Mozilla Firefox 78 brings search bug, fix coming soon

Browsers » Firefox

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by Don Sharpe 

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Key notes

  • Firefox 78.0 came with a search engine bug.
  • Mozilla is releasing Firefox 78.0.1 to patch the problem.
  • Do you browse with Firefox, Chrome, Edge, or Opera? Visit our Browsers section for guides to optimizing your browsing experience.
  • You may also check out the Firefox page to learn more about the second-most popular browser on Windows 10 desktops.
Firefox 78 triggers search engine issue
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Once in a while a new browser version introduces one or two unwanted browsing issues, which is now the case with Firefox 78. The update brought a couple of impressive changes and features, such as accessibility tweaks, privacy protection, and more.

But it also broke search, making it impossible for affected users to use its integrated search engines like Google and Bing.

The good news is that Firefox 78.0.1, which goes live soon, will fix the search issue.

The Firefox 78 search bug

Shortly after the release of Firefox 78.0, a user reported a search issue that resulted from updating to the latest stable version of the browser.

All search engines are gone; list of one-click search engines is empty now. Auto complete in the address bar doesn’t work any longer. Search function on the start page doesn’t start a search any longer.

It appears that affected users no longer see any of the popular third-party search engines that Firefox offers by default. Usually, the browser lets users customize their search experience by adding their favorite search engines, for example, Amazon and DuckDuckGo.

Apart from the search issue, it seems that the browser’s address bar isn’t working any more. Moreover, the start page’s search function is defective right now.

Engineers at Firefox appear to have discovered the root cause of the issue. They’ve identified a couple of bugs that point to a malfunction in the local database that the search service utilizes.

The team started working to resolve the problem shortly after it made it to the Bugzilla forum.

For some reason the local database that we use to store some data is not working. Unfortunately our search service has just switched to using that local database, and as a result isn’t working properly.

Firefox 78.0.1 should address the search problem anytime now.

Have you received the Firefox 78.0.1 search fix? Let us know if it works by leaving us a message in the comments section below.

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More about the topics: Browser errors, browsers

Don Sharpe

Don Sharpe Shield

Tech Journalist

Don has been writing professionally for over 10 years now, but his passion for the written word started back in his elementary school days. His work has been published on Livebitcoinnews.com, Learnbonds.com, eHow, AskMen.com, Forexminute.com, The Writers Network and a host of other companies.