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Disable URL autocomplete for history suggestions

Davox
Davox
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I try to type a URL I visit a lot, like usbank, but typing `us` auto-populates us-west turbotax (a site I visit during tax month), I hit Enter after `us` thinking it put usbank in there, and end up going to turbotax... this is so annoying. Note that URL auto-complete is the feature I'm talking about:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/address-bar-autocomplete-firefox#w_url-autocomplete

I go to usbank several times per month. I visit turbotax several times per year. `us` isn't intuitive with turbotax, but it is intuitive with usbank. Firefox thinks I mean the less-visited URL for some reason. I have usbank bookmarked, I don't have the turbotax link bookmarked; why is Firefox auto-completing a less-used non-bookmarked URL over a more-used bookmarked URL?!

I know I can disable URL auto-complete by going to about:config and searching for browser.urlbar.autofill then setting it from true to false. However, this would also prevent usbank and other useful URLs I do mean to go to from auto-completing. How do we make Firefox smart, and use the more-often bookmarked URL over the less-used non-bookmarked URL? I'm pretty sure Chrome is smart about it; it seems to populate what I use more, and stops auto-populating non-bookmarked URLs that I haven't used in a while.

I try to type a URL I visit a lot, like usbank, but typing `us` auto-populates us-west turbotax (a site I visit during tax month), I hit Enter after `us` thinking it put usbank in there, and end up going to turbotax... this is so annoying. Note that URL auto-complete is the feature I'm talking about: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/address-bar-autocomplete-firefox#w_url-autocomplete I go to usbank several times per month. I visit turbotax several times per year. `us` isn't intuitive with turbotax, but it is intuitive with usbank. Firefox thinks I mean the less-visited URL for some reason. I have usbank bookmarked, I don't have the turbotax link bookmarked; why is Firefox auto-completing a less-used non-bookmarked URL over a more-used bookmarked URL?! I know I can disable URL auto-complete by going to about:config and searching for browser.urlbar.autofill then setting it from true to false. However, this would also prevent usbank and other useful URLs I do mean to go to from auto-completing. How do we make Firefox smart, and use the more-often bookmarked URL over the less-used non-bookmarked URL? I'm pretty sure Chrome is smart about it; it seems to populate what I use more, and stops auto-populating non-bookmarked URLs that I haven't used in a while.

All Replies (3)

Amelia
Amelia
more options

Hello,

You seem to be able to remove suggestions via the keyboard shortcut Shift+Delete.

See more information here Address bar autocomplete suggestions in Firefox

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Maybe type more characters (usb) to see if that brings up 'usbank'.

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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I've never looked up exactly how autofill matches are generated, but I suspect they are mostly alphabetical.

You could consider creating a bookmark keyword as a workaround. Here's how:

(1) Open the US Bank page you want to load

(2) Right-click the tab for that page up on the tab bar, and then click Bookmark Tab -- this should open a floating panel

(3) The fourth field on the panel is the Keyword field, where you can enter us or other short text you want to navigate directly to that page (before saving, you also can edit the bookmark name if needed) -- then click Save

Now, when you type your keyword in the address bar, the top line of the drop-down should show that if you were to press Enter right then, your bookmarked site will be loaded.

Note: If you already have a bookmark for the site, you can add a keyword by right-clicking the bookmark (on the menu or in the Bookmarks Sidebar) and clicking Edit Bookmark. Unfortunately, the dialog that drops from the blue star icon in the address bar doesn't display the Keyword field.