Firefox forcing yahoo as default search engine

For several days now, every time I turn on my computer and open firefox, the default search engine has been reset to yahoo. I have reset it to my preferred search engine countless times now, I have even reset firefox, and frankly I am annoyed enough that if it continues I'm going to switch my default internet browser.
I would like to not have to reset my preferences each and every time I go on my computer.

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.
*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.
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
If you do not keep changes after a restart or otherwise have problems with preferences, see:
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Preferences_not_saved

Similar Messages

How can I stop Firefox from changing my default search engine to Yahoo when I want it to be Bing?

I keep changing my default search engine to Bing but it keeps changing back to Yahoo. HOW CAN I STOP THIS?!?!

Bookmark and use this;
Download the '''[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchreset/ Mozilla Search Reset]''' {web link}
This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up
and then resets your search preferences and home page
to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This
affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home page.
Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.
You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:
* [http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/default.aspx Microsoft Safety Scanner]
* [http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/ MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware]
* [http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/disinfection/5350 Anti-Rootkit Utility - TDSSKiller]
* [http://general-changelog-team.fr/en/downloads/viewdownload/20-outils-de-xplode/2-adwcleaner AdwCleaner] (for more info, see this [http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/ alternate AdwCleaner download page])
* [http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro/ Hitman Pro]
* [http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner/ ESET Online Scanner]
[http://windows.microsoft.com/MSE Microsoft Security Essentials] is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.
Further information can be found in the [[Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware]] article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

An add-on to force firefox switch back to default search engine in search bar

Hi,
I have a couple search engines installed in firefox's search bar. I find it extremely annoying that each time I change the search engine it remains like that even after restarting firefox. Is there any add-on that would switch back to the one that is on the top of the list (which happens to be my default search engine for navigation bar as well) every time I restart the browser?
Let me give you an example: I use duckduckgo as a default search engine for the nav bar and in the search bar. Let's say I need to find a definition for which I use wikipedia search engine. I switch to wikipedia one then. I turn off the browser and the next time I start firefox the search engine that appears in the search bar is wikipedia and I would prefer it to be duckduckgo.
I hope it isn't to vague.
cheers,
Omen

Easiest is to set the preferred default engine to the preferred search engine via the user.js file in the Firefox profile folder by copying the related user_pref() line to this file.
The user.js file is read each time Firefox is started and initializes preferences to the value specified in this file, so preferences set via user.js can only be changed temporarily for the current session.
You can search the about:config page for browser.search. to locate the pref(s) that you need.
*user_pref("browser.search.defaultenginename", "Google");
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)
* Create the chrome folder (lowercase) in the <xxxxxxxx>.default profile folder if this folder doesn't exist
* Use a plain text editor like Notepad to create a (new) user.js file in this folder (the names are case sensitive)
* Make sure that you select "All files" and not "Text files" when you save the file via "Save file as" in the text editor as user.js Otherwise Windows may add a hidden .txt file extension and you end up with a not working user.js.txt file
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/user.js_file

With latest download, I specifically excluded yahoo as default search engine. It loaded anyway and I can not get rid of it and restore Google as default search engine

I had Google as default search engine. Now, Yahoo shows up and even when I delete it, close firefox 8.0, restart it, Yahoo again rears its ugly head. Nothing seems to fix this. Any program I install that is tied in to Yahoo, I specifically exclude the installation of the Yahoo tool bar. How do I get rid of it once and for all?

1. Use free AdwareMedic by clicking “Download ” from here
    http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php
    Install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan for Adware” button   to remove adware.
    Once done, quit AdwareMedic by clicking AdwareMedic in the menu bar and selecting
    “Quit AdwareMedic”.
2. Safari > Preferences > Extensions
     Turn those off and relaunch Safari to test .
     Turn those on one by one and test.
3. Safari > Preferences > Search > Search Engine :
    Select your preferred   search engine.
4. Safari > Preferences > General > Homepage:
     Set your Homepage.

Firefox keeps changing my default search engine to Bing. I've changed it back 20 times already. Enough is enough.

Ever since the deal went down when Firefox changed its default provider from Google, I have had to reset my default search engine back from Bing at least every other day, if not more frequent. It is maddening. It doesn't just happen on one machine either, it's happening on all of mine.
I do have Firefox sync enabled with preference sync, so is it possible Firefox sync is getting out of sync? IE every time I change it on a machine, it misses a browser, and then the browser that doesn't get changed goes out and changes all the rest back in the next sync? That's the only thing I can think of, other than Mozilla selling their souls and values and forcing Firefox users to use a search engine they hate.
If the latter is the case, I have had enough and am switching to Chrome. I can't handle having to change my default search engine back every other day. Please someone tell me there is an explanation and a fix. Thanks.

Alright, I feel like an idiot. It was from an extension I installed called InvisibleHand that I installed right around the time the Google deal with Mozilla expired, which is why I assumed the problem was a result of that.
I just checked the settings of the extension and sure enough it has an option that gets ticked by default called "InvisibleHand Search (Use InvisibleHand (powered by Bing) as my default search provider)". So I jumped the gun and blamed Firefox, my apologies.
The extension automatically shows you if an item is cheaper elsewhere while online shopping which is useful, however having that setting ticked by default is pretty skeevy.
Anyway, thanks for the response and sorry I blamed Firefox :P

I can not set Yahoo as my default search engine in my Firefox. How can I fix it?

My Firefox's default searc h engine is Google. I have updated my Firefox to 35.0, but still I can not set Yahoo as default search engine.
Please help me to fix this probeblem. I want to use Yahoo for searching.
Thanks,
Munir

Check these out;
Book mark and use this;
'''Download the [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchreset/ Mozilla Search Reset]''' {web link}
This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up
and then resets your search preferences and home page
to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This
affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home
page.
'''[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchthissite/ SearchThisSite]''' {web link}
Allows you to search the website currently viewed with
the website's internal search engine (and not the default
FF search engine or an external engine)
'''[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-to-search-bar/ Add to Search Bar]''' {web link}
Make any pages' search functionality available in the Search Bar

Want to make google my default search engine in safari

When doing a search today on my ipad, I inadvertently checked a box asking to have yahoo become default search engine. I didn't realize until it was too late. I want to go back to using google for search when I have safari open. Don't seem to see a way to change back to google. Any help you can give me would be most appreciated.

Thank you so much. Somehow I got on yahoo search, no one else was able to give me an answer! This was so simple!

I prefer not to use Google as the default search engine; how can I change it to my preference?

I'd like to change the main search engine to something else, like DuckDuckGo. thank you

Current Firefox versions use the default search engine (pref: browser.search.defaultenginename) to set the search engine that is used on the about:home page.
You can modify the browser.search.defaultenginename pref on the about:config page and set it to one of the other installed search engines.
Select this search engine in Manage Search Engines and copy the value of the browser.search.selectedEngine pref to browser.search.defaultenginename.
*browser.search.defaultenginename
*browser.search.selectedEngine

I get a message asking me if I want to change my default search engine to Yahoo! Search each time I open Firefox. How do I disable this annoying message?

For the past few days, each time I open Firefox on my home computer, a popup message is briefly displayed: "Your browser's default search engine is not set to Yahoo! Search. Would you like to set it now? (Yes/No)". After perhaps 15 seconds at most, the popup disappears and my home page appears as normal. I have the Yahoo! Toolbar installed, and Yahoo! Search is the search engine there; however, the search box on the address bar (which allows me to select from several search engines) is normally set to Google. The search engine in the address bar hasn't actually been changed to Yahoo! Search without my consent yet -- I'm just annoyed at getting nagged to change search engines every time I open Firefox. How do I get the "nag" messages to shut up & leave me alone?
I would also note that this is only happening on my home computer (which runs Windows 7), not on my work computer (which runs Windows XP, and which I also normally use Firefox as my browser on, with the same Yahoo! Toolbar + Google search in the address bar setup).
I have run Threat Scans with Malwarebytes (paid version) and a Quick Scan with Avast! (free version), and neither has eliminated this "nag" message from Yahoo! Search.

You can check for recently installed suspicious or unknown extensions.
Start Firefox in [[Safe Mode|Safe Mode]] to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.
*Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
*Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

Why has Yahoo! installed itself as default search engine behind Firefox 'front page' and how do I turn it off?

