In Firefox 70, Google homepage has reverted to an old style
Since the last but one update, Google has now reverted to the style it was about 20 years ago! It is very basic in its appearance. This has happened to other browsers at various times. Looks like Firefox needs another update to fix this. I don't really want to go to all the hassle of going back to an earlier version.
All Replies (2)
Hi ngc137, it's probably something simple, but I have to give you a bit of a laundry list to track it down.
Also, any difference between using Firefox's built-in search plugin from the address bar, and going to https://www.google.com/ and searching from there?
If a site is generally known to work in Firefox, these are standard suggestions to try when it stops working normally:
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.
Since Google likes to conduct UI experiments on its users, this is a common way to try to get back to normal.
(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. If you reload the page or run a new search, any improvement?
(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?
Double-check content blockers: Firefox's Content Blocking feature and extensions that counter ads and tracking may break websites that embed third party content (meaning, from a secondary server).
(A) Do you see a shield icon toward the left end of the address bar, near the lock icon? More info on managing the Tracking Protection feature in this article: Content Blocking.
(B) Extensions such as Adblock Plus, Blur, Disconnect, Ghostery, NoScript, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin or uMatrix should provide toolbar buttons 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 may need to click the button to see what's going on and test whether you need to make an exception for this site.
Testing in Firefox's Safe Mode: In its Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.
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.)
If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
- (menu bar) Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
and OK the restart.
Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).
Any improvement?
Can you attach a screenshot?
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-create-screenshot-my-problem
- use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot