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Previously when I typed "Guardian" into the address bar, Firefox would rightly guess I meant 'www.' and '.co.uk' and would take me there; now it searches it in Google rather than use its previous initiative. How can I return to the good old days?

  • 3 respostas
  • 8 have this problem
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  • Last reply by TonyE

I used to type in 'Guardian', 'NatWest', 'Tate' et cetera into my address bar without adding the prefix 'www.' or suffixes '.com' / '.co.uk'. On most occasions, and with most websites, Firefox would have the initiative to presume, correctly, that I meant (www.) Guardian.co.uk, NatWest.com or Tate.org.uk.

Now, however, in the latest version of Firefox, doing the same as I've grown accustomed to, it searches for that word in Google. My destination is invariably the top answer, and it's obvious where I want to get to when I type that word.

I should very much like to be able to return to the old, lazy way. All the 'www.'s and '.com's on websites seem so superfluous anyway. I type Guardian, I want the Guardian wesbite! Not Google - otherwise I'd type Google!

Your help would be most appreciated. Thank you,


J Eden

I used to type in 'Guardian', 'NatWest', 'Tate' et cetera into my address bar without adding the prefix 'www.' or suffixes '.com' / '.co.uk'. On most occasions, and with most websites, Firefox would have the initiative to presume, correctly, that I meant (www.) Guardian.co.uk, NatWest.com or Tate.org.uk. Now, however, in the latest version of Firefox, doing the same as I've grown accustomed to, it searches for that word in Google. My destination is invariably the top answer, and it's obvious where I want to get to when I type that word. I should very much like to be able to return to the old, lazy way. All the 'www.'s and '.com's on websites seem so superfluous anyway. I type Guardian, I want the Guardian wesbite! Not Google - otherwise I'd type Google! Your help would be most appreciated. Thank you, J Eden

Chosen solution

The change between Firefox 3.6.* and Firefox 4 is how location bar search works. In Firefox 3.6 it uses Google "Browse by name" search. With the browse by name search, it performs a Google search and if there is a clear match it will take you to the site, otherwise it shows the Google search result. With Firefox 4 it just performs a Google search if you type something which is not recognised as a URL.

To get the Firefox 3.6 behaviour on Firefox 4 you need to change a hidden preference.

  1. Type about:config into the location bar and press enter
  2. Accept the warning message that appears, you will be taken to a list of preferences
  3. Locate the preference keyword.URL, double-click on it and change its value to the link shown below

http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=

If you prefer, you can also do this by installing the Browse by Name extension - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/browse-by-name

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Chosen Solution

The change between Firefox 3.6.* and Firefox 4 is how location bar search works. In Firefox 3.6 it uses Google "Browse by name" search. With the browse by name search, it performs a Google search and if there is a clear match it will take you to the site, otherwise it shows the Google search result. With Firefox 4 it just performs a Google search if you type something which is not recognised as a URL.

To get the Firefox 3.6 behaviour on Firefox 4 you need to change a hidden preference.

  1. Type about:config into the location bar and press enter
  2. Accept the warning message that appears, you will be taken to a list of preferences
  3. Locate the preference keyword.URL, double-click on it and change its value to the link shown below

http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=

If you prefer, you can also do this by installing the Browse by Name extension - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/browse-by-name

Dear TonyE,

Thank you ever so much, it's all fixed! A spectacular return to form. Your help is most appreciated, I'm thrilled to return to the lazy days of browser assumptions - truly the glory days. It was very kind of you to help me, and with such speed; I applaud you.


With thanks,

J Eden

You're welcome