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How to delete individual URLs from Firefox address bar history

Posted By Raymond In Category: Computer

Nov
14
2006

I’ve already posted tips on how to delete individual URLs from Internet Explorer address bar history manually via registry and also editing the history using software. Here’s another tip on how to do it on Mozilla Firefox.
Delete Firefox history
It’s much easier to do it on Mozilla Firefox and it doesn’t involve messing with registry nor using any third party software.


For some reason I’ve ever been convinced that there’s no way to delete individual URLs from the History without just clearing the whole thing. Looked around for softwares that can do the job and nothing found. Finally, turns out I was wrong.

In Firefox, if you want to delete an individual entry from the History, just highlight it (either in the History sidebar or in the address bar drop-down) and press Shift+Delete. Gone, it’s that easy!


Related posts:
  • Editing URLs at Internet Explorer Address Bar History
  • Delete a specific URL at the Internet Explorer Address Bar History
  • File in use, unable to delete, move, or rename.
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    • Pingback: Delete Individual Links in Firefox & IE at CypherHackz.Net - Personal, Technology, Computers, Security & Internet Site

    • awara

      awasome cleaer method thnaks!!!

    • Andrea

      Non è vero…li toglie solo temporaneamente

    • aqlim

      but aget i shift deleted the history bar usgin shift+ del,its gone.
      but the next time u open mozzilla again,it appears again.

      may i know how to solve this?

    • http://www.insightempire.com Rodger

      ahh, cool, thanks for that. I was desperately seeking a way of deleting my page history without having to erase everything. You don\’t know how much you\’ve helped :)

    • Armando

      no sirve , si vuelves a verificar en el browser siguen saliendo las direcciones

    • Jon

      Same as aqlim. Doesn’t work. Open it up again and they are all listed again. :-(

    • Adrian

      Thanks for putting an end to my frustration.

      Great tip!

      Adrian

    • Frank

      This does not work for 3.0.1

    • Lunny

      firefox 3.0 from what i can see puts it in an automatic bookmark of sorts that’s why i think that it keeps coming back. It’s just an idea i looked through the bookmarks deleted it from bookmarks, did the shift+del now it’s gone

    • monie

      Thank you!! My problem is now resolved

    • shveet

      ya lunnys rite… the URL’s (this is 4 anyone who has Firefox3.0) r actually the links from your bookmarks….

    • betivanu

      thank you 4 this tip

    • autograph

      If you would rather not have Firefox display autocomplete results at all.
      This method does not work on Mac.

      1. In the Location bar, enter about:config
      2. Search for the preference browser.urlbar.maxRichResults.
      3. Double-click the browser.urlbar.maxRichResults preference and enter a value of -1.
      4. Close Firefox.
      5. Start Firefox again.

      Now when you type in the Location bar, no list of results will be shown.

    • Mercurio

      No funciona, checa tu barra de direcciones una vez que la “borraste” con shift + del, vuelve a aparecer la maldita dirección !!!!

    • Puma

      gracias man!!!

      ahora mi mama va a estar al pedo todo el dia!!!jajaajaj

      vos ya sabes…..;)

    • midnightbluz

      Thank you so much autograph!!!
      It worked like a charm…

    • James B

      Awesome, worked right away, thanks a lot!

    • Loveangie

      Thank you Autograph. What a relief to find exactly what I needed and it works perfectly without mucking up everything else.

    • joe241

      This simple tip does not work on FF 3.0.3. Press “Shift” and “Delete”, then click the down arrow on the address bar and the site you just deleted is back again. Not Cool Mozilla.

    • thanks from Italy

      You helped immensely. Great tip!

    • sakis

      autograph you are the man…thanx

    • pablo

      gracias hermano es entero facil
      me sirvio

    • http://www.sugarusa.us jonny rocket

      cool! that way when i surf pOrn nobody knows!

    • David

      Pues si, solo funciona temporalmente :/

    • http://www.forex-tracer.us Don Tracer

      This is a very good tip. Thanks for sharing.

    • Сашка)))

      охрененно)спасибо)=*

    • http://Autographthewise Stryder

      Mr Autograph thanks

    • xero

      Thank you so much!

    • rudi

      superb !! great to erase the sites with adult content :-)

    • Javaslinger

      Definately doesn’t work anymore… I’m on 3.04 and I can shift-delete entries all day long, but they keep coming back

    • Datnucca

      It defitnetly works. Thx for the tip man

    • http://freelancemedicalwriting.com singh

      Yes it works, I was really convinced that it will not go away. Thanks for this board that I managed to get rid of it. Thanks

    • http://www.moneymakingsecretsforfree.com JL

      Thank You Autograph for descibing the steps to permanently delete urls from the address bar using Firefox 3.0! This is exactly what I was looking for. I think this blog only applies to ealier version of firefox.

