Thread: Considering only typed addresses when auto-completing in Firefox2.X,3.X

When auto-completing address entries, Firefox offers numerous options. The data not only stems from the previously entered addresses, but also from the bookmarks and the history. That is rather messy.

With a tweak in the advanced configuration you can restrict the selection to those pages which you have entered directly. For that, enter 'about:config' in the address line and press Enter. Confirm the warning with a click on 'I'll be careful, I promise'. In the list, search for the entry 'browser.urlbar.matchonlytyped' and double-click on it to change it. Change the value to 'true'. If it doesn't exist right click on the empty space and select 'New I Boolean' and select 'True' as the default value.

In the future, only entries that have been previously typed will appear. The list is however not changed immediately, since this setting only changes the way Firefox auto-saves addresses. To be able to view the change you will need to delete the browser history. When you want to get rid of an undesired entry immediately, keep the mouse cursor on it and press [Shift]+[Del].

To completely clean the Firefox history, select 'Tools I Clear Private Data'. In the following dialog, keep only the 'History' option activated and click on 'Clear now'. However, remember that the entire surfing history will be deleted. Therefore, for frequently used pages, always use a bookmark.