# Make Chrome auto-complete/suggest only URLs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-chrome-auto-complete-suggest-only-urls/834469>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 24, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-chrome-auto-complete-suggest-only-urls/834469 "2019-05-24T18:29:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-chrome-auto-complete-suggest-only-urls/834469/1 "2019-05-24T18:29:37Z")

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Is there a way to stop Chrome from auto-completing search keywords, and only auto-complete URLs? I.e. When I click on the address/search box and start typing “bo…”, I want it to auto-complete to [boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com), and not “bolt cutter”, even if I’d done a google search for bolt cutters earlier.

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**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-chrome-auto-complete-suggest-only-urls/834469/2 "2019-05-24T19:29:13Z")

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This is a recent development. Been annoying the crap out of me. Not sure what the fix is. I do know that it reverts back to the url if the url is the last thing you typed.

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-chrome-auto-complete-suggest-only-urls/834469/3 "2019-05-25T04:38:38Z")

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I don’t use chrome, but can’t you just keep typing and ignore the auto-complete?[1] Or at least ignore it until it produces what you want? Or does it stick additional typing on the end of the auto-complete?

[1] This is what I do for all auto-completes, although I mainly run across it on Google.

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**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-chrome-auto-complete-suggest-only-urls/834469/4 "2019-05-25T06:18:33Z")

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Chrome will search the entire URL, not just the initial part, for the string you’ve typed. So the trick is to use a rare or unique string. For the SDMB, I use “sdmb” and the boards’ URL is the first thing that comes up.

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-chrome-auto-complete-suggest-only-urls/834469/5 "2019-05-25T08:07:40Z")

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Dunno. Don’t use Chrome. Auto-complete was originally not the same as search: if you disable search, auto-complete may still work.

Use this URL:

```
chrome://flags/. 

```

On the page, Scroll to “Enable search button in Omnibox.”  
Select “Disabled”.

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**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-chrome-auto-complete-suggest-only-urls/834469/6 "2019-05-26T01:45:22Z")

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> [@Grrr](#):
>
> This is a recent development. Been annoying the crap out of me. Not sure what the fix is. I do know that it reverts back to the url if the url is the last thing you typed.

Ditto. Driving me nuts.