      Here is what Autograph said and it works for 3.0:

      If you would rather not have Firefox display autocomplete results at all.
      This method does not work on Mac.

      1. In the Location bar, enter about:config
      2. Search for the preference browser.urlbar.maxRichResults.
      3. Double-click the browser.urlbar.maxRichResults preference and enter a value of -1.
      4. Close Firefox.
      5. Start Firefox again.

      Now when you type in the Location bar, no list of results will be shown.

    • artlovergr

      Thanks that solved the problem

    • sandviper

      Doesnt work in vers 3.05
      cant find preference browser.urlbar.maxRichResults.
      on about config

    • mib

      Sweet deal been trying to figure this out for a bit myself thanks for the awesome tip ***** ^5

    • Ben

      If the address bar URL is also a bookmarked URL then it remains. I guess the logic is why remove the address if you have bookmarked it. There’s nothing to hide is there ; )

    • http://deletinghistoryinfoxfire JACOB MONTOYA

      when i use your method for deleting history it seems to
      work. the problem is that when i check it later, its there
      again! so my question is: how do i permanently delete
      my history?
      thank you.

    • http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2006/11/14/how-to-delete-individual-urls-from-firefox-address-bar-history/ Blinq

      @ sandviper, you’re searching for “browser.urlbar.maxRichResults.” Remove the full stop at the end and you’ll see it in about:config. ;)

      Good job autograph! Works just fine in 3.5

    • Stephen

      Thanks you have made it so simple.

    • helon

      I noticed that Browser.urlbar.maxRichResults simple did not do it, to delete url bar history simple open places.sqlite file in the firefox profile folder using an sqllite manager and run “delete from moz_inputhistory” to delete all bar input history which all of this is based on

    • Thanks!

      Thank you Lunny, first deleting the bookmark and then the address entry worked like a charm!

    • Trev

      This does not work. On firefox 3.0.6 at the moment, and this does not work.

      Tried everything but firefox simply refuses to delete the list if URLs in the address bar drop down.

    • Trev

      As a fix for my previous post, I have discovered something that is not mentioned in this article.

      If you are still seeing URL’s in your address bar with a yellow star beside them, then you need the ‘Hide Unvisited’ add on from Mozilla.

      This can be found here:

      https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7429

      Hope this helps someone…

    • Ben

      very useful. thanks

    • MJ

      Shift-DEL in the browser bar doesn’t work if you have the URL as a bookmark. Go to “Bookmarks”, select “Organize Bookmarks”. Next, in the search box (top right of window), type in a keyword for the URL you want to delete. When that URL is listed, delete it from your bookmarks. Now when you shift-DEL at the browser bar, that URL will not reappear when you reopen your browser.

      This worked for me, I’m using Firefox 3.0.6.

      -MJ

    • mars

      First, go to your Firefox settings by putting “about:config” into the location bar. Click past the warning message, and scroll down to browser.urlbar.maxRichResults. This sets how many recommendations the Awesome Bar will display — it’s 12 by default, but you want to change it to 0.

      (to change 12 into 0, richtclick on the number 12 and klick on modify, then the number 12 shows up an you can change it into 0)

      copy-paste the word, cos the shift-delete thing doesn’t work….

    • Gigi

      Thanks Autograph!
      I am not THAT computer savvy and yet I was able to follow your instructions quite easily and it worked!

    • http://foundagreatfix terry

      enter about:config and change the value of browser.urlbar.matchOnlyTyped to true. this will allow firefox 3 to act like firefox 2 and not display your web history in your address bar.
      cheers:)

    • http://foundagreatfix terry

      and a side note…if you then clear your browsing history anything that will show up can be safely deleted.

    • Cream of Beats

      You have to delete the address from your bookmark before using the shift-delete method, or it will still be in the address menu. Kinda stupid, but this is the only way to erase it.

    • xlemuelx

      Well taught! This is very useful

    • Evan

      how come mine didn’t work? i need explanation why please. and ASAP =|

    • kari

      oh my. thank you so much. that was driving me insane!

    • pj

      you sir have saved my ASS!

    • K

      Autograph solution works on 3.5 so… thx!!!!!!!!!!

    • Ken

      Simply put your mouse over the address in the “drop down menu” and DO NOT CLICK MOUSE>>>> Just hit SHIFT + DELETE.. takes about 2 seconds and its gone.. THANKS for whoever posted that. AWESOME.

