If pressing Ctrl+F on the keyboard requires too much effort, Firefox allows you to bypass that step. Once enabled, this Firefox feature will automatically start searching a page the moment you start typing. It won’t search if you have a text input box selected, so for the most part there is nothing to lose by enabling it. Here’s how:
Open Firefox and click the top-left orange Firefox > Options menu button.
In the options menu visit the Advanced tab and check the box labeled “Search for text when I start typing.” Click OK to save changes.
Now when browsing a page with Firefox, you can start a page-wide search by simply typing. A search box will automatically appear at the bottom-left and matching text will be highlighted throughout the page, just as it would if you used the Ctrl+F search.
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Ziggy
Thanks for highlighting this very handy feature, Austin. I now find it especially useful when reading print newspapers. Searching for key words has never been so easy.
Do you know whether this feature is also available with Internet Explorer 9 and Chrome and, if so, how do you enable it in these browsers?
Austin Krause
Good question.
Chrome doesn’t have this feature natively, but there is an extension for it. It’s called Type-ahead-find
IE9 doesn’t have it at all.
Ziggy
Thanks Austin. Will give Type-ahead-find a go…
R.Alan Payne
Yes, does save a key stroke BUT
it does not allow the ‘search term’ to be used a second time …
the ‘search line’ does not allow for NEXT or PREVIOUS searches – or for HIGHLIGHTing ALL or for MATCHing CASE.
It is rare that the term I’m searching for only occurs once, so I use NEXT often. Crtl+F DOES provide the four features.