Ctrl+K will take you to the builtin Firefox search bar

I would recommend that you learn to use the search bar rather than using a Google search page as your home page, or using the "Google Search Bar" extension.

The operands for search are easy to work with see Search and Substitution Shortcuts especially for Firefox users

I expect that if you are using the Google Search Bar that they probably usurped the Firefox keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+K or have their own.

Thank you for your reply. I do use the search bar, and am familiar with it. I have many of my favorite pages accessible through the search bar. Ctrl+k does indeed direct me to it. I appreciate your suggestion, but it didn't answer my initial question.

That being said, I prefer to open a new tab and have my cursor positioned ready to search.

Do you mean that you open a specific page (google.com) automatically in a new tab by using an extension?

In that case another extension can cause the search field not to get focus.

• https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

That is almost correct. I just use the plus sign that lets me open a new tab.

Which extensions do you use?

A new tab opens by default as a blank tab (about:blank).
If that isn't the case then an extension has changed that behavior.

Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox (Tools) > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).

• Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.
• https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode

• https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

Wow! I'm thick. I checked earlier to see if it was an extension, but I missed the extension that was causing the conflict. I guess it wasn't updated for 4.0. Thanks for the help.

You're welcome

https://support.mozilla.com/oc/questions/800497#answer-159601

Here's the link to the page that helped it me solve my problem. The problem was "New Tab Homepage".

Thanks. Yes that extension has been mentioned before during the past weeks to cause that issue.

Whether the cursor goes to the Search Box or to the Address Box when you open a new tab is based on which page your browser opens when you open a new tab. If your browser is set to open http://en-US.start3.mozilla.com/firefox?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official when a new tab is opened, the cursor will automatically go to the Address Bar. If your browser is set to open http://www.google.com/firefox?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official when a new tab is opened, the cursor will automatically go to the Search Box. So, it just depends on which webpage opens when you select a new tab! To select which webpage opens, just go to the "Tools" Menu and select "Options." Under the "General" tab, you will see a URL (a webpage) which will open when you open your Home Page. I suppose, technically, the webpage you select in "Tabs Mix Plus" to open when you open a new tab is the important one -- but, since most people simply use their Home Page as the page to open, the Home Page in the Firefox Options is relevant. You could change the webpage to open in Tabs Mix Plus to one of the two pages noted above to determine which option you want when you open a new tab -- to have the cursor in the Address Bar or to have the cursor in the Search Box.

Thanks, that was driving me nuts!

New Tab Homepage / New Tab URL add-on:

Yes! That was it. My problem was actaully the opposite of the first comment. I would open a new tab or click the HOME button, then when I start to type into the "address bar"....BAM...the cursor moves to the Google search box while I'm typing. Extremely annoying!!!

I went to my NewTabURL(version 2.2.3) add-on options and checked the box that says "Select locaion bar after loading new tab". Thank you so much.

For everyone else who is having this problem...see the pictures below.

Unfortunately, with Firefox 13, the NewTabURL 2.2.3 add-on is no longer able to move the cursor to the Google search bar. Deselecting NewTabURL's "Select location bar" option has no effect with Firefox 13, and the cursor continues to display in the location bar.

Is there a Firefox config option that can correct this? Or perhaps some other solution?

Does it help if you disable the New Tab page by setting the browser.newtab.url pref to about:blank?

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/new-tab-page-show-hide-and-customize-top-sites

That seems to be a good workaround. I used to be able to open a new tab and immediately begin typing my Google search. Now when I open a new tab I must first press the Tab key to move the cursor from the url box to the search box and then I can begin typing my search. That being the case, I might as well just set new tabs to open to blank, for quick performance.

Yes, it doesn't seem to work well if you set the new tab page to a website with a search form because the focus is always on the location bar and not on the web page.

A workaround is to use the toolbar Home button and middle click that button to open a new tab with the home page.

The extension "Custom New Tab" does exactly what you want for Firefox 13.

https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/custom-new-tab/

It lets you choose the new tab url and puts the cursor in the search box of google

"Custom New Tab" is perfect. Thanks, zibo!

I think there might still be bugs to work out with "Custom New Tab." It works when I first install it, but the next time I log in and use Firefox, Firefox reverts to the behavior of putting the cursor in the location bar.

Tab mix plus https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-mix-plus/ also solves that problem, it has the option to focus the search box.