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

Completely disable search from address url bar

  • 1 reply
  • 2 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by Paul

more options

There currently seems to be no way at all to completely disable the search feature of the address bar. When I type in a wrong address it should say the address is invalid or could not be reached instead of sending it to some search engine. This is a major privacy issue!

It tried all the about:config settings suggested in other similar threads. Nothing works. I can't delete the last search provider.

I also can't add an empty search provider that resolves into nothing, as the interface actively tests whether the search provider is reachable.

The url bar will always try to send my precious spelling errors of embarassing urls I want to visit to some search provider. This is a privacy nightmare...

There currently seems to be no way at all to completely disable the search feature of the address bar. When I type in a wrong address it should say the address is invalid or could not be reached instead of ''sending it to some search engine''. '''This is a major privacy issue!''' It tried all the about:config settings suggested in other similar threads. Nothing works. I can't delete the last search provider. I also can't add an empty search provider that resolves into nothing, as the interface actively tests whether the search provider is reachable. The url bar will always try to send my precious spelling errors of embarassing urls I want to visit to some search provider. This is a privacy nightmare...

All Replies (1)

more options

Hi

You may wish to change your default search engine provider to one that is more privacy focussed, such as DuckDuckGo or Want. You can also change the search options which may help.

This support article should help:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/manage-my-default-search-engines-firefox-android