# Ctrl-entar shortcut for the Address bar in IE **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-entar-shortcut-for-the-address-bar-in-ie/169251 "2003-04-17T04:46:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-entar-shortcut-for-the-address-bar-in-ie/169251/1 "2003-04-17T04:46:10Z")
My work PC has lost this function. I use it quite a bit and I can’t for the life of me figure out how to turn it back on. I figured it would be in Tools/internet options/advanced but I can’t seem to find it. Several other people use this computer and often odd things have been done to it. This one is really bothering me and googling has helped me none because of the vagueness of the search terms (add in the fact that I’m an idiot). The other shortcuts I use work like Ctrl-N, Alt- left arrow, ctrl-F,etc. ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-entar-shortcut-for-the-address-bar-in-ie/169251/2 "2003-04-17T04:58:07Z")
Pisser. I forgot to mention that it is Win ME (stop laughing) running IE 6.0. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-entar-shortcut-for-the-address-bar-in-ie/169251/3 "2003-04-17T05:22:58Z")
Try shift-tab a couple of times until it’s highlighted worked for me. but it probably depends what the ‘active object’ is ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-entar-shortcut-for-the-address-bar-in-ie/169251/4 "2003-04-17T10:11:13Z")
Thank you, but thats not what I meant. If you type something into the address bar, say “google”, if you hit ctrl-enter, it adds in all the “[http://www.XXXXX.com](http://www.XXXXX.com)”. So instead of carefully mousing or typing in all that crap, I type in “fark” and hit ctrl-enter and BAM, I’m at [http://www.fark.com](http://www.fark.com). This computer has lost that ability. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-entar-shortcut-for-the-address-bar-in-ie/169251/5 "2003-04-17T14:57:46Z")
Go to **Tools|Internet Options**. Select the **Content** tab and click **AutoComplete**. Check **Web addresses** and hit **OK** twice. ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-entar-shortcut-for-the-address-bar-in-ie/169251/6 "2003-04-17T20:47:50Z")
Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Hauky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@Hauky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hauky)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-entar-shortcut-for-the-address-bar-in-ie/169251/7 "2003-04-17T21:15:02Z")
Actually, IE (and Mozilla and Opera and…) assumes the http:// part if you don’t include it, so that’s never really necessary. Not that I’m disagreeing with you, though. Ctrl+Enter is incredibly awesome and I love it.