Turn On or Off Query in Omnibox in Google Chrome

Starting in Google Chrome 71, there is a new feature that allows showing search keyword instead of the search URL in the address bar. It can be enabled with a special flag.

Sporting a minimalist design, Chrome features a very powerful fast web rendering engine "Blink" to make your browsing experience faster, safer, and easier.

As of this writing, Google Chrome is the most popular web browser which exists for all major platforms like Windows, Android and Linux. It comes with a powerful rendering engine which supports all modern web standards.

Tip: Get 8 Thumbnails on New Tab Page in Google Chrome

Google Chrome 71 comes a new flag that hides the search URL in the omnibox. By default, you see the full search URL with query parameters. See the following screenshot:

After enabling the flag, the browser will show the keywords you typed without extra information as shown below.

Even when the address bar is focused, it doesn't display the search URL. However, if you select and copy the search words, the search URL will be copied to the clipboard instead of the keywords.

It is not clear why the browser doesn't show the search URL when you put the cursor to the address bar. The current implementation is a bit confusing, as you expect to copy the words you see.

Now, let's see how to enable this new feature.

Enable Query in Omnibox in Google Chrome

Google Chrome comes with a number of useful options which are experimental. They are not supposed to be used by regular users but enthusiasts and testers can easily turn them on. These experimental features can significantly improve the user experience of the Chrome browser by enabling additional functionality. To enable or disable an experimental feature, you can use hidden options called 'flags'.

To enable Query in Omnibox in Google Chrome, do the following.

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Type the following text into the address bar: chrome://flags/#enable-query-in-omnibox.  This will open the flags page directly with the relevant setting.
3. Set the option named Query in Omnibox to Enabled.
4. Restart Google Chrome by closing it manually or you can also use the Relaunch button which will appear at the very bottom of the page.

You are done. The feature is now enabled.

To disable it later, open the flag page and set the option to Default or Disabled.

That's it.

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