Firefox Address Bar Search: Getting More Out of the Awesome Bar

The Firefox address bar (called the Awesome Bar) does more than navigate URLs. Here's a complete reference for making it more useful.

Basic Behavior

When you type in the address bar, Firefox searches:

1. Your browsing history
2. Your bookmarks
3. Open tabs
4. Search engine suggestions (from your default search engine)

The results are ranked by frequency and recency. Pages you visit often show up higher.

Search Mode Shortcuts

Type one of these characters followed by a space to restrict search to a specific source:

Character + Space	Searches
*	Bookmarks only
^	History only
%	Open tabs only
+	Tags
?	Search engine only (no history/bookmarks)
@	Specific search engine (see below)

Example: type % stackoverflow to search only your open tabs for "stackoverflow". Faster than scrolling through many tabs.

@engine Search Mode

Type @ in the address bar to see available search engines. Select one to activate it, then type your query.

Example: type @ → select Google → type your search. This runs the search through Google specifically, even if your default is DuckDuckGo.

You can also type @g for Google (or whatever you've named it) followed by space and a search query.

Adding Custom Search Engines

Firefox lets you add custom search shortcuts for any site with a search function:

1. Go to the site's search page
2. Right-click the search field
3. "Add a Keyword for this Search..."
4. Give it a keyword (e.g., "npm")

Now type npm react in the address bar to search npm directly.

This works for: GitHub (gh react hooks), npm (npm lodash), MDN (mdn css grid), or any site with URL-based search.

MDN example:

1. Go to developer.mozilla.org
2. Search something
3. Copy the URL pattern (e.g., https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/search?q=%s)
4. Settings → Search → Add search engine → use %s as the placeholder for your query

Search from the Context Menu

Right-click selected text on any page → "Search [Search Engine] for '...'"

This uses your default search engine and opens a new tab.

Address Bar Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Focus address bar	Ctrl+L or Alt+D
Open in new tab	Alt+Enter after typing
Force URL navigation	Add www. prefix or / to avoid search
Cycle through suggestions	↓ / ↑ arrows
Remove a suggestion	Shift+Delete on highlighted suggestion

Alt+Enter is useful: type a search query or URL in the address bar, press Alt+Enter to open in a new tab instead of the current tab.

Shift+Delete removes an item from your history/bookmarks suggestions without opening it. Useful for cleaning up embarrassing results.

Adjusting Address Bar Behavior in about:config

// Number of results shown in dropdown
browser.urlbar.maxRichResults = 10  (default: 10, increase to see more)

// Show search suggestions from search engine
browser.search.suggest.enabled = true/false

// Include search suggestions in private windows
browser.search.suggest.enabled.private = false  (keep false for privacy)

// Delay before showing suggestions
browser.urlbar.delay = 50  (milliseconds)

Address Bar for Tab Management

With % mode, you can navigate between tabs by typing part of the URL or title:

1. Press Ctrl+L to focus address bar
2. Type % (percent + space)
3. Type part of the tab title or URL
4. Enter to switch to that tab

This is faster than clicking through a crowded tab bar, especially with 20+ tabs open.

For more comprehensive tab management (saving named sessions, restoring specific contexts), Tab Manager & Session Saver builds on this — you can save your current context, close those tabs, and restore later.

Address Bar in Private Mode

In Private Browsing windows, the address bar works the same but:

• History from private sessions doesn't appear in suggestions
• Search suggestions may behave differently depending on your settings

To keep search engine suggestions out of private windows: about:config → browser.search.suggest.enabled.private = false

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The Awesome Bar is one of Firefox's underrated features. The % tab search and custom keyword search engines alone save significant time once you integrate them into your workflow.