Why do so many pages default to Yahoo seach engine?
I'm on a Mac - have used Firefox forever. I use Google as my seach engine of choice - but recently there has been an annoying issue - so many of the search results when clikced default to Yahoo search page. I tried deleting Yahoo from the preferred search in preferences - but it makes no difference. I feel like I'm being hijacked by Yahoo - and I don't like and don't use Yahoo. It's beginning to happen more frequently. Any suggestions - I see there have been numerous others with the same issue - but all Windows users.
All Replies (1)
HI terryh2c, Thank you for your question, I understand that there is a hijacker. Please check this article for troubleshooting What to do when searches take you to the wrong search website.
There is also an investigation related to this, but it does not appear to be the same issue. Does this happen in Safe Mode:
Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that turns off some settings, disables most add-ons (extensions and themes).
If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:
- In Firefox 29.0 and above, click the menu button
, click Help 
and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
- In previous Firefox versions, click on the Firefox button at the top left of the Firefox window and click on Help (or click on Help in the Menu bar, if you don't have a Firefox button) then click on Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:
- On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
- On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
- On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
(you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)
When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".
If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.
To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.
When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.