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Can address bar search both Bookmarks and Tabs?

  • 8 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by theherk

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It doesn't seem the address bar can search both Bookmarks and Open tabs without modifiers.

I am using Firefox v89.0.2 on macOS Big Sur. In Settings > Search > Search Suggestion, Change settings for other address bar suggestions, if I select Bookmarks and Open tabs I can search Bookmarks but NOT Open tabs. Bookmarks seems to be the only option that causes Open tabs to stop being searchable.

I can of course use `cmd l` then add `%` to the search, which does allow searching open tabs, but without it no such luck. I think this is a bug, but I am hesitant to file one without asking first.

Just to be very clear, assuming I have a bookmark "bookmark" and an open tab "tab":

  • both options enabled
    • "book" finds my bookmark
    • "tab" does not find my open tab
    • "% tab" does find my open tab
  • only Bookmark enabled (same)
  • only Open tabs enabled
    • "book" does not find my open tab (expected)
    • "tab" does find my open tab
It doesn't seem the address bar can search both Bookmarks and Open tabs without modifiers. I am using Firefox v89.0.2 on macOS Big Sur. In Settings > Search > Search Suggestion, Change settings for other address bar suggestions, if I select Bookmarks and Open tabs I can search Bookmarks but NOT Open tabs. Bookmarks seems to be the only option that causes Open tabs to stop being searchable. I can of course use `cmd l` then add `%` to the search, which does allow searching open tabs, but without it no such luck. I think this is a bug, but I am hesitant to file one without asking first. Just to be very clear, assuming I have a bookmark "bookmark" and an open tab "tab": * both options enabled ** "book" finds my bookmark ** "tab" does not find my open tab ** "% tab" does find my open tab * only Bookmark enabled (same) * only Open tabs enabled ** "book" does not find my open tab (expected) ** "tab" does find my open tab

All Replies (8)

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https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/address-bar-autocomplete-firefox Current Firefox: Menu → Options → Search → scroll down to Search Suggestions section and select or deselect the options you wish.

Older versions: Type about:preferences#privacy<enter> in the address bar. At the bottom of the page, find Location or Address Bar.

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I fear you have answered the question in the title without reading the question. I have set the options accordingly. Each works in isolation, but not correctly when combined.

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Start Firefox using Troubleshoot(Safe) Mode {web link}

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Troubleshoot(Safe) Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

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FredMcD said

Start Firefox using Troubleshoot(Safe) Mode {web link} A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Troubleshoot(Safe) Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

Yes. I just enabled troubleshooting mode, turned off all address bar suggestion options except Bookmarks and Open tabs, and retested. Same results.

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Note that you can easily switch between the various result types by clicking the last three icons on the search engine select bar at the bottom of the drop-down list (star:bookmark, open tabs, history) to get the appropriate label in the location bar.

Seems to be working for me in some cases. I have some boolmarked websites on a domain opened in tabs and if I type the first characters then I see both switch to tab entries and bookmarked items for this domain that aren't opened that have a star attached in the drop-down list. On the other hand, if I type the first letters of another tab where I have another page for this domain bookmarked then I only see either the tab or the bookmark depending on which of the three select buttons I click.

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Normally Firefox searches all the sources -- bookmarks, history, open tabs -- at once. Currently, there isn't a way to specify "except" history or any other combination of two out of three, and with the default maximum of 10 results, you might not get what you're looking for. Would it be helpful to increase the number of results? Here's how you would do that:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste browser.urlbar.maxRichResults and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the preference to display an editing field, and change the value to 15 then press Enter or click the blue check mark button to save the change. Does that help at all?

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox.

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cor-ei: I can get specific results via clicking the option or simply by adding %, but I'm trying to return both results, to minimize input.

jscher2000: That is constructive troubleshooting, too, so thank you. However, I don't know that it would matter since the returned set pre-filter is the same size in either case, unless the filtered set is greater than that max value, which it isn't. But to be thorough, I upped the limit to 20, and verified the results are the same.

I have also checked this on my M1 Macbook Air running Firefox v88.0.1. The outcome is the same. I cannot check search Bookmarks and Open tabs.

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This is now added to bugzilla here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1719610