Back in the days of dinosaurs and 33.6k modems, we had to actually first go to google.com, yahoo.com, altavista.com, dogpile.com, or excite.com, manually chisel our search string into stone tablets, and hope the gods would smile upon us with the results we were looking for. We didn’t have integrated search bars or a one-true-search-engine-to-rule-them-all. Also: Firefox for Android just got an important privacy feature: How it could benefit you  Now, we have options. Thankfully, Firefox allows you to search how you want. So instead of an integrated address bar, you can separate the URL and search functions, as well as choose which search engine you want to use by default.  Why would you want a separate search and address bar? I have one very handy reason for that. Type zdnet.com in your address bar and you’ll wind up at the ZDNET website. But what if you wanted to do some research on ZDNET.com? You could go to google.com, type zdnet.com in the search field, and be presented with all sorts of information. With the separate search bar, you could simply type zdnet.com into the field and hit Enter to display those same results.  Also: What is Firefox Nightly and should you be using it?  You see, no matter what you type in the separate search bar, it will be seen as a search string and nothing else. On top of which, the separate search bar will also offer you suggestions related to the search. For example, if you type zdnet.com in the search bar and hit Enter, you can then hover over the magnifying glass to reveal a drop-down. Click the drop-down and you’ll see related searches. Within the results, you’ll also be presented with options that you can use to search the string. Although it might not be as convenient as an integrated address bar, it does give you more options. When you’re serious about your searches, and that’s a good thing. Let me show you how to configure the Firefox search feature to better fit your needs.

What you’ll need: The only thing you’ll need is the Firefox browser installed. It doesn’t matter the platform you’re using (I’ll demonstrate on Pop!_OS), just so long as the browser is updated and running properly. That’s it. Let’s configure your search.

How to change your default search engine

Also: What are Firefox Container Tabs and how do you use them? From the popup menu, click Settings. Also: Firefox finally declutters the toolbar with the Unified Extensions button My preferred search engine is DuckDuckGo, because they are more privacy-based than Google (by a long shot). However, you should select the search engine that best fits your needs.  In that same section (below the search drop-down), you can also customize search suggestions, by enabling or disabling the following:

Provide search suggestions.Show search suggestions in address bar results.Show search suggestions ahead of browsing history in address bar results.Show search suggestions in Private Windows.

I leave everything as default (so all but Show search suggestions in Private Windows is enabled). Once you’ve taken care of that, close out the Settings tab and you’re done. You can now enjoy a Firefox search experience that is better suited to your needs. Happy searching!