Stop Firefox Search Bar Suggestions After Disabling Them

Firefox keeps suggesting search terms even after you cleared the checkboxes in Settings, and the culprit is usually a second control you have not touched yet: the separate toolbar search bar, the address bar source list, or Firefox Suggest.

Match the control to the field that misbehaves, then test both fields and a private window before deciding the change did not stick.

In this guide, I have covered:

Why Firefox Still Shows Search Suggestions After You Turn Them Off

You cleared the checkboxes, restarted Firefox, and the dropdown still fills with suggested search terms. Nothing is broken. Firefox keeps suggestion sources in several places, and each one has its own switch.

Two fields are involved. The address bar is the long field at the top of the window. The search bar is the separate field you can add to the toolbar. A setting that silences one often leaves the other untouched.

So look at where the suggestions appear before changing anything else. Entries inside the address bar follow the address bar source list. Entries under the toolbar search bar follow the search engine suggestion controls.

Disable Search Suggestions in Firefox Settings

Start here. These checkboxes cover search engine suggestions for both fields, so they clear the most common cause first.

1. Open the Firefox menu and select Settings.
2. In the search field at the top of the Settings page, type search.
3. Under Search engine suggestions, clear Show search suggestions.
4. Clear Show search suggestions in address bar results.
5. Clear Show search suggestions before browsing history in address bar results.
6. Clear Search suggestions in private windows if you do not want suggestions in private windows.

Close the Settings tab and type a few letters in the field that misbehaved. You’ll know it worked when no completion list drops down under that field.

These controls are also covered in Firefox’s official Mozilla Support guidance for search suggestions.

Adjust Address Bar Suggestions

If the unwanted entries are your own pages, the search checkboxes are not what put them there. History, bookmarks, open tabs, shortcuts, and recent searches each feed the address bar list separately.

1. Open the Firefox menu and select Settings.
2. Enter search in the Settings search field.
3. Find Address Bar, or select Customize address bar settings in Search.
4. Under Choose which suggestions display in your address bar, clear Browsing history.
5. Clear Bookmarks, Open tabs, Shortcuts, Top sites, and Recent searches if you do not want those categories.
6. Clear Suggest search engines to use if the unwanted suggestions are search-engine choices.
7. Clear Quick actions and Trending search suggestions if you do not want those results either.

Only clear the categories that match what you actually see. Leaving bookmarks switched on will not bring back search engine suggestions.

Turn Off Firefox Suggest

Firefox Suggest is a second layer of recommendations that can come from Mozilla, from sponsors, or from the browser itself. It keeps working until you switch it off in its own section.

1. Return to the Search section in Firefox Settings.
2. Find the Firefox Suggest section.
3. Clear Suggestions from Firefox.
4. Clear Suggestions from sponsors.
5. Clear Retrieve suggestions from Mozilla as you type.
6. Use Dismissed suggestions to remove suggestions that have already appeared.

Test with a partial search term in the address bar. If dismissed entries keep coming back, Restore suggestions is what brings them back, so use it only when that is what you want.

Firefox calls the long field at the top of the window the address bar. The separate search bar in the toolbar may still show search-engine suggestions because it uses different controls.

Check the Firefox Search Preferences

When the checkboxes look correct and the toolbar search bar still autocompletes, the preference sitting behind those checkboxes is worth a direct look. This also helps when a setting shows as disabled but suggestions carry on.

1. Open the Firefox menu and select Settings.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the General panel.
3. Select Config Editor… to open the about:config page.
4. Accept the warning if Firefox displays one.
5. Search for browser.search.suggest.enabled.
6. Set browser.search.suggest.enabled to false using the toggle button or the Edit control.
7. Search for browser.search.suggest.enabled.private and set it to false if private-window suggestions also remain.

Close the Config Editor and test the field again. If the preference already reads false, stop flipping it. Go back to the address bar list and the Firefox Suggest controls instead.

The Mozilla Support thread linked above flags one more scenario. An organization policy can override Firefox search settings. When a checkbox is greyed out or resets itself, the fix sits with whoever administers the browser.

Do not change unrelated address bar preferences. The settings that affect suggestion sources are separate from settings for history, cookies, and page loading.

Check Whether History Is Disabled

Suggestions can also behave oddly when Firefox is set not to remember history. If everything above looks right, this preference is the next one to confirm.

1. Open the Firefox menu and select Settings.
2. Enter history in the Settings search field.
3. Find the history settings and confirm that Never remember history is not enabled.
4. Review the related history options so browsing history or recent searches are not being excluded from the suggestion source you expected.

Search suggestions will not show while Firefox is set never to remember history. Want history kept but history-based suggestions gone? Go back to the address bar list and clear Browsing history and Recent searches instead.

If you would rather clear the stored history at the same time, Clear Browsing History from Mozilla Firefox covers desktop and mobile.

Use a Private Window as a Quick Test

A private window starts with no local history, which makes it the fastest way to separate local suggestions from search-engine ones. Run it after the settings above so you are testing the current state.

1. Open the Firefox menu.
2. Select New Private Window.
3. Type a partial search term in the private window’s address bar or search bar.
4. Compare the suggestions in the private window with the suggestions in a normal window.

Clean in private and noisy in normal? The leftovers are local: history, bookmarks, tabs, shortcut tiles. Noisy in both? Revisit Search suggestions in private windows and the private preference.

For a separate check of stored search terms, see Clear Search Term History in Firefox browser on Computer.

Verify the Fix

Test both fields, one at a time. They do not read exactly the same settings, and one can come out clean while the other still suggests.

Type a common word into the field that used to misbehave, then check it against this list:

• No search completions should appear after Show search suggestions is cleared.
• No search-engine choices should appear after Suggest search engines to use is cleared.
• No local categories, such as browsing history or bookmarks, should appear after their individual checkboxes are cleared.
• No Firefox, sponsor, or Mozilla suggestions should appear after the Firefox Suggest controls are cleared.

Anything left over points at a control you have not cleared yet, so note its category before you go back. Reset Mozilla Firefox Browser Settings on the Computer is the last resort, and it belongs after the individual search and address bar settings have been checked.

RELATED: Open Private Window and New Tabs in Firefox on the Computer