Can't access advanced search from settings drop down on Google.com
For many years I've been able to do a Google search from Firefox, the result being shown on Google.com and from there I was able to click on Settings in the toolbar beneath the search text box on the page, which displayed a drop down with various options, including Advanced Search, Languages, Search History etc.
However today, clicking on Settings on Google.com takes me to https://www.google.com/preferences instead of displaying the drop down. This would force me to navigate to the advanced search manually, making use of the search from the address bar functionality of Firefox amost useless.
This behaviour is only happening for me in Firefox, with Chrome and Edge both displaying the drop down when clicking on Settings.
The Settings I'm referring to is outlined in the attached image.
Keazen oplossing
Hmm, "Settings" is a link that goes to /preferences, but there is a script attached that overrides it and shows the menu. It sounds like for some reason, the script isn't running (correctly or at all) on your Firefox, and I'm not sure why.
If a site is generally known to work in Firefox, these are standard suggestions to try when it stops working normally:
Double-check content blockers: Firefox's Tracking Protection feature, and extensions that counter ads and tracking, may break websites that embed third party content (meaning, from a secondary server).
(A) The shield icon toward the left end of the address bar usually turns a bit purplish when content is blocked. Click the icon to learn more or make an exception. See: Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox for desktop.
(B) Extensions such as Adblock Plus, Blur, Disconnect, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, Ghostery, NoScript, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin or uMatrix usually provide a toolbar button to manage blocked content in a page. There may or may not be a number on the icon indicating the number of blocked items; you sometimes need to click the button to see what's going on and test whether you need to make an exception for this site.
Cache and Cookies: When you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.
(1) Clear Firefox's Cache
See: How to clear the Firefox cache
If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.
(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site, click the lock icon at the left end of the address bar. After a moment, a "Clear Cookies and Site Data" button should appear at the bottom. Go ahead and click that.
In the dialog that opens, you will see one or more matches to the current address so you can remove the site's cookies individually without affecting other sites.
Then try reloading the page. Does that help?
Testing in Firefox's Safe/Troubleshoot Mode: In this mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, any userChrome.css/userContent.css files, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.
If Firefox is running:
You can restart Firefox in Safe/Troubleshoot Mode using either:
- "3-bar" menu button > Help > Troubleshoot Mode... (before Fx88: Restart with Add-ons Disabled)
- (menu bar) Help menu > Troubleshoot Mode... (before Fx88: Restart with Add-ons Disabled)
and OK the restart. A small dialog should appear. Click the Open button (before Fx88: "Start in Safe Mode" button).
If Firefox is not running:
Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.) A small dialog should appear. Click the Open button (before Fx88: "Start in Safe Mode" button).
Note: Don't use the Refresh without first reviewing this article to understand what will be deleted: Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings.
Any improvement?
Dit antwurd yn kontekst lêze 👍 0Alle antwurden (4)
Keazen oplossing
Hmm, "Settings" is a link that goes to /preferences, but there is a script attached that overrides it and shows the menu. It sounds like for some reason, the script isn't running (correctly or at all) on your Firefox, and I'm not sure why.
If a site is generally known to work in Firefox, these are standard suggestions to try when it stops working normally:
Double-check content blockers: Firefox's Tracking Protection feature, and extensions that counter ads and tracking, may break websites that embed third party content (meaning, from a secondary server).
(A) The shield icon toward the left end of the address bar usually turns a bit purplish when content is blocked. Click the icon to learn more or make an exception. See: Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox for desktop.
(B) Extensions such as Adblock Plus, Blur, Disconnect, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, Ghostery, NoScript, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin or uMatrix usually provide a toolbar button to manage blocked content in a page. There may or may not be a number on the icon indicating the number of blocked items; you sometimes need to click the button to see what's going on and test whether you need to make an exception for this site.
Cache and Cookies: When you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.
(1) Clear Firefox's Cache
See: How to clear the Firefox cache
If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.
(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site, click the lock icon at the left end of the address bar. After a moment, a "Clear Cookies and Site Data" button should appear at the bottom. Go ahead and click that.
In the dialog that opens, you will see one or more matches to the current address so you can remove the site's cookies individually without affecting other sites.
Then try reloading the page. Does that help?
Testing in Firefox's Safe/Troubleshoot Mode: In this mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, any userChrome.css/userContent.css files, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.
If Firefox is running:
You can restart Firefox in Safe/Troubleshoot Mode using either:
- "3-bar" menu button > Help > Troubleshoot Mode... (before Fx88: Restart with Add-ons Disabled)
- (menu bar) Help menu > Troubleshoot Mode... (before Fx88: Restart with Add-ons Disabled)
and OK the restart. A small dialog should appear. Click the Open button (before Fx88: "Start in Safe Mode" button).
If Firefox is not running:
Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.) A small dialog should appear. Click the Open button (before Fx88: "Start in Safe Mode" button).
Note: Don't use the Refresh without first reviewing this article to understand what will be deleted: Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings.
Any improvement?
Thanks very much for that rapid and detailed answer.
The culprit it turns out seems to be the Privacy Badger addon, which once disabled allows for normal behaviaour of the Google.com come search page.
I'll look into the details of this, but thanks again for this.
Thanks for reporting back on that.
I've mailed the EFF ([email protected]) reporting the issue, providing details of it and my setup.