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Cannot turn off "search for text when typing"

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Yesterday I switched my Firefox settings back to default to solve a freezing problem. Ever since, whenever I start typing in a frame, I start getting annoying text suggestions. In accessibility options, I have turned OFF "search for text when typing" but it makes no difference. I researched the problem and tried following one solution - opening and closing the downloads dialogue box - which did not work.

It worked before. Why not now?

Yesterday I switched my Firefox settings back to default to solve a freezing problem. Ever since, whenever I start typing in a frame, I start getting annoying text suggestions. In accessibility options, I have turned OFF "search for text when typing" but it makes no difference. I researched the problem and tried following one solution - opening and closing the downloads dialogue box - which did not work. It worked before. Why not now?

Chosen solution

Thank you! Turning that off did the trick. There might be some sites where I would WANT form fill, but I can live without it to avoid the aggravation on one particular site.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (4)

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Different boxes may be wired to different sources for suggestions. For example, Firefox's address bar will display suggestions from your history and bookmarks, while the search box on the mail main toolbar will (usually) pull suggestions from the search engine site.

What is the nature of the suggestions that you are seeing where you are typing? Are they based on previous entries (formfill) or based on possible searches (search suggestions)?

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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They are definitely based on formfill.

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You can completely disable formfill in the Options/Preferences dialog. Either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Options > Privacy
  • Firefox menu > Preferences > Privacy

If the dialog is not set to "Firefox will: Use custom settings for history" go ahead and change the selector to that setting. This will allow you to uncheck the box for "Remember form and search history".

I don't know whether there is any way to retain formfill for some kinds of fields and not others. Perhaps try one of the formfill/autofill add-ons for that.

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Chosen Solution

Thank you! Turning that off did the trick. There might be some sites where I would WANT form fill, but I can live without it to avoid the aggravation on one particular site.