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How do I stop the search bar from going to .com or .net sites when I type in short phrases?

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by massakill

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Whenever I search a short term or acronym, instead of performing a search through my selected search engine, Firefox connects me directly to a website of that search term. For example, if I type "PRPP" into the search bar when trying to search for topic related to school, instead of loading a Google search results page for PRPP, Firefox connects me to www.PRPP.net.

This happens all the time and it's super annoying. I often have to re-search and add a space to the end of my phrase just to get it to load search engine results correctly. I need to know how to disable this.

Thanks

Whenever I search a short term or acronym, instead of performing a search through my selected search engine, Firefox connects me directly to a website of that search term. For example, if I type "PRPP" into the search bar when trying to search for topic related to school, instead of loading a Google search results page for PRPP, Firefox connects me to www.PRPP.net. This happens all the time and it's super annoying. I often have to re-search and add a space to the end of my phrase just to get it to load search engine results correctly. I need to know how to disable this. Thanks

Chosen solution

Are you using the standard built-in Google search plugin? There are some that have a special "Browse by name" or "lucky search" parameter which may exhibit "best guess" behavior, but that should not occur with the built-in search plugin.

Assuming you're using the standard plugin, could you check this hidden setting:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste fix and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If the browser.fixup.dns_first_for_single_words preference is bolded and "user set" to true, double-click it to restore the default value of true

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Chosen Solution

Are you using the standard built-in Google search plugin? There are some that have a special "Browse by name" or "lucky search" parameter which may exhibit "best guess" behavior, but that should not occur with the built-in search plugin.

Assuming you're using the standard plugin, could you check this hidden setting:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste fix and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If the browser.fixup.dns_first_for_single_words preference is bolded and "user set" to true, double-click it to restore the default value of true

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jscher2000 said

Are you using the standard built-in Google search plugin? There are some that have a special "Browse by name" or "lucky search" parameter which may exhibit "best guess" behavior, but that should not occur with the built-in search plugin. Assuming you're using the standard plugin, could you check this hidden setting: (1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful. (2) In the search box above the list, type or paste fix and pause while the list is filtered (3) If the browser.fixup.dns_first_for_single_words preference is bolded and "user set" to true, double-click it to restore the default value of true

Thank you! I believe that solution worked.