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When you type into the address bar, Firefox suggests pages you've bookmarked, tagged, visited before or have open in tabs. Learn more.

The Firefox address bar displays the [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/URL URL] for the web page that you are visiting. When you type in this field, Firefox remembers the pages that you have visited to show autocomplete page suggestions. This article explains how the address bar autocomplete feature works. The address bar can also be used for Web searches. See these articles for more information: * [[Search with the Firefox address bar]] * [[How to search IMDB, Wikipedia and more from the address bar]] __TOC__ = History, bookmarks, open tabs{for not fx75} and sync'ed tabs{/for}{for fx75}, sync'ed tabs and Top Sites{/for} = Just start typing in the address bar and the autocomplete drop-down will display matching results for: * Page titles and web addresses from your history. * Page titles, web addresses and [[Bookmark Tags - Categorize bookmarks to make them easy to find|tags]] from your bookmarks. * Pages you currently have open in other tabs (see below under [[#w_switch-to-tab|Switch to tab]]). * [[View synced tabs from other devices|Sync'ed tabs]] from other devices.{for fx78} * Search terms from your Search history (if search suggestions are enabled){/for} {for fx75}{note}'''Note''': If you click on the address bar (instead of typing into it), a drop-down of your [[Customize the New Tab page#w_customize-your-top-sites|Top Sites]] will be displayed.{/note}{/for} Icons will indicate whether a matching result is an open tab or a bookmark. When you see the page you want, just click on it or use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to highlight it and then press {for win,linux}{key Enter}{/for}{for mac}{key Return}{/for}. Firefox will also suggest popular search suggestions from the default search engine. See [[Search suggestions in Firefox]] for more information. The address bar suggestions adjust based on your browsing behavior, such as how frequently and recently you visited a web page and what result you chose based on what was typed. This way pages you visit all the time will show up at the top of the list, often after typing only one character. == URL autocomplete == In addition to the autocomplete drop-down list for pages you've been to before, Firefox will also complete the URL in the address bar. For example, if you type "aw", Firefox may fill in "esomefoundation<!-- -->.org/" to complete the address "awesomefoundation<!-- -->.org" if you've visited that site before. Pressing {for win,linux}{key Enter}{/for}{for mac}{key Return}{/for} in this case would take you directly to that address. ;[[Image:URLAutocomplete75]] == Switch to tab == The address bar also searches through your open tabs, displaying results with a tab icon and the text "Switch to tab". Selecting these results will switch you to the already open tab instead of creating a duplicate. ;[[Image:SwitchToTab75]] {note} '''To turn off the "Switch to tab" option temporarily''', press the {key ALT} key while clicking on the page in the autocomplete list that appears below your address bar. This will open your page in a new tab instead of switching to an existing one.{/note} == Search the Web == Beyond searching your history, bookmarks or tags, you can also search the Web right from the address bar. To learn more, see [[Search with the Firefox address bar]]. ==Change search settings== You can change the way Web search works in the address bar. Visit [[Change your default search settings in Firefox]] to learn more. == What can I do to get the best results? == * When you want to go to a web page you've visited before, type a few letters from its web address or page title. Scroll through the autocomplete entries and find the page in the list (type in another letter if you don't see it listed). Press {for win,linux}{key Enter}{/for}{for mac}{key Return}{/for} to go to the selected web address. Firefox will give this entry/result combination higher weight in the future. * Do not clear the browsing history - usually the richest source of autocomplete entries is from the title/web address combination. [[Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox|Clearing browsing history]] will remove these entries from the results. * Bookmark and tag frequently used pages. The address bar will match on the name you give the bookmark and also tags associated with the bookmark. See the [[Create bookmarks to save your favorite webpages]] article for more information on how to use bookmarks in Firefox. You can improve your autocomplete results by tagging pages with easily-typed tag names. = How can I control what results the address bar shows me? = == Changing your address bar settings == You can turn off the address bar autocomplete feature or restrict the results to exclude your open tabs,{for fx78} top sites,{/for} bookmarks or browsing history: {for not fx78} # [[T:optionspreferences]] # Select the {menu Privacy & Security} panel. # Below '''Address Bar''', select any of the following: #;[[Image:address bar settings 57]] #* '''Browsing history''': suggests pages that you've previously visited. #* '''Bookmarks''': suggests pages that you've bookmarked. #* '''Open tabs''': suggests pages that you have open in another tab. {/for} {for fx78} # [[T:optionspreferences]] # Select the {menu Privacy & Security} panel. # Below '''Address Bar''', select any of the following: #;[[Image:Fx78AddressBarSettings]] #* '''Browsing history''': suggests pages that you've previously visited. #* '''Bookmarks''': suggests pages that you've bookmarked. #* '''Open tabs''': suggests pages that you have open in another tab. #* '''Top sites''': suggests your top sites (if enabled in the {menu Home} panel) when you click in the address bar. {/for} '''Change preferences for search engine suggestions''': To enable or disable search engine suggestions, {for fx78}including suggestions from your Search history, {/for}click this link to be taken to the ''Search'' settings panel. [[Change your default search settings in Firefox|Click here to learn more about changing these settings.]] == Removing autocomplete results == If you want to remove an entry from the autocomplete list: # In the address bar, use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight the entry. # Press {for win,linux}{for not fx68}{key Delete}{/for}{for fx68}{key Shift}+{key Delete}{/for}{/for}{for mac}{key Shift}+{key Delete}{/for} to remove the item from the list. If you want to remove all the history results from the autocomplete list, [[Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox|clear Firefox's browsing history]]. {note}'''Note''': Autocomplete items from bookmarks will not be removed from the results if you attempt to delete them or clear the browsing history. These items have a star. To remove these items, [[Bookmarks in Firefox|delete the associated bookmark]], or [[#w_changing-your-address-bar-settings|exclude bookmarks in the address bar settings]].{/note} == Changing results on the fly == By default, when you type search terms in the address bar, the list under it shows search suggestions from the default search engine, and pages (bookmarks, history, open tabs) where every search term is part of the title, part of a tag or part of the web address (URL). If you are looking for a specific type of result, like a bookmark or open tab, you can speed up the process of finding it by typing in special characters in the address bar separated by spaces: {for fx64} * Add '''<nowiki>^</nowiki>''' to show only matches in your browsing history. * Add '''*''' to show only matches in your bookmarks. * Add '''+''' to show only matches in bookmarks you've tagged. * Add '''%''' to show only matches in your currently open tabs. * Add '''#''' to show only matches where every search term is part of the title or part of a tag. * Add '''$''' to show only matches where every search term is part of the web address (URL). The text "https://" or "http://" in the URL is ignored but not "file:///". * Add '''?''' to show only search suggestions. {/for} {for not fx64} * Add '''<nowiki>^</nowiki>''' to search for matches in your browsing history. * Add '''*''' to search for matches in your bookmarks. * Add '''+''' to search for matches in bookmarks you've tagged. * Add '''%''' to search for matches in your currently open tabs. * Add '''~''' to search for matches in pages you've typed. * Add '''#''' to search for matches in page titles and tags. * Add '''@''' to search for matches in web addresses (URLs). * Add '''$''' to search for matches in suggestions. {/for} For example, if you're looking for a page you bookmarked called ''Mozilla Firefox Support'', you might type ''mozilla''. The autocomplete results appear, but might not show the page you want. You can narrow your results down to bookmarks only by making your search string ''mozilla *'' or ''* mozilla''.