Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

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

Hierdie gesprek is in die argief. Vra asseblief 'n nuwe vraag as jy hulp nodig het.

In version 3.x.x I used to be able to type search terms into the address bar and the page would load, similar to Google's "Feeling Lucky" button. Now it just brings up a Google search for the terms I typed in. How can I get this time saving feature back?

  • 1 antwoord
  • 7 hierdie probleem
  • 10 views
  • Laaste antwoord deur TonyE

lactocal
lactocal
more options

In version 3.x.x I used to be able to type search terms into the address bar and the page would load, similar to Google's "Feeling Lucky" button. Now it just brings up a Google search for the terms I typed in. How can I get this time saving feature back?

In version 3.x.x I used to be able to type search terms into the address bar and the page would load, similar to Google's "Feeling Lucky" button. Now it just brings up a Google search for the terms I typed in. How can I get this time saving feature back?

All Replies (1)

TonyE
TonyE
  • Moderator
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