How do I change my default search engine?

How do I change the default search engine in Firefox to Yahoo?

• I mistakenly downloaded the Ask toolbar and even though I removed the toolbar, it changed the default search engine to Ask and I can't figure out how to change it back to Yahoo.

• Answer:

  I've got three answers for you, depending on exactly what you are asking. But the absolute easiest solution is none of those. Try this first: If you haven't installed any other search engines in your search bar, click on the icon of whatever search engine is displayed in your search bar. Select "Manage Search Engines ..." Then, click the <Restore Defaults> button to set the search engines back the way they were when Firefox was installed. Hopefully, that will work. If that doesn't work, or you don't want to lose other changes you have made to the search bar, select one (or more) of the following three procedures, depending on what you need. *** I want Yahoo to be listed first in my search bar *** If you just want to re-order your search engines, so that Yahoo! is at the top, that is easy. Click on the icon of whatever search engine is displayed in your search bar. Select "Manage Search Engines ..." Then, in the window that opens, select Yahoo, and drag it to the top. *** I want the search bar to always default to Yahoo when I open Firefox *** When you start up Firefox, the search engine displayed in your search bar will usually be the last one you used, regardless of your default search engine. If you want to change this behavior so that the search bar always defaults to Yahoo, that's complicated, but not too hard. 1) With your browser closed, go to your profile folder. If you don't know where your Firefox profile folder is, you can find it using the instructions on this web page: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder... 2) Make a backup copy of the file "prefs.js" (you can call it "prefs.js.bak", without the quotes, of course). 3) If there is a file called "user.js", open it in a text editor (like Notepad), and copy and paste the following line of text into it. Then, delete the space between "search." and "selectedEngine" (I had to put that there, or Yahoo!Answers would not let you copy it correctly.). user_pref("browser.search. selectedEngine", "Yahoo"); 4) If the file "user.js" does not exist, open a text editor (such as Notepad). Copy and paste the line above into a blank file, delete the space betwen "search." and "selectedEngine" (as above), then save the file as "user.js" (without the quotes, of course) in the profile directory. Close the file. 5) Now, whenever you launch Firefox, Yahoo will be displayed in your search bar, whether or not it was the last search engine you used. 6) If this breaks your browser, delete the files "user.js," and "prefs.js," and rename "prefs.js.bak" back to "prefs.js." *** I really do need to change my default search engine *** Your default search engine is used for more things than just being the first one displayed in your search bar. The default search engine is also used when you type something into the address bar that is neither a defined keyword or a URL. To change the default search engine: 1) Type about:config in your address bar, and hit <Enter>. 2) If a warning box comes up, click through it. 3) Firefox will now be showing you a long list of preferences. The name of each preference is in the first column. Scroll down to browser.search. defaultenginename. (I had to put a space in that so that Yahoo!Answers would display it properly -- there is no space in the actual preference name.) The value in the fourth column should be "Yahoo" (without the quotes). If it is not, double-click it, and change it. 4) Restart Firefox Hope that helps! Sorry it is so long, I wasn't sure precisely what you were asking, or how knowledgeable you were. If you need clarification, feel free to email me! (PS: Yahoo? Really? Not Google? For real? Well, it's your browser, your choice. But, seriously?)