program folder and the searchplugins folder in the Firefox profile folder.

more options

philipp said

hi, this is likely happening because something on your system has overwritten all the default search providers in firefox. in order to recover please download and reinstall firefox from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ on top of your existing version. since this is a behaviour often caused by adware on a system, please also run a full scan of your system with different security tools like the free version of malwarebytes and adwcleaner. Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware

Thanks, I tried this. Problem continues.

more options

cor-el said

You can check if you have the XML files of the default search engines including Google in the browser\searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder. If not then you need to reinstall Firefox.

You can use the SearchReset extension to reset some preferences to the default values.

Note that the SearchReset extension only runs once and then uninstalls automatically, so it won't show on the "Firefox > Add-ons" page (about:addons).

Try to delete the search.json file and possible search-metadata.json and search.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder to reset the search engines to the default.

You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder:

Firefox will rebuild the search.json file from the default search engines in the "browser\searchplugins" folder in the Firefox program folder and the searchplugins folder in the Firefox profile folder.

I have seen this as a fix in earlier versions. I just tried it again but it has not helped.

more options

what are the contents of your C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\browser\searchplugins folder?

more options

philipp said

what are the contents of your C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\browser\searchplugins folder?

Hi, there was no such sub-directory. I re-reinstalled and the sub-directory was created. Problem solved. Thank-you.