    • Matt

      THIS:

      1. In the Location bar, enter about:config
      2. Search for the preference browser.urlbar.maxRichResults.
      3. Double-click the browser.urlbar.maxRichResults preference and enter a value of -1.
      4. Close Firefox.
      5. Start Firefox again.

      Only HIDES those urls. Change the setting back to any positive number and they will be back!

      Does anyone know how to PERMANENTLY delete those urls, damn it? I tried history, cookies, even looked at bookmarks and I have no idea how these urls keep just reappearing…

      Any tips?

    • Matt

      nevermind, looks like I omitted a few bookmarks…

    • michael

      Nice one! perfect.

      Not sure what Cream of beats is on about, if you have something bookmarked then no wonder it’s in the autocompletion list.

    • jatin

      thanks yaar

    • Ali

      Thanks man it works… as easy as one two three :D

    • Ethan

      This is the solution on a Apple MacBook:

      Although it’s a little problem, it started to drive me a bit crazy for a few mistyped url’s in my browser’s history.

      After some actually taking some time to Google a bit, I learned that the Delete key on the MacBook is sent using the combination:

      fn + Backspace

      First I tried this, but it didn’t work.. search further I found your question and learned that the Shift key is also needed. I tried it in combination with the above combination and that finally enabled me to clear up a few irritating history items! :)

      So what you need is:

      Shift + fn + Backspace

      That should do it! :)

    • AJ

      what keeps popping back up is the bookmarks as some have said. in order to stop this WITHOUT DELETING YOUR BOOKMARKS just go to tools then options then click the privacy tab, where it says location bar at the bottom put suggest: ”nothing” in the box.

    • Pitah

      BTW this works for Mac as well. Tnx

    • gimli_theone

      I tried method of Autograph on Firefox for Mac 3.5.7, and it works great!
      Tnx mr Autograph!

    • chris matchstiv

      Thank you so much u r the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Cannot+clear+Location+bar+history?bl=n&s=Location%20Bar Clive

      See this it will work for you

    • http://skindermapro.net Skinderma Pro

      Absolutely awesome trick! I’ve been looking for something like this for ages… because firefox seems to randomly keep some address in your address bar history, it’s great to finally get to delete them without deleting all history.

    • http://formacusers leo

      Select Firefox on top right
      Preferences
      select nothing for location bar at the bottom

    • http://formacusers leo

      the above is for mac users

    • alive

      it works…thank u so much..

    • me

      Thanks, that worked. I have been wondering is that possible for a long time.

    • Winter

      In Firefox, Go to HISTORY menu.
      Click SHOW ALL HISTORY.
      Then it will show HISTORY, TAGS BOOKMARKS.
      Click Bookmarks.
      Go to UNSORTED BOKKMARKS. Double-click.

      You’ll see all the history in your address bar.
      Simply click on the site/s and press DEL / DELETE
      This will delete all the history in your address bar.

    • http://ClearLocationWindow Arnold Ziffel

      I finally solved the Firefox location window caper! It likes to suggest URLs from your History and Bookmarks. To kill this (I use FF 3.6.8) Go to Tools/Options/Privacy and look for a window that says “Location Bar” near the bottom of the Privacy applet. Use the drop-down menu to select “Nothing” and the annoying behavior will cease!

    • me

      I want to retain the history of sites visited in my address bar .how can I do this??? someone has removed history and now every time I started I have to type those difficult sites as I am a student I have to Visit number of universities and research sites and remembering all those sites is not as easy.So kindly help me so that my address bar retains all sites i visit.Please help me.

    • FuckPc

      I waste my time with these absurdity comments here.
      “Shift+Delete” Doesn’t works. The way to do it (in FF) is this:
      Ctrl+Shift+B. Then in the search Bookmarks field copy the link URL. Then right click on it. And hit DELETE.

      Thank you PC (you suck)

    • http://baneydesign.com Adam

      @F***Pc

      I agree with you. I hate PC’s.

      It’s super easy to delete on the Mac in Firefox. Literally, locate the link suggestion in the URL drop-down, highlight the drop-down link, hold shift+delete, the link’s gone. Wow, so easy. :)

      Thanks for the tip, Raymond!

      BTW, the Google ads are kind of annoying to read around in the article.

    • http://ThankYou Smantha

      thank you now my brother wont see what im doing :)

    • cts.private

      Thank you, shift-delete worked for me, as you said.

      I have an additional question: how do outfits manage to get their URL always on the top of that list, no matter how long ago you visited and how far away their URL is from the the top, lexigraphically speaking

    • mikolajek

      This trick doesn’t work for me :(, at least at the portable version of FF, which I use at my work laptop…

    • Tom

      I can type in an address in my address bar and it goes to another site and I can’t figure out how to delete this site. I am using firefox. Any ideas?

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