The New, Unified Address/Search Bar

Often, of course, you’ll want to type in a Web address; that’s the purpose of the Address/Search bar identified in Figure 19-1. In Mountain Lion, a single, unified box serves as both the address bar and the search bar (Apple just calls it “the toolbar”). If you type a Web address there, like amazon.com, pressing Enter takes you to that Web site; if you type anything else, like cashmere sweaters or just amazon, pressing Enter gives you the Google search results for that phrase, as described next.

In general, it’s handy to have a combined address bar/search bar (many other browsers work this way, too). Unfortunately, it means that you can no longer leave off the .com when you’re typing an address—a longtime advantage of Safari’s smart address bar.

Searching the Web

Press ⌘-L to deposit your insertion point inside the new unified toolbar, type something you’re looking for—phony baloney, say—and then press Return. Safari takes you directly to the Google results page. As Figure 19-2 makes clear, Safari offers plenty of assistance as you type, in the form of Google suggestions and matching listings from your Bookmarks and History list.

Tip

You can turn off the Google suggestions in Safari→Preferences→Privacy. Turn on “Prevent search engine from providing suggestions.”

As you type, Safari offers autocomplete suggestions from Google’s own Suggest feature; below that, it shows the matching pages that you’ve either bookmarked or visited recently.To spare yourself the tedium of typing, click the correct complete address with your mouse, or use the ↓ key to reach the desired listing and then press Return. The complete address you select pops into the toolbar.

Figure 19-2. As you type, Safari offers autocomplete suggestions from Google’s own Suggest ...

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