The address bar should use your current default search provider from settings, regardless of which web page appears on a new tab. In other words, you may have two different problems. But they might have a common source...

To select Google as your default search provider, you can use the Options page:

"3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options > Search

It's the first thing on the right side.

Q: Do you find this is resetting when you exit Firefox and start it up again, or when you shut down Windows and start it up again?

Here are a few things to check:

(1) Is there a user.js file in your profile folder? A user.js file is an optional settings file that Firefox checks when it starts up, and it will override your previous session settings. This article describes how to look for that: How to fix preferences that won't save.

Note: by default, Windows hides the .js extension. To set Windows to show all extensions so you can find and rename files more accurately, see this article: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hide-file-name-extensions

(2) Do you have any extensions that might change your search engine or new tab page? All extensions are optional, so if you didn't select them yourself, consider them suspicious and potentially unwanted.

You can review, disable, and/or remove extensions on the add-ons page. Either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Extensions. Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right and disable (or remove) anything unknown.

(3) Do you use any utility software that may clean up browser data? These can include Advanced SystemCare, CCleaner, and many others. Try to set them not to touch your Firefox data.

I have attached a screen shot of what bar I am talking about. It is the bar you would normally type a URL in. This bar when I type a phrase like "Why is the sky blue" defaults to Yahoo.

I have set Google as the default search. Yet it still remains Yahoo on the left hand side.

The only choice in the right hand search box is Google. The home page tab, the first page tab the search is defaulted to Google. But any additional tabs default to Yahoo search.

Oh, that definitely sounds like something that could be caused by an unwanted extension. Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning up bad add-ons and other hijackers. I know it seems long, but it's really not that bad.

(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Be suspicious of everything you do not recognize/remember, as malware often uses important or innocent sounding names to discourage you from removing it. Take out as much trash as possible here.

(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
• in the Windows "Run" dialog, type or paste
  firefox.exe "about:addons"

In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".

In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions. All extensions are optional; none come with Firefox.

Often a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.

Any improvement?

(3) You can search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.

Success?

I have already been thru these steps, no sucess. I run Malware bytes and it is not finding any malware. I have plugins/extensions disabled.

Where are the settings for the additional tabs search bar info?

Like the config files? Any instructions on resetting the tabs search engine?

The address bar search engine does not vary between tabs, it is content-agnostic. You should get the identical address bar search engine regardless of what is below it. In other words, whether the tab has Google, Yahoo, Comedy Central, or this forum in it, the address bar search should load the identical results page in the tab, a page from your default search engine. But it doesn't work that way?

You mentioned that changing the browser.newtab.url preference was helping, until it changed back. What did you change it from and to?

You are right. The first tab, defaults to Yahoo as well as all the remaining tabs. I would like it to default to google.

My default search engine is Google.

If Google is set as your search engine in Options, but the results page is from Yahoo, I think there are only a handful of explanations:

(1) Bad extension(s) (2) Corrupted settings file (3) Corrupted program folder

On #1:

You said all your extensions are disabled on the Add-ons page. Could you double-check on the support information page (3 possible ways to open it):

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
• (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

If you scroll down, there is an Extensions header followed by a table. Is there anything that still shows "true" in the "Enabled" column? You can copy/paste from that table into a reply if you want a second opinion on any extensions.

On #2:

Try renaming a couple files so Firefox regenerates them. On the above page, scroll back up to the first table and click the "Show Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
• (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename search.json to something like OLDsearch.json. Also rename search-metadata.json to something like OLDsearch-metadata.json.

Start Firefox back up again and return to search option to set Google as your default:

"3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options > Search

If you test that, does it work?

On #3:

Clean Reinstall

We use this name, but it's not about removing your settings, it's about making sure the program files are clean (no inconsistent, corrupted, or alien code files). As described below, this process does not disturb your existing settings. Do NOT uninstall Firefox, that's not needed.

(A) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 39.0 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.)

(B) Exit out of Firefox (if applicable).

(C) Rename the program folder, either:

(64-bit Windows folder names)

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox

to

C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox

(32-bit Windows folder names)

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox

to

C:\Program Files\OldFirefox

(D) Run the installer you downloaded in #1. It should automatically connect to your existing settings.

Any improvement after this reinstall?

Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:

• \OldFirefox\Plugins
• \OldFirefox\browser\plugins