Force Chrome to open URLs as URLs, instead of searching

Question

I have a local Apache server running, which is defined through /etc/hosts as "apache". So I often open pages like:

http://apache/website/

Normally, this works fine. However, since I am using a more recent Chrome browser, at odd moments the browser decides that the URL I type is not a URL but actually a search, so it loads my default search engine and tries to find this URL. It often, but not always, shows a link under the address bar that says Did you mean to go to http://apache/website?. That is nice, but very annoying having to click here instead of going there directly. What makes Chrome behave this way? Can I fix this?

[Asked the same question for Brave](https://superuser.com/questions/1696611/force-brave-to-open-urls-as-urls-instead-of-searching). — Fabien Snauwaert, Dec 30 '21 at 11:34

score 65 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 28 '12 at 17:49

65

I had the same problem and i found that typing the / at the end will always treat it as a url instead of keyword.

For example in my case :

local.dev/ben is treated as search

but

local.dev/ben/ its working fine

answered Jul 28 '12 at 17:49

chifliiiii

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Saying that appending a / at the end will always treat it as a url instead of a keyword does not always hold true, for example scoped link local addresses will trigger a search even if a / is present: `https://[fe80::1%eth0]/` – Tiernan Sep 26 '13 at 08:59
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Does not work for my improved nodejs server `http://0.0.0.0:8080/bla/` Does not work! – hitautodestruct May 25 '15 at 14:52
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@hitautodestruct 0.0.0.0 is not a valid ip address, it's a placeholder address that generally means default route in routing, or all ipv4 addresses on the host for services. You would need to reach it via a valid ip address assigned to your host. – Steve Buzonas Jan 16 '17 at 20:53

score 38 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 22 '14 at 00:10

38

You can implicitly do this by creating a new search engine with a URL of http://%s and keyword of null. Then, set this as the default search engine.

To get to the search engines page in chrome:

Open Settings panel.
Click Manage search engines... button under Search heading.
Search Engines pane has two sections: Default search engines and Other search engines
At the bottom of the Other search engines section, you'll see a form which we'll make use to add a new search engine.

Search Engines

edited Nov 22 '14 at 00:10

Jawa

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answered Nov 05 '11 at 23:31

iglvzx

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That's a neat trick. I'll have to try it out! – afrazier Nov 06 '11 at 01:27
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@iglvzx Thanks, but this only works if I _always_ want to open any keyword this way. I really like to keep using Google Search when typing other words, but I just don't want this to happen when I am typing a localhost URL. – Dec 28 '11 at 22:02
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It's no longer possible to set 'null' as keyword as of Chrome v26. – skolima Apr 08 '13 at 13:20
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@skolima It's possible in v27.0 – svandragt May 14 '13 at 10:03
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@svandragt: v27 is now stable and unfortunately this is still disabled. Crap. – skolima May 22 '13 at 09:58
Update as of Chrome v33: you can add the "null" keyword, but this does not solve the problem. – Niels Bom Apr 04 '14 at 15:14
I used "htp://localhost/%s%", thinking that that would save a DNS lookup and get a "This web page is not available" result sooner. Does that make sense? (I actually used http, not htp, but this page would display it as a link instead of just text. I don't know how to display an URL as text). Thanks for a solution to this annoyance. – user184411 Sep 08 '15 at 00:32
This works, but Chrome keeps adding a freaky trailing slash `/` to all urls. Chrome should burn in hell! – Marco Demaio Jan 07 '19 at 16:48

score 14 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 28 '12 at 10:19

14

I got annoyed by this as well. I recently found out what caused it. Try disabling 'Use a web service to help resolve navigation errors'.

edited Feb 28 '12 at 10:19

slhck

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answered Feb 28 '12 at 10:08

Rik

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This does not work if I then add to the URL. e.g. I load local.symphony-2.3 and then add /symphony or /symphony/ to the URL, chrome searches google for that phrase. – codecowboy Apr 20 '12 at 07:50
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In Chrome 54 this is in "Show Advanced Settings" on the bottom of `about://settings` page. – Daniel W. Nov 23 '16 at 09:00

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 19 '18 at 06:58

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In latest chrome settings - Advanced settings

answered Sep 19 '18 at 06:58

Mohamed Alikhan

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Rik supplied this answer six years before you did: https://superuser.com/a/394874/84181 – Eric Apr 27 '19 at 16:55
Rik's answer is seven years out of date. Mohamed Alikhan provides an updated screenshot from the newer version of the browser and that's very helpful in my opinion. – Blisterpeanuts May 23 '19 at 15:01
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this feature is no more exist in todays chrome – Lezir Opav Nov 10 '22 at 07:02

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 29 '13 at 22:23

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If you know the port you're using, you can specify it by hand like

url:80/index.html

instead of

url/index.html

In the first case, it won't be treated as a search request

answered Mar 29 '13 at 22:23

Masadow

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Doesn't work in Chrome 69 even using :80 – Marco Demaio Jan 07 '19 at 16:44

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Feb 01 '16 at 22:30

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Here's how to disable the ability to make searches from the address bar (omnibox) of Google Chrome:

Open Google Chrome.
Type chrome://flags in the address bar and press Enter.
Scroll to Enable search button in Omnibox.
Select Disabled.

edited Feb 01 '16 at 22:30

karel

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answered Feb 01 '16 at 22:28

mohammed

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I don't have this option; what version are you using? – Ben N Feb 02 '16 at 01:13

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 26 '18 at 12:45

0

I had the same issue with Chrome on my Android phone. I resolved it similar to @Rik suggestion.

For mobile Chrome:

Go to Settings -> Privacy
Untick Navigation error suggestions

answered Jan 26 '18 at 12:45

nkatsar

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i had to untick "navigation error suggestions" and "search and site suggestions" (the first two options) before chrome stopped turning my urls to search queries. afterwards i could enable both settings and chrome still opened my urls as it should. bad chrome. bad propietary black box chrome. i am using firefox kthxbye – Lesmana Apr 30 '18 at 12:20

Axis · Answer 8 · 2019-08-15T11:55:18.113

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Try add correct url to browser bookmarks. Then Chrome suggests this address on the first place (marked with star).

edited Aug 15 '19 at 11:55

answered Oct 21 '18 at 09:15

Axis

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It's unusual to have a hostname as short as a single character. Chrome is suggesting file:/// because a: is a drive letter. Same if you typed "c:\Users\", "a:81" is a file named "81" on the "a" drive. This is of course assuming your using Windows. – zaTricky Aug 14 '19 at 10:21
I do not recommend domain 'a', it is just proof that it works. Because i think that complete disable search from address line is not good solution. But good point. – Axis Aug 15 '19 at 11:46

score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Jan 24 '15 at 08:45

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I had to add google.co.in with the search string: http://google.com/search?q=%s to get both Google Search and URL search working.

Now if I want to browse URL I can just append 'http://whatever' and choose if i want to do a URL navigation or search.

@iglvzx's answer no longer seems to work in version 40 of Chrome. It looks like Null is not a valid entry anymore. I had to improvise as above to get this working.

edited Jan 24 '15 at 08:45

fixer1234

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answered Jan 24 '15 at 08:34

noob Mama

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Hmm not working for me on Chrome 40. What an odd bug. – jfroom Jan 28 '15 at 20:47

Force Chrome to open URLs as URLs, instead of searching

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