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

Natao arisiva ity resaka mitohy ity. Mametraha fanontaniana azafady raha mila fanampiana.

How to disable auto-selection of URL when clicking in the urlbar?

  • 2 valiny
  • 1 manana an'ity olana ity
  • 8 views
  • Valiny farany nomen'i cor-el

more options

At some point (I usually use the more stable ESR version of Firefox on most computers, so I don't know exactly when), Firefox seems to have changed so that when you click in the urlbar, the entire URL gets highlighted.

In Firefox 77 (I am currently using a computer where the ESR version is not in the distro repo), this seems to have further changed (with the annoying and ugly self-bloating urlbar that many people hate), and even though the text appears to be selected, it is not actually "selected" as far as Linux/X copy/paste is concerned (that is, it has not been copied into the copy clipboard).

In the past, it was convenient for me, and wired into my fingers, to:

  • click just once in the appropriate place in the urlbar to activate it, if I wanted to edit an URL (eg, fix typo, change a parameter, etc),
  • to double-click to select the whole URL and automagically copy it into the X copy clipboard. I could then just middle-click to paste the URL elsewhere for further use (eg, into an email). Anyone who uses X regularly knows that this is an essential core feature and part of everyday workflow.

This new auto-selection feature does not appear to work properly with X copy/paste: it seems that I now have to triple-click:

  • once to activate the urlbar (and (only) "select" the URL),
  • again to unselect the URL,
  • and, finally, a third time to re-select the URL and trigger the X select/copy function.

Is there a way to revert the previous behaviour, so that the urlbar is only "activated" with single-click, and requires double-click to actually select/copy the URL?

At some point (I usually use the more stable ESR version of Firefox on most computers, so I don't know exactly when), Firefox seems to have changed so that when you click in the urlbar, the entire URL gets highlighted. In Firefox 77 (I am currently using a computer where the ESR version is not in the distro repo), this seems to have further changed (with the annoying and ugly self-bloating urlbar that many people hate), and even though the text ''appears'' to be selected, it is not actually "selected" as far as Linux/X copy/paste is concerned (that is, it has not been copied into the copy clipboard). In the past, it was convenient for me, and wired into my fingers, to: * '''click just once''' in the appropriate place in the urlbar to activate it, if I wanted to edit an URL (eg, fix typo, change a parameter, etc), * to '''double-click''' to select the whole URL and automagically copy it into the X copy clipboard. I could then just middle-click to paste the URL elsewhere for further use (eg, into an email). Anyone who uses X regularly knows that this is an essential core feature and part of everyday workflow. This new auto-selection feature does not appear to work properly with X copy/paste: it seems that I now have to '''triple-click''': * once to activate the urlbar (and (only) "select" the URL), * again to unselect the URL, * and, finally, a third time to re-select the URL and trigger the X select/copy function. Is there a way to revert the previous behaviour, so that the urlbar is only "activated" with single-click, and requires double-click to actually select/copy the URL?

All Replies (2)

more options

Hello,

You may have seen a post or received a notification regarding support for Firefox or Thunderbird with a link to another site or a phone number being posted. This is a scam and is not a method to receive support from Mozilla. Mozilla does not have telephone or email support. Please do not click on the link and do not interact by calling any phone numbers or email addresses listed. I apologize for any inconvenience caused. You are currently posting on the official Mozilla website and will receive assistance here.

more options

Unfortunately it isn't possible to revert to the previous state used on Linux where clicking once didn't visually select the URL.

In particular on Linux a single click selects all without primary selection, a double click selects a word, and a triple click selects all with primary selection (bug 333714#c32)

The two clickSelectsAll prefs are no longer supported in Firefox 75 and newer and you will have to get used to the new behavior.

  • Bug 1621570 - browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll=false has no effect since 75b1
  • Bug 333714 - browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll should default to true on all platforms [75]

(please do not comment in bug reports
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html
)