Address bar autocomplete suggestions in Firefox

Revision Information
  • Revision id: 118128
  • Created:
  • Creator: Underpass
  • Comment: sync'ed sites introduced in fx45
  • Reviewed: Yes
  • Reviewed:
  • Reviewed by: heyjoni
  • Is approved? Yes
  • Is current revision? No
  • Ready for localization: Yes
  • Readied for localization:
  • Readied for localization by: heyjoni
Revision Source
Revision Content

The Firefox location bar, also called the URL bar or address bar, displays a site's web address (URL). We call it the Awesome Bar because it remembers those websites you've visited before, guesses where you're trying to go and displays a list of suggested sites you can choose from. The more you use it, the better it gets. This article covers the details of how the location bar autocomplete feature works and will have you using it like a pro in no time.

The Firefox location bar, also called the URL bar or address bar, displays a site's web address (URL). We call it the Awesome Bar because it remembers those websites you've visited before, guesses where you're trying to go and displays a list of suggested sites or searches you can choose from. The more you use it, the better it gets. This article covers the details of how the location bar autocomplete feature works and will have you using it like a pro in no time.

The location bar can also be used for other types of searches. For more information, you can see:

How to use the autocomplete list

Just start typing in the location bar and the autocomplete drop-down will show matching sites from your browsing history, as well as sites you've bookmarked or tagged. Matched terms are highlighted, making the list of results easy to scan. When you see the site you want, just click on it or use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to highlight it and then press EnterReturn.

Awesome 29 - WinAwesome 29 - MacAwesome 29 - Lin

Just start typing in the location bar and the autocomplete drop-down will show matching sites from your browsing history, sync'ed websites, as well as sites you've bookmarked or tagged. Matched terms are highlighted, making the list of results easy to scan. When you see the site you want, just click on it or use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to highlight it and then press EnterReturn.

Awesome 29 - WinAwesome 29 - MacAwesome 29 - Lin
Firefox will also suggest popular search suggestions from the default search engine. See Use popular search suggestions in the Firefox Search bar and Search suggestions in Firefox for more information.

The part of the entry that matches what you've typed will show in bold. The location bar will display matching results for

  • Web addresses and page titles from your history
  • Page titles, web addresses and tags from your Bookmarks
  • Pages you currently have open in other tabs (see below under Switch to tab)
  • Web addresses and page titles from your history
  • Page titles, web addresses and tags from your Bookmarks
  • Pages you currently have open in other tabs (see below under Switch to tab)
  • Pages that are sync'ed with other devices.

The location bar also learns from your browsing behavior. It adjusts results based on how frequently you visit each site, how recently you visited there, and what result you clicked on for the characters or words typed. This way, sites 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 sites you've been to before, Firefox will also complete the URL in the location 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 EnterReturn in this case would take you directly to that address.

Autocomplete 29 - WinAutocomplete 29 - MacAutocomplete 29 - Lin

Prevent Firefox from automatically completing URLs

If you want to turn off the feature that automatically fills in URLs as you type in the location bar, you can change a preference setting in the Firefox Configuration Editor (about:config page). Follow these steps:

  1. Type about:config in the address bar and press EnterReturn.
    A warning page may appear. Click Accept the Risk and Continue to go to the about:config page.
  2. At the top of the about:config page, type autoFill in the Search field (or scroll through the list to find the browser.urlbar.autoFill preference).
  3. Double-click the browser.urlbar.autoFill preference to set its value to false. (You can then close the about:config page.)
Note: This setting only affects the autocomplete feature that fills in URLs within the location bar. To also turn off or restrict autocomplete results displayed in the drop-down list below the location bar, see How can I control what results the location bar shows me? (below).

Switch to tab

The location 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.

Switch tab 29 - WinSwitch tab 29 - MacSwitch tab 29 - Lin
To turn off the "Switch to tab" option temporarily, press the ALT key while clicking on the site 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.

Search the web

If the location bar doesn't come up with the result you want (or any results), it just means that it isn't in your history, bookmarks or tags. The good news is that you're not out of luck because you can also search the web right from the location bar. Just press EnterReturn and the term you've entered in the location bar will become a search based on your default search engine. For details, see Search the web from the Address Bar.

What can I do to get the best results?

  • When you want to go to a website 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 EnterReturn 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. Clearing browsing history will remove these entries from the results.
  • Bookmark and tag frequently-used pages. The location bar will match on the name you give the bookmark and also tags associated with the bookmark. See the Bookmarks in Firefox 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 location bar shows me?

Changing your location bar settings

You can turn off the location bar autocomplete feature or restrict the results to exclude your open tabs, bookmarks or history:

  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. Select the Privacy panel.
    Awesome Privacy WinAwesome Privacy Mac
  3. Beside When using the location bar, suggest: select any of the following:
    • History and Bookmarks: Use both browsing history and bookmarks in the autocomplete list.
    • History: Use browsing history in the autocomplete list, but don't use bookmarks.
    • Bookmarks: Use bookmarks in the autocomplete list, but don't use browsing history.
    • Nothing: Turn off the autocomplete list.
  4. Close the Settings page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. Select the Privacy panel.
  3. Below Location Bar, select any of the following:
    location bar
    • History: suggests sites that you've previously visited.
    • Bookmarks: suggests sites that you've bookmarked.
    • Open Tabs: suggests sites that you have open in another tab.
  4. Close the Settings page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. Select the Privacy panel.
  3. Below Location Bar, select any of the following:
    location bar settings 43
    • History: suggests sites that you've previously visited.
    • Bookmarks: suggests sites that you've bookmarked.
    • Open Tabs: suggests sites that you have open in another tab.
    • Change preferences for search engine suggestions…: To enable or disable search engine suggestions, click this link to be taken to the Search settings panel. Add a check mark next to Provide search suggestions there to enable search suggestions from your preferred search engine for the Search bar, home page and New Tab page, or remove the check mark to disable them. To enable or disable search engine suggestions for the location bar, add or remove a check mark next to Show search suggestions in location bar results.
  4. Close the Settings page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.

Removing autocomplete results

If you want to remove an entry from the autocomplete list:

  1. In the location bar, use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight the entry.
  2. Press DeleteShift+Delete to remove the item from the list.

If you want to remove all the history results from the autocomplete list, clear Firefox's Browsing History. See the Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox article for instructions.

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, delete the associated bookmark, or exclude bookmarks in the location bar settings.

Changing results on the fly

If you are looking for a specific type of result, like a bookmark or tag, you can speed up the process of finding it by typing in special characters after each search term in the location bar separated by spaces:

  • Add ^ to search for matches in your browsing history.
  • Add * to search for matches in your bookmarks.
  • Add + to search for matches in pages 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.
  • Add @ to search for matches in web addresses (URLs).

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  *.

If you still have too many results, you can further restrict the search by making your search string mozilla  *  support  #. Now the autocomplete list will only show bookmarked pages with mozilla and support in the page title.