Remove browsing history from your search bar autosuggest
The browser address bar is usually used as a search bar. While you type, it suggests websites you may be intending to visit. One of the sources of these suggestions is your browsing history.
This can be useful, but has a harmful side effect — it effectively creates keyboard shortcuts for websites you have a bad habit of visiting…
Press
fthenenterand you're on facebook.Press
rthenenterand you're on reddit.Press
ythenenterand you're on hacker news.
This only makes the habit worse — the sites you visit too much become even easier to visit as they'll become the most likely to be suggested.
The ease of this shortcut has probably resulted in many lifetimes of doomscrolling. I have easily spent days of my life following this shortcut — I even made a web extension to counter act it!
But, there is a simple solution to this problem — you can switch off this behaviour in your browser…or so i thought
As a Firefox user I assumed wrongly that this would be an option available on all browsers — but it isn't! To implement this Practical Betterment you'll first need to change your browser to one that lets you turn this feature off. e.g. Firefox or Brave
How to switch off browser history in the address bar autosuggest…
You'll still be able search your history, it just won't appear in the autosuggest.
…on Firefox
- Navigate to
Settings - Click
Search - Then under
Address BaruncheckBrowsing history
…on Brave
- Navigate to
Settings - Click
Appearance - Under the heading
Toolbaryou'll findShow autocomplete suggestions in address barbelow this is a checkbox forBrowsing History
…on Safari or Chrome
You can't!