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How do I remove all occurrences of Yahoo from my ' about:config ' file?

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Somehow, I got hijacked by Yahoo yesterday, and that ended up as my default search provider. And, after that, the little magnifying glass where search providers are listed disappeared. That doesn't make Firefox feel very secure!

I've restored the search 'magnifying glass' through 'Customize,' but I don't want any more Yahoo 'surprises.'

The four lines below are copied from my ' about:config ' file. Are they necessary?

browser.search.order.US.1;data:text/plain,browser.search.order.US.1=Yahoo browser.search.order.2;Yahoo browser.contentHandlers.types.0.uri;https://add.my.yahoo.com/rss?url=%s browser.contentHandlers.types.0.title;My Yahoo!

Plus these two:

gecko.handlerService.schemes.mailto.0.uriTemplate;https://compose.mail.yahoo.com/?To=%s gecko.handlerService.schemes.mailto.0.name;Yahoo! Mail

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Somehow, I got hijacked by Yahoo yesterday, and that ended up as my default search provider. And, after that, the little magnifying glass where search providers are listed disappeared. That doesn't make Firefox feel very secure! I've restored the search 'magnifying glass' through 'Customize,' but I don't want any more Yahoo 'surprises.' The four lines below are copied from my ' about:config ' file. Are they necessary? browser.search.order.US.1;data:text/plain,browser.search.order.US.1=Yahoo browser.search.order.2;Yahoo browser.contentHandlers.types.0.uri;https://add.my.yahoo.com/rss?url=%s browser.contentHandlers.types.0.title;My Yahoo! Plus these two: gecko.handlerService.schemes.mailto.0.uriTemplate;https://compose.mail.yahoo.com/?To=%s gecko.handlerService.schemes.mailto.0.name;Yahoo! Mail

Chosen solution

browser.search.order.US.1;data:text/plain,browser.search.order.US.1=Yahoo > default search engine; this line is necessary, but you can set another value to replace Yahoo, with Google or Bing for example

browser.search.order.2;Yahoo > if you use the US version of Firefox, this line is not used

browser.contentHandlers.types.0.title;My Yahoo! > corresponding to the 1st application/website used when you subscribe to a feed

gecko.handlerService.schemes.mailto.0.uriTemplate;https://compose.mail.yahoo.com/?To=%s and gecko.handlerService.schemes.mailto.0.name;Yahoo! Mail > these lines define the 1st element in the displayed list when you open a mailto: protocol (i.e. an email address)

To conclude, except the 1st line, Yahoo is not working on your computer, unless you choose specifically to use it when a contextual menu is displayed.

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Chosen Solution

browser.search.order.US.1;data:text/plain,browser.search.order.US.1=Yahoo > default search engine; this line is necessary, but you can set another value to replace Yahoo, with Google or Bing for example

browser.search.order.2;Yahoo > if you use the US version of Firefox, this line is not used

browser.contentHandlers.types.0.title;My Yahoo! > corresponding to the 1st application/website used when you subscribe to a feed

gecko.handlerService.schemes.mailto.0.uriTemplate;https://compose.mail.yahoo.com/?To=%s and gecko.handlerService.schemes.mailto.0.name;Yahoo! Mail > these lines define the 1st element in the displayed list when you open a mailto: protocol (i.e. an email address)

To conclude, except the 1st line, Yahoo is not working on your computer, unless you choose specifically to use it when a contextual menu is displayed.

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You can check if you have the XML files of the default search engines including Google in the browser\searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder.

If not then you need to reinstall Firefox.

You can find the full version of the current current Firefox release (39.0) in all languages and all operating systems here: