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Opening a new tab puts the cursor at the beginning of the URL instead of highlighting it. How do I change it to automatically highlight the URL?

  • 6 replies
  • 4 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Before upgrading to Firefox Quantum whenever I would open a new tab, it would automatically highlight the URL. Now it puts the cursor at the beginning of the URL instead, forcing me to press ctrl+A to highlight it before typing in a new address.

As an example: My homepage is set to https://www.google.com (I am using the New Tab Override extension to automatically redirect to google in new tabs). When I open a new tab, it opens google like normal, but rather than the URL being highlighted, the cursor is placed at the beginning of the address, so if I type "youtube" for example after opening a new tab, it comes out as "youtubehttps://www.google.com".

Is there any way I can get the URL to automatically highlight upon opening a new tab or am I forever doomed to press ctrl+a before typing in the address I want to go to?

Before upgrading to Firefox Quantum whenever I would open a new tab, it would automatically highlight the URL. Now it puts the cursor at the beginning of the URL instead, forcing me to press ctrl+A to highlight it before typing in a new address. As an example: My homepage is set to https://www.google.com (I am using the New Tab Override extension to automatically redirect to google in new tabs). When I open a new tab, it opens google like normal, but rather than the URL being highlighted, the cursor is placed at the beginning of the address, so if I type "youtube" for example after opening a new tab, it comes out as "youtubehttps://www.google.com". Is there any way I can get the URL to automatically highlight upon opening a new tab or am I forever doomed to press ctrl+a before typing in the address I want to go to?

All Replies (6)

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Please Refresh but do this 1st:

then

TEST....... If no issues then Extensions which need to be added back in 1 at a time and tested ..... Or it is your Profile : Make a new one and test ...:

If is your Profile :

Note: Any customization will revert back to default, you will also need to reinstall Extensions.

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

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I appreciate the help. I tried the above but it did not solve my problem.

It seems as though I must choose between having new tabs automatically direct me to a homepage of my choosing with the use of the New Tab Override extension, or being able to immediately type in a new URL upon opening a new tab by using about:home.

I suppose I will just have to deal with doing the latter.

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You can check this pref on the about:config page.

  • browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll = true

There is also this pref that I personally like better in case you want the edit the URL.

  • browser.urlbar.doubleClickSelectsAll

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.

Modified by cor-el

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The clickSelectsAll option is set to true.

What I hoped to accomplish is to save myself from having to click the URL bar to highlight it. I want it to be automatically highlighted upon opening a new tab, but I also want my new tabs to automatically direct to my selected homepage rather than about:home.

It seems I have to choose between using the about:home page which lets me immediately type in a URL, OR using the New Tab Override extension which automatically opens my homepage without having to click the home button, but puts the cursor at the beginning of the URL rather than highlighting it.

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The other possibly less inconvenient thing you could do -- assuming you made Google your new tab page in order to search using the search box on that page -- is configure New Tab Override to move the cursor into the page when you load it. Then when you want to use the address bar, use a keyboard shortcut to focus the bar, which will simultaneously select the current URL:

  • F6
  • Ctrl+L
  • Alt+D
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You can of course always press F6 twice to get the URL highlighted as a one hand workaround.