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?

score 70 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 28 '12 at 17:49

70

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

817

score 40 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 22 '14 at 00:10

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

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

235,242

answered Feb 28 '12 at 10:08

Rik

157

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

3

In latest chrome settings - Advanced settings

answered Sep 19 '18 at 06:58

Mohamed Alikhan

131

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

2

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

129
6

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

1

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

13,706

answered Feb 01 '16 at 22:28

mohammed

11

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

101

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

0

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

33

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

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.

Force Chrome to open URLs as URLs, instead of searching

9 Answers9

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