How to disable Search for text when you start typing in Firefox

Search engines collect information according to the terms of their privacy policy. So, depending on your preferences, you can enable or disable ‘Search for Text‘ as you start typing in Firefox. While browsing, if you come across a search suggestion that matches what you are trying to find, you can click on it to see results for that search term. This can save time. Besides, it helps you find what you’re looking for with less typing. If you don’t like it, you can simply turn it off.

Disable Search for text when you start typing in Firefox

Enabling search suggestions will send the keywords you type in a search field to the default search engine. Let us see the process to enable or disable Search for text when you start typing in Firefox in detail.

You can enable Search for Text in Firefox by checking the ‘Provide search suggestions’ box in your Firefox search settings. For this,

Click the menu button (visible as 3 horizontal bars) and select ‘Options’.

Alternatively, you can directly access the ‘Settings’ by clicking on the cog-wheel icon below the Menu.

Click on the ‘Search’ link in the left pane.

Then, under ‘Default Search Engine’ section, check ‘Provide Search Suggestions’ box.

Also, you can enable-

• Show search suggestions in address bar results – Includes search suggestions in the results that are listed when you search from the Firefox address bar.
• Show search suggestions ahead of browsing history in address bar results – This setting shows search suggestions before your browsing history.

To disable Search for Text in Firefox, simply un-check ‘Provide search suggestions’ box in your Firefox search settings.

Please note that the above method works for the browser in normal mode only.

In Private Browsing mode, the search suggestions are disabled by default. To enable it, you must explicitly turn them on in a Private Browsing window.

How to disable search suggestions in Firefox using Group Policy

To disable search suggestions in Firefox using Group Policy, follow these steps:

1. Search for edit group policy in the Taskbar search box.
2. Click on the search result.
3. Go to Search in User Configuration.
4. Double-click on the Search Suggestions setting.
5. Choose the Disabled option.
6. Click the OK button.
7. Restart the Firefox browser.

Let’s find out more about these steps in detail.

First, search for edit group policy in the Taskbar search box and click on the search result to open the Local Group Policy Editor. Then, go to this path:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Mozilla > Firefox > Search

Double-click on the Search Suggestions setting on the right-hand side and choose the Disabled option.

Click the OK button to save the change, and finally, restart the Firefox browser. If you want to get back the search suggestions, you need to open the same setting and choose the Not Configured or Enabled option.

How to turn off search suggestions in Firefox using Registry

To turn off search suggestions in Firefox using Registry, follow these steps:

1. Search for registry editor and click the search result.
2. Click on the Yes button.
3. Go to Policies\Mozilla in HKCU.
4. Right-click on Mozilla > New > Key and name it Firefox.
5. Right-click on Firefox > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
6. Set the name as SearchSuggestEnabled.
7. Restart your computer.

Let’s find out more about these steps.

To get started, search for registry editor, click the search result and click on the Yes button to open the Registry Editor.

Then, navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Mozilla

Right-click on Mozilla > New > Key and name it Firefox.

Then, right-click on Firefox > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and set the name as SearchSuggestEnabled.

It has a Value data of 0, and you need to keep that in order to disable the search suggestions.

How do I turn off text suggestions in Firefox?

There are three ways to turn off text suggestions in Firefox. You can do that using the in-built Options panel, Local Group Policy Editor, and Registry Editor. Go to the Search section and remove the tick from the Provide search suggestions checkbox. Alternatively, you can use the Local Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor as well.

How do I turn off auto find in Firefox?

To turn off auto find in Firefox, you need to disable the Search for text when you start typing setting. You can find this setting in the General tab. Open it and head to the Browsing section. Then, remove the tick from the Search for text when you start typing checkbox.

I hope this helps!