Autcompletion suggestions when editing part of a URL

[freddiesmith]

When using Firefox, I often replace part of a URL to navigate to a different page following these steps:

• Step 1 - User is on a page such as https://old.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/top/
• Step 2 - User wants to navigate to a different page on the same domain, e.g., a different subreddit https://old.reddit.com/r/soccer/top/ 
• Step 3 - User double clicks on the part of the URL they wish to replace, e.g., LifeProTips
• Step 4 - User begins typing new part of the URL they wish to navigate to, e.g., soccer
• Step 5 - User types 's' and desired behaviour would be for an autocomplete suggestion to appear based on browser history. Instead, the current behaviour is that the user has to type the entire word 'soccer'.

We already have autocomplete suggestions when typing a domain name from scratch. This change would be an extension of that behaviour in the instance where a user starts to edit part of a URL instead.

Other possibilities considered

I accept that there are other ways to achieve my goal, e.g., I could just type 'soccer' into the address bar and Firefox would recognise the keyword from my visited pages history and suggest the desired URL. However, I only realised this today when forcing myself to consider alternative solutions before I posted this idea. I believe it would be a fair assumption that other users interact with the address bar in the same way as me.

Thank you for reading.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[WilfordDickins]

That’s actually a really thoughtful idea, and I can relate to this workflow a lot. Editing a specific part of a URL feels very natural, especially when you already know the site structure and just want to jump to a closely related page. Autocomplete kicking in at that point would save time and reduce friction, particularly for power users who navigate by URLs rather than search.

I’ve noticed a similar pattern outside of browsing too. For example, in games that rely on quick tactical adjustments, small usability improvements make a big difference. When you’re learning how to choose a formation like 4-3-3 in DFL 25, being able to quickly switch contexts or settings without unnecessary extra steps really improves the overall experience. The same principle applies here: smarter suggestions at the right moment instead of forcing full manual input.

Extending Firefox’s existing autocomplete logic to partial URL edits seems consistent with how people already think and work. Hopefully this idea gets traction, because it aligns well with efficiency-focused browsing habits.