Windows 10 reached EOS (end of support) on October 14, 2025. If you are on Windows 10, see this article.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More
Solved Archived

How to make FF findbar automatically search selected text?

he.jia.phy

Hi FF experts,

On my old windows laptop, I remember that if I select something and press ctrl+F, it will automatically look for what I have selected. Now I get a new macbook, I find that this feature disappears: command+F will ignore my selected content and just start with my last search. Is this the expected behavior for Mac FF? Can I make it also automatically search my selected text?

FYI, I'm using the latest FF 90.0.2 on both laptops. Thanks!

Hi FF experts, On my old windows laptop, I remember that if I select something and press ctrl+F, it will automatically look for what I have selected. Now I get a new macbook, I find that this feature disappears: command+F will ignore my selected content and just start with my last search. Is this the expected behavior for Mac FF? Can I make it also automatically search my selected text? FYI, I'm using the latest FF 90.0.2 on both laptops. Thanks!

All Replies (2)

Chosen Solution

You can check accessibility.typeaheadfind prefs on the about:config page to see whether some have been changed.

  • accessibility.typeaheadfind.prefillwithselection = true

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can click the button to "Accept the Risk and Continue".

cor-el 说

You can check accessibility.typeaheadfind prefs on the about:config page to see whether some have been changed.
  • accessibility.typeaheadfind.prefillwithselection = true
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can click the button to "Accept the Risk and Continue".

Thanks for the quick reply! This solution works for me.