Delete Entry From Address Bar Autocomplete / Autofill
The official answer is shift-delete, but this no longer works (Linux v 38.2.0). That action makes the item disappear from the list, until you hit backspace or another character, when it (and all the others like it you just deleted) come right back.
How do I ERASE the entry from where ever Firefox keeps its "secret history" that isn't in the history I am allowed to see and edit?
Better still, why not simply have the autocomplete use the "official" History, so when a user deletes an item from History, it is completely and totally gone from their computer forever, as the user would obviously want. Is it a "feature" to preserve things we delete?
I don't want to erase my entire profile, which I suppose would solve the problem, because then I have to spend hours fixing the GUI with all the plugins required to make it useable, again.
All Replies (3)
On Windows, removing a "history-based" entry from the autocomplete drop-down still works (either Delete or Shift+Delete) (Remove websites from the address bar suggestions). I believe what it does is mark the entry in the history database (places.sqlite) not to be shown as a suggestion.
If you can't see what's in history AND you can't mark history not to be shown as an autocomplete suggestion, there could be a problem with your places database. There is an extension which can run some maintenance tasks on the database. I don't fully understand how it works, but you can start reading about it here: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/
As you probably know, the autocomplete drop-down also displays bookmark-based suggestions; these should be marked with a star icon to distinguish them from history-based suggestions. Those would need to be removed from your bookmarks, or you can prevent Firefox from displaying bookmarks by changing a setting on the Preferences page: https://support.mozilla.org/kb/awesome-bar-search-firefox-bookmarks....
JKff22 said
The official answer is shift-delete, but this no longer works (Linux v 38.2.0). That action makes the item disappear from the list, until you hit backspace or another character, when it (and all the others like it you just deleted) come right back. How do I ERASE the entry from where ever Firefox keeps its "secret history" that isn't in the history I am allowed to see and edit? Better still, why not simply have the autocomplete use the "official" History, so when a user deletes an item from History, it is completely and totally gone from their computer forever, as the user would obviously want. Is it a "feature" to preserve things we delete? I don't want to erase my entire profile, which I suppose would solve the problem, because then I have to spend hours fixing the GUI with all the plugins required to make it useable, again.
Partial Answer - Go to Preferences, Privacy-tab, then uncheck the "open tabs" checkbox.
But I still want to know how to actually 'delete' / 'erase' the data - not just filter it. I want some addresses to be remembered, but want a way to completely remove selected addresses.
Edit: Thanks jscher2000, just saw your post. I'll try that tool to see if something is broken.
Modified by JKff22
Shift + Delete is for Mac. On Windows and Linux the Delete key should work.
See also:
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Clearing+Location+bar+history
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Cannot+clear+Location+bar+history
You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database file (bookmarks, history) in the Firefox profile folder.
- Places Maintenance: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/
If the Places Maintenance extension can't repair the places.sqlite database file then remove all places.sqlite file(s) in the Firefox profile folder to make Firefox rebuild the places.sqlite database file from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.