Where did you install Firefox from? Help Mozilla uncover 3rd party websites that offer problematic Firefox installation by taking part in our campaign. There will be swag, and you'll be featured in our blog if you manage to report at least 10 valid reports!

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

In the previous version of FF I could type a term in the address bar and it would auto open that website, now it just performs a google search. Is that a setting I can adjust or is it not available anymore?

  • 2 iimpendulo
  • 7 inale ngxaki
  • Impendulo yokugqibela ngu PegLegg

more options

In the previous version of FF I could type a term in the address bar and it would auto open that website, now it just performs a google search. Is that a setting I can adjust or is it not available anymore?

In the previous version of FF I could type a term in the address bar and it would auto open that website, now it just performs a google search. Is that a setting I can adjust or is it not available anymore?

All Replies (2)

more options

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

more options

Wow Tony, that was fast and very easy to implement. Thanks for your help!