Can't choose anything except Google as my default search engine
I am running Firefox 89.0.2 (current) on a Windows 7 machine. My preferred search engine is duckduckgo. That is what I get when browser is first opened. But whenever a new tab is opened it switches to Google as the search engine. Under settings we are supposed to be able to choose our default search engine from a drop down list. But the list only contains Google and Wikipedia. How do I get other choices in this list?
All Replies (3)
Could you check further down the panel, below the Shortcuts box, to see whether the "Restore Default Search Engines" button is enabled? If it's enabled, click it to restore all of the built-in search engine choices. Does that bring back DuckDuckGo?
Type about:addons<enter> in the address bar to open your Add-ons Manager. Hot key; (<Control> [Mac=<Command>] <Shift> A)
In the Add-ons Manager, on the left, select Extensions. Remove “ Google “ Anything.
Also remove SafeSearch, SearchAssist Incognito, FileConverter Addon, SearchLock, DiscreteSearch, WebSearch, Findwide Search Engine, securedsearch
Now do the same in the computer’s Programs Folder.
Windows: Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs. Mac: Open the Applications folder. Linux: Check your user manual.
You can try to rename/remove search.json.mozlz4 in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed to rebuild the search engines registry.
You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.
- Help -> More Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Folder/Directory:
Windows: Open Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data
Firefox will rebuild search.json.mozlz4 from the builtin search engines.