# Chrome browser - I HATE the "omnibox"! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531 "2014-09-25T15:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/1 "2014-09-25T15:15:35Z")
I want my separate search box back. When I knnow the address of a site I’m used to just typing [sitename.org](http://sitename.org) and hitting enter, now in chrome it takes me to google first. Oh wise techies, is there a way around this? I was using Firefox but the newest version isn’t playing well with one of my work sites, so Chrome it is. Help? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/2 "2014-09-25T15:33:47Z")
If you type [sitename.org](http://sitename.org), it should go to [sitename.org](http://sitename.org). Are you pushing Ctrl-K by any chance to get to the omnibar? That forces a search, but otherwise it shouldn’t Google a domain unless it was invalid. Disabling other omnibar behaviors: [How to Disable Omnibox in Chrome?](http://browsernative.com/disable-omnibox-chrome-263/) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/3 "2014-09-25T15:34:06Z")
My Chrome doesn’t do that. If I type in a valid web address, it takes me to that address. If I type in a non-address, it takes me to a Google search. ETA: I’m replying to the OP, not the first reply which wasn’t there when I typed it! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/4 "2014-09-25T15:38:24Z")
I haven’t had that experience with Chrome, it is really good at parsing website addresses and taking you straight there. Same with Firefox. What .org address takes you to Google and not to the site? Note that if you type something like **rotary. org** (with a space) rather than **[rotary.org](http://rotary.org)** it would take you to search. Also, if you want to ensure you’ll go to a website start the address with http://, like **[http://rotary.org](http://rotary.org)** ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/5 "2014-09-25T15:41:09Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Also, if you want to ensure you’ll go to a website start the address with http://, like **[http://rotary.org](http://rotary.org)** You don’t need to do that. [rotary.org](http://rotary.org) takes you to [rotary.org](http://rotary.org)… ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/6 "2014-09-25T15:55:12Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > You don’t need to do that. [rotary.org](http://rotary.org) takes you to [rotary.org](http://rotary.org)… Yes I know. But I’m just saying that if OP has somehow found a condition where typing [something.org](http://something.org) doesn’t take you to the site, then http:// would force Chrome to connect directly to the site. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/7 "2014-09-26T01:02:34Z")
Sometimes in Chrome, I type a site address, and it gives me a search result…with the site at the top. Not often enough that I’ve figured out the triggers - I suspect it might have to do with the auto-completion attempts along the way, and me editing the text before hitting enter. Most of the time, things just work for me there. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/8 "2014-09-26T01:21:55Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Yes I know. But I’m just saying that if OP has somehow found a condition where typing [something.org](http://something.org) doesn’t take you to the site, then http:// would force Chrome to connect directly to the site. You can also just type a single slash after the name. This normally comes up in the context of intranet sites that don’t have a .com/.org/etc. at the end. In other words, “intranetsite” alone doesn’t work, but “intranetsite/” does. After the first use, though, Chrome seems to remember and no longer needs the slash. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/9 "2014-09-26T04:01:56Z")
> [@saje](#): > > I was using Firefox but the newest version isn’t playing well with one of my work sites, so Chrome it is. I just installed an earlier version of FireFox and told it not to update itself. I’m using 27. I don’t really like Chrome as well. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/10 "2014-09-26T04:12:00Z")
[conspiracy theory] It would be pretty suspicious if it consistently did this for sites that had paid ads display above search results. But Google would \*never \*do something like that! [/CT] ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/11 "2014-09-27T16:15:17Z")
I’ve had it do that: go to search when I wanted the specific address. It might be that this only happens when the specific address is not reachable, and overriding that to get the HTML error is simple as stated above. I’ve also gone nuts over way-too-eager auto-complete. I don’t remember whether which browsers do it (I use MSIE, Firefox, and Chrome regularly), but some of them autocomplete without my hitting tab or anything, and if what I want is NOT the autocompleted thing, I have to do silly stuff like add a space and then backspace. Drives me nuts! Do what I say, not what you think I meant to say! The other thing that drives me a bit nuts is that autocomplete works differently in different contexts (not sure whether it’s per-browser or depends on the context in a webpage, etc.) so I tend to forget, do I hit tab, or cursor-down, or do I have to click? I don’t pay attention to the details, but am certain that what works in some cases absolutely does not in others. Sigh. That’s the price for using multiple browsers, but I had little choice when I started down that road. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-browser-i-hate-the-omnibox/699531/12 "2014-09-27T16:46:48Z")
Yeah, I ended up turning off the autocomplete and it seems to have solved the problem. Thanks all!