This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Can I change the behaviour of text selection in the address bar

  • 7 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

When I select text in the address bar, Firefox defaults to appending what I type, rather than replacing the selected text.

This is frustrating because it is different from just about everything else in Windows, where selecting text & then typing replaces the text.

If I want to append something to a URL, I'd click at the end & start typing.

When I select text in the address bar, Firefox defaults to appending what I type, rather than replacing the selected text. This is frustrating because it is different from just about everything else in Windows, where selecting text & then typing replaces the text. If I want to append something to a URL, I'd click at the end & start typing.

Chosen solution

Have you tried pressing the <Insert> key?

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (7)

more options

Chosen Solution

Have you tried pressing the <Insert> key?

more options

Why didn't I think of that!

Thanks

more options

Glad to help. Safe Surfing.

more options

Thinking about it, I'm not aware of any other application in which the insert key works this way. It normally changes the behaviour of typing when there is no text selected. And is a 'toggle', rather than a permanent change of behaviour!

more options

This is not standard behavior as far as I know.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Appearance
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
more options

cor-el said

This is not standard behavior as far as I know.

Which? The behaviour I complained about, or the solution I was given?

more options

Both. I've never seen Firefox not replacing selected text when you start typing, but I'm not on Windows so can't check this platform. Firefox has never honored the Insert key as far as I know, so I'm surprised that it works for you, but you already had a weird and not standard issue in the first place. It is possible that this is a Windows 10 feature that Firefox supports for this platform.