Cannot change default search engine for address bar
Everytime I try to search using the address bar firefox searches in youtube. I tried going to about:config to reset keyword.url, but keyword.url isn't even listed in the config list. I tried manually in a keyword.url preference but it doesn't change anything.
Isisombululo esikhethiwe
Feature change for Firefox 23, the keyword.URL pref was removed. The Search box now controls the search engine which is used in the Location bar.
This restores that pref.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/keywordurl-hack/
All Replies (5)
Isisombululo Esikhethiwe
Feature change for Firefox 23, the keyword.URL pref was removed. The Search box now controls the search engine which is used in the Location bar.
This restores that pref.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/keywordurl-hack/
Why was this done? I use the search box to search Wikipedia directly when I'm looking up something. When I want to search Google I use the address bar.
What's the point of two separate fields when both of them do the same thing?
Make it so that when both the address bar and the search box point to the same URL, only the address bar appears and when they're different URLs are set both of them appear.
The search engine that is used in the location bar is the search engine that is selected in the search Bar on the Navigation Toolbar.
You can disable automatic searching via the location bar by setting keyword.enabled to false and use a (one letter) keyword search to use a specific search engine instead to search via the location bar.
Another possibility is to disable keyword search (keyword.enable = false) and use a (one letter) keyword search for searching via the location bar.
You can set a keyword for an installed search engine via Manage Search Engines (click the search engines icon on the search bar).
That also allows to switch easily between search engines when searching via the location bar and you also do not have a problem with one word searches.
See also:
- Keyword Search: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/keyword-search/
The Instantfox add-on allows one letter prefixes (so you can choose where to search by typing 'g' for 'google' or 'y' for 'youtube' e before the search term), but more importantly it allows you to set the search engine for unprefixed searches in the address bar, so you can set Google as your permanent address bar search engine again. Just selected the 'Standard search without prefix' option.
Firefox uses the search engine selected in the search box in the upper right, even if you are typing in the address bar. If you don't have a search bar in the top right (because it is pointless and takes up space), an easy solution is to put one there for a minut to fix this issue.
What you do is right-click on the add-ons area, hit 'customize,' drag-drop the search bar in, change it to the search engine you want, and the drag-remove the bar back out. Voila! it will now search the last engine selected. P.S. If you are using Linux Mint (because you rock) you may want to check out this page while your at it: