How to turn off URL auto-completion

[swmmng]

On my work Macbook, Firefox Developer Edition is trying to make a URL when I type a single word into the URL bar. I would like it to always search instead (that is, search through my history and bookmarks but also be able to hit enter to do a search with the default provider). What do I need to adjust in about:config to get this behavior?

[jscher2000]

As the first step, try disabling the in-URL-bar autofill:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful or accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste URLB and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.urlbar.autoFill preference to switch the value from true to false

Closer?

[dickvl]

You can force a query with a '?' as the first character (?firefox).

[swmmng]

As the first step, try disabling the in-URL-bar autofill:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful or accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste URLB and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.urlbar.autoFill preference to switch the value from true to false

Closer?

This was already off.

You can force a query with a '?' as the first character (?firefox).

That does work, but it's a workaround to get back to behavior that worked without the ? before.

[jscher2000]

If you submit a single word like breakfast then Firefox should always search first. If it does a domain lookup first, check whether this preference has been customized:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful or accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste fixup and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If the browser.fixup.dns_first_for_single_words preference is bolded and "modified" or "user set" to true, double-click it to restore the default value of false

[swmmng]

If you submit a single word like breakfast then Firefox should always search first. If it does a domain lookup first, check whether this preference has been customized:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful or accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste fixup and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If the browser.fixup.dns_first_for_single_words preference is bolded and "modified" or "user set" to true, double-click it to restore the default value of false

Thank you, this was the solution! Not sure how that got changed; maybe some config here at work.