Hello,

Try disabling graphics hardware acceleration. Since this feature was added to Firefox, it has gradually improved, but there still are a few glitches.

You might need to restart Firefox in order for this to take effect, so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.).

Then perform these steps:

1. Open Firefox Options window (Preferences on Mac or Linux) as follows:
   • In Firefox 29.0 and above, click the menu button and select Options for Windows or Preferences on Mac or Linux.
   • In Firefox 28.0 and previous versions, click the orange Firefox button at the top left, then select the "Options" button, or, if there is no Firefox button at the top, go to Tools > Options.
2. In the Firefox Options (or Preferences) window, click the Advanced tab, then select General.
3. In the settings list, you should find the Use hardware acceleration when available checkbox. Uncheck this checkbox.
4. Now, restart Firefox and see if the problems persist.

Additionally, please check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in the following Knowledge base articles:

• Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems

• Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Thank you.

Disabling graphics hardware acceleration did not solve the problem. My graphics drivers are up-to-date. Restarting FF in safe mode got the search bar to work again, but a regular restart brought the problem back. Obviously I don't want to work in safe mode all the time... Any ideas? Thanks!

Hello,

The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your bookmarks, history, passwords, cookies, and other essential information.

Note: After resetting Firefox, you will lose any extensions, toolbar customizations, and some preferences. See the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article for more information.

To Reset Firefox:

1. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using one of these methods:
   • Click the menu button , click help and select Troubleshooting Information. A new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.
   • If you're unable to access the Help menu, type about:support in your address bar to bring up the Troubleshooting Information page.
2. At the top right corner of the page, you should see a button that says "Reset Firefox" that looks like this: . Click on it.
3. Firefox will close and reset. After it is done, Firefox will show a window with the information that is imported.
4. Click Finish and Firefox will reopen.

Did this fix the problem? Please report back to us!

Thank you.

I honestly prefer not to do a reset. I'll wait and see if the next FF upgrade will solve the problem. Thanks anyway.

You say it works in safe mode then you have to try your add-ons till you find which one is not working.

I updated a few addons, problem solved! Thanks everybody!

in my case, FF 35.0, Win7 Home SP1, updating Tab Mix Plus to Version 0.4.1.6, corrected the problem. my troubleshooting, other than disabling hardware acceleration for graphics, was to disable add-ons and restart as needed; when search started working again, I re-enabled add-ons one by one, until search stopped working, narrowing it down to Tab Mix Plus.

hth, Rick

orengreen said

since the last FF update (35), the search bar stopped working.

I am having this problem- when I put it in safe mode the problem is not corrected. What do I do?

lwfrederick said

orengreen said

since the last FF update (35), the search bar stopped working. was the problem

I am having this problem- when I put it in safe mode the problem is not corrected. What do I do?

other than running in safe mode, have you tried the other solutions listed above? my troubleshooting approach was to disable all add-ons, verify that the search then worked, and then re-enable the add-ons one at a time, testing after each one. I finally found that, in my case, Tab Mix Plus was the problem, and needed to be updated.

hth, Rick

I do not currently have an add-ons enabled. So there aren't any to disable. Under add-ons, extensions it simply says "You don't have any add-ons of this type installed"

I have tried uninstalling, restarting the computer, and re-installing Firefox.

Make sure that you do not run Firefox in compatibility mode. You can open the Properties of the Firefox desktop shortcut via the right-click context menu and check the "Compatibility" tab. Make sure that all items are deselected in the "Compatibility" tab of the Properties window.

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 find the full version of the current Firefox 36.0.4 release in all languages and for all operating systems here:

• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

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:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

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.

cor-el said

Make sure that you do not run Firefox in compatibility mode. You can open the Properties of the Firefox desktop shortcut via the right-click context menu and check the "Compatibility" tab. Make sure that all items are deselected in the "Compatibility" tab of the Properties window.

---

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 find the full version of the current Firefox 36.0.4 release in all languages and for all operating systems here:

• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/

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:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

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.

Thank you- the disabling the compatibility mode worked!

Hi lwfrederick, many Windows XP users are reporting that they had selected Windows 98 compatibility to resolve some other issue, and now it is crippling Firefox 36. If you can recall where you got that (bad) advice, please let us know.

jscher2000 said

Hi lwfrederick, many Windows XP users are reporting that they had selected Windows 98 compatibility to resolve some other issue, and now it is crippling Firefox 36. If you can recall where you got that (bad) advice, please let us know.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1009562

Hi kyleamc, maybe we can "demote" that solution somehow and replace it with a better one.

Hello jscher2000,

It appears that the solution for that question (1009562) was "demoted" by the moderator today. The fix for me for this question (1041925) was what cor-el suggested on 3/25/15 at 3:32 PM (above)(Firefox was running in compatibility mode).

Except for re installing I think I tried all the suggestions here. I'm using Firefox 38.0.5 on Win7 Pro SP 1. Just for grins I tried the search in IE. It worked in IE. Not in Firefox. I'm pretty sure it worked yesterday.

Hi FF RSC, are you saying that your search bar does not work in Safe Mode either?

If you haven't tried that, here's how:

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

If you have the same problem in Safe Mode, then the cause of your issue is different than the one in this solved thread. I suggest starting a new question at the following link. Scroll down past the suggestions to continue submitting your question: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/new/desktop/fix-problems

Yes that is exactly what I'm saying. I just tried again to make sure. I will start a new thread as you suggested.