Yahoo search engine seems to have imposed itself as default search engine whenever I open a new tab or use the small search pane on top right of screen. Is this a Firefox default setting and, if not, how can I switch it off?

Yahoo has taken over my search engine also. so far I have removed the Yahoo choice from Manage Search Engines. I have Google as the first choice but it still opens in Yahoo.
As the screen shot shows ....you can clearly see that Google was my choice but it came up on Yahoo.

Firefox changed default search engine to Yahoo. How do I restore Google?

Firefox switched my default search engine on MacBookPro to Yahoo, which I dont want. How can I restore Google?

Open Firefox Preferences:
Ciao.

Why does firefox have yahoo by default as search engine?? It is very frustrating as I have tried everything but I am stuck with yahoo. i am sure explorer does not have to pay yahoo for ssuch such chep stunts. So what is the way out???

The previous versions of firefox had google by default, which was the best. But now it seems firefox needs money very badly so it has tied up with yahoo to have it as default search engine.
I have tried everything all that the volunteers have suggested but nothing works.
So what to do?? Dump firefox and go back to explorer??? Or can this be fixed????

Fix it easily.
follow the steps here:
[http://www.firefoxfacts.com/2008/01/13/change-default-search-in-firefox/ Change Default Search in Firefox]
thank you
Please mark "Solved" the answer that really solve the problem, to help others with a similar problem.

How do I set Google as the default search engine in Firefox 5? I have tried several fixes but I keep getting a Yahoo search instead of Google.

I want to use Google as my search engine but no matter what settings I change the default search engine is always Yahoo.
Also I would like to have the feature back where when I open a new tab it shows frequently used pages that I can click on and open.

'''Remove the Yahoo Toolbar'''
# "Ctrl+Shift+A" (Add-ons Manager)
# Select Puzzle piece on left-side for Extensions List
# Find "Yahoo Toolbar" and click on "Uninstall" button
'''Then to fix the default search engine''' used at the Location Bar, change the value of '''keyword.URL''' in '''about:config''' to one of the values shown in [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Location_Bar_search#Location_Bar_search_.28external_-_search_engine.29 Location Bar search] at MozillaZine.
* Google Search (Google search results page) '''http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q='''
# type in '''about:config''' into the location bar
# if the warning message nonsense comes up uncheck the box before dismissing the dialog message
# '''filter on keyword'''
# right-click on '''keyword.URL''' and choose "modify" then paste in the Google search engine string of your choice.
'''More information on configuration variables''' available in
[http://kb.mozillazine.org/About:config_entries about:config entries] and for users not familiar with the process there is [http://kb.mozillazine.org/About:config about:config] (How to change).

How to change the default search engine? I accidentaly change it from google to yahoo, and I can't get it back. I changed my homepage too, but it isn't solved. Thanks

dear, there.
how to change the default search engine? I accidentaly change it from google to yahoo, and I can't get it back. I changed my homepage to google too, but it isn't solved. Thanks

Clarification:
I believe now you potentially lose all extensions, plug-ins when you use the new reset function, but you will let me know.
If that is the case, your find corrupt file method maybe better. However, I reviewed the two help articles and there appear to be more files than just the delete search.json file and a possible search.sqlite file in the Firefox Profile Folder. I am confused. Then I have to find the folders. I think help articles mentioned how to find the profile containing the files, but not sure.

How do I change Default search engine in the address bar, not the search window on the top right or by using about:config, doesn't work. Worked fine until this FF 8.0 update, now defaults to Yahoo 7. About to throw it in and use Chrome.

When Firefox 8.0 installed it has automatically changed my address bar default search engine to Yahoo7 which is crap. I can not change this back. So when I start FF it opens to my google home page, when I type a subject and search the results are displayed in a Yahoo 7 results page, not google. I am not talking about my default home page or the search bar to the top right. This is still google.
The settings in about:config do nothing.
This was fine until FF 8.0.

Thanks dmcritchie,
Nice effort but that answers a different question about fixing the add-on Yahoo toolbar.
Pernich and I want to know; If you type search criteria directly into the address bar and hit enter, how to change that search engine from Yahoo to Google.
Otherwise I too will go back to using Google Chrome, even though I really like FF8.0
please help

Firefox forcing yahoo as default search engine

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