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Is there a way to change the behavior of the URL bar in such a way that it doesn't perform a DNS lookup on input that clearly isn't a website?(I want search :)

  • 4 replies
  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by bmeininger

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Chrome, for example, does not perform a DNS lookup if the input does not look like a valid website, instead it perform a search within the default search engine.

I think that if the URL bar behaved in a similar way, it would increase the user experience by a great deal. I really like Firefox and have been using it for a couple of years, but these are things that really annoy me as a webdeveloper.

The only big flaw I find in the Chrome version of handling URL bar input is that one cannot add custom upper level domains to Chrome, which makes working with with internal upper level domain websites rather annoying.

Chrome, for example, does not perform a DNS lookup if the input does not look like a valid website, instead it perform a search within the default search engine. I think that if the URL bar behaved in a similar way, it would increase the user experience by a great deal. I really like Firefox and have been using it for a couple of years, but these are things that really annoy me as a webdeveloper. The only big flaw I find in the Chrome version of handling URL bar input is that one cannot add custom upper level domains to Chrome, which makes working with with internal upper level domain websites rather annoying.

Chosen solution

See also:


You can also add a ((one letter) keyword to a search engine and use this keyword in the location bar to select/use a specific search engine.

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hello, firefox will trigger a search from the address bar instead of a dns lookup if you are entering two words or more.

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Chosen Solution

See also:


You can also add a ((one letter) keyword to a search engine and use this keyword in the location bar to select/use a specific search engine.

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Hi philipp and cor-el,

Thanks to the both of you for your replies.

@philipp, I have noticed this, but it's not really the solution I was looking for.

@cor-el, I will check out the links and see if they have to offer me anything

Kind regards

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I have checked out your links cor-el, and found that turning off: 'browser.fixup.alternate.enabled' does the trick.

Thanks a lot!