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Is there a way to enable searching websites from the search bar like in Chrome

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  • Last reply by sd3dk92js

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In Chrome, if you type the URL for a website in the omnibar / url bar and then hit tab, you can sometimes search for results on that website. It is awesome for sites like Wikipedia and YouTube. Is there a way to replicate this on Firefox? I know about the search keywords where you can type a flag type of thing first and then get results for a specific site, and I know about the buttons at the bottom of the search suggestions, but is there a way to replicate the way Chrome does it? I have tried both of the methods I mentioned above but none of them quite match the fluidity of Chrome's method. Thanks in advance, and sorry if my question wasn't clear.

In Chrome, if you type the URL for a website in the omnibar / url bar and then hit tab, you can sometimes search for results on that website. It is awesome for sites like Wikipedia and YouTube. Is there a way to replicate this on Firefox? I know about the search keywords where you can type a flag type of thing first and then get results for a specific site, and I know about the buttons at the bottom of the search suggestions, but is there a way to replicate the way Chrome does it? I have tried both of the methods I mentioned above but none of them quite match the fluidity of Chrome's method. Thanks in advance, and sorry if my question wasn't clear.

All Replies (5)

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Hi, yes there is : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/search-web-address-bar

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

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I would love to know the answer to this question too!

I just switched from Chrome to Firefox for privacy reasons.. however losing the convenience of this feature is almost enough to cause me to return to Chrome.

Is there any way we can get this added somewhere as a feature request?

Thanks.

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Pkshadow said

Hi, yes there is : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/search-web-address-bar Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

I don't think your response really answers the question here.

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There are two options:

(1) OpenSearch plugin

This would integrate with the row of icons at the bottom of the address bar autocomplete drop-down. These are available on the add-ons site, or a site may offer one for installation -- click the Page Actions menu icon ••• to see whether an OpenSearch plugin can be added from the current page.

(2) Site search keyword

You can save a site's search box settings with a "keyword". Then to search, you use that keyword. For example, you could assign yt to YouTube search, and then find dog videos using

yt dogs

This article has the steps to set up a site's search box as a Firefox search keyword:

How to search IMDB, Wikipedia and more from the address bar

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jscher2000 said

There are two options: (1) OpenSearch plugin This would integrate with the row of icons at the bottom of the address bar autocomplete drop-down. These are available on the add-ons site, or a site may offer one for installation -- click the Page Actions menu icon ••• to see whether an OpenSearch plugin can be added from the current page. (2) Site search keyword You can save a site's search box settings with a "keyword". Then to search, you use that keyword. For example, you could assign yt to YouTube search, and then find dog videos using yt dogs This article has the steps to set up a site's search box as a Firefox search keyword: How to search IMDB, Wikipedia and more from the address bar

Thanks for the options. Both are useful workarounds, however I still think the way Chrome implements this is much better as it doesn't require any configuration for every individual site. It just works.

Hoping this is a feature which can be considered in future builds.

Cheers.