# Help me stop Facebook autocomplete! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498 "2015-10-13T00:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/1 "2015-10-13T00:48:36Z")
So, does Facebook not realize that some of us might like to post a quote, and that the person we’re quoting might happen to share a first or last name with somebody on our Friends list? I just, for fun, quoted Foul Ole Ron, from Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” novels: “Buggrit! Buggrit … buggrem! Millenium hand and shrimp!” – Foul Ole Ro n Yeah, see that space between the “o” and “n” in “Ron”? I had to put that in there because Facebook insisted on autocompleting “Ron” into the full name of a guy on my Friends list. And I didn’t want it to look like I was quoting _him_ (and he probably wouldn’t have liked it either). How the !@#$ do I make this stop? ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/2 "2015-10-13T01:46:49Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever had this happen. I just tried to type my first name as a status in Facebook. I finished typing the last letter, and it brought up a blue box with my name in it. If I clicked on the box, it would autocomplete my full name and link to my profile. If I ignored it and went ahead and typed a space after my first name, the box went away, and my first name remained unlinked. Tried on the phone, too, and it was very similar, except the box to select the profile wasn’t blue, it was white. So, if you typed “Foul Ole Ron” and ignored the box that came up when you typed “Ron”, that should do it. I’m using Safari and the iOS app, so YMMV, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/3 "2015-10-13T01:49:08Z")
What hardware are you using? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/4 "2015-10-13T02:40:57Z")
Just keep typing. If the autocomplete is at the end of a sentence, either just type a period, or in the above example, space bar. That’s all you have to do. Maybe unless the browser has something to do with it, but I don’t think so. It behaves the same for me in the app and in Firefox. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/5 "2015-10-13T02:52:26Z")
I use Chrome, on a Mac. I already tried the offered suggestions, and it insisted on autocompleting “Ron” into “Ron [Lastname]” As a clickable link to my friend’s Facebook profile. No matter what I tried. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/6 "2015-10-13T06:45:54Z")
Better just send your friend a copy of Hogfather and let him bask in the reflected glory. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/7 "2015-10-13T09:03:12Z")
It’s all that moveable type - you can never be sure what the letters spelled before you re-arranged them. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/8 "2015-10-13T13:57:34Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I use Chrome, on a Mac. I already tried the offered suggestions, and it insisted on autocompleting “Ron” into “Ron [Lastname]” As a clickable link to my friend’s Facebook profile. No matter what I tried. It should just be a dropdown. Yes, it will cover up the Post button, which is stupid, but you can click somewhere else and that will disappear. Or yes, type a space after the word. (Though it will autocomplete again if you start typing a last name.) ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/9 "2015-10-13T16:00:15Z")
Just hit Esc. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/10 "2015-12-24T16:24:58Z")
God, this just hit me again. I live in Washington, and for some reason one of the women on my friends list has added “Washington” onto her name (why, I don’t know, she’s still married to the same guy she was married to when I added her). So I was trying to tell a friend, who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, that I grew up in Vancouver, Washington, and instead I ended up telling her that I grew up in Vancouver, Mary Crowe Hansen Washington. Arg! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/11 "2015-12-24T16:26:02Z")
Yes, I typed her full “name” there. That’s what she gets for trying to have three last names. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-stop-facebook-autocomplete/734498/12 "2015-12-24T23:01:09Z")
Type “Ron” and then add a bunch of spaces behind it