Delete annoying URL predictions from Chrome's omnibox
Ever begin typing a URL, only to have Chrome autocomplete it with the wrong address? Here's a way to prevent that URL from showing up ever again.
- Webby Award ("How To, Explainer, and DIY Video"); Folio Changemaker Award, 2020
Chrome has good intentions -- it wants to help you get to where you're going faster and more efficiently.
But one day, you head to nytimes.com/dining. Cool.
A few hours later, you attempt to go to nytimes.com, but Chrome thinks you're heading to the Dining section again, so it autocompletes it to nytimes.com/dining. And no matter how many times you yell at your browser, it just won't stop.
Though there isn't a button or right-click solution in sight, there are two ways to stop Chrome from predicting URLs.
To delete a URL prediction:
To remove a single prediction from the omnibox (like our nytimes.com/dining example), arrow down with your keyboard to highlight the URL, then click Shift-Delete on a PC; Shift-FN-Delete on a Mac; or Alt-Shift-Backspace on a Chromebook.
To disable predictions altogether:
If the URL and Web search predictions are getting in the way, disable the feature altogether. Just open the Chrome menu > Settings > Show advanced settings (at the bottom). Under Privacy, uncheck "Use a prediction service to help complete searches and URLs typed in the address bar."