Firefox: Use “/” To Search

By Daniel Miessler on April 17th, 2006: Tagged as Firefox | Unix

I don’t have any idea why I didn’t know this before, but in Firefox you can search within a given web page by pressing the "/" key (that’s a forward slash). For those that are *nix-literate, you’ll recognize this as the way to search within vi.

Actually, that's how I discovered the option; I was about to look for soemthing on a page and I subconsciously pressed the / key as if I were in vi.

I saw the search bar pop up on the bottom, but it didn't sink in for like 5 seconds. I was like, "Did I really just see that?" Once I confirmed that I wasn't seeing things I backtracked to figure out why I pressed that key to search in the first place, and more importantly -- why it worked.

That's when it struck me -- it's how you search in vi! Wow. Very cool. To add to the novelty, the search bar goes away in a few seconds if you don't actually use it. Yes, definitely cool.:

  • Tim

    Your geek points just went down, dude. As much as you know about firefox, you’re just now finding out about using / to search?

    Well, I should point out that if you’re looking at the source for a page through firefox, you can also use the / to search (same deal).

    It can, however, be annoying because I often work on web pages using a text editor that doesn’t have the / search functionality (when I’m forced to work within windows and not a unix terminal)… so I often accidentally type “/mysearch” into a file somewhere before I realize what I’m doing.

  • Tim

    Your geek points just went down, dude. As much as you know about firefox, you’re just now finding out about using / to search?

    Well, I should point out that if you’re looking at the source for a page through firefox, you can also use the / to search (same deal).

    It can, however, be annoying because I often work on web pages using a text editor that doesn’t have the / search functionality (when I’m forced to work within windows and not a unix terminal)… so I often accidentally type “/mysearch” into a file somewhere before I realize what I’m doing.

  • http://dmiessler.com/ Daniel

    Yeah, I know…it’s inexcusable. :) The important thing is that I know now.

    Oh, and by the way, I blame you. If you had a blog and had posted about it before, I would have known already.

  • http://dmiessler.com Daniel

    Yeah, I know…it’s inexcusable. :) The important thing is that I know now.

    Oh, and by the way, I blame you. If you had a blog and had posted about it before, I would have known already.

  • Tim

    bah. blogging is a fad. I’m still waiting for a cybernetic chip that I can put in my brain to host a web page with all my thoughts.

    Oh man, I’d have to have severe encryption for some parts of my brain… and then some sort of adult content warning on other parts. I am, after all, a guy.

  • Tim

    bah. blogging is a fad. I’m still waiting for a cybernetic chip that I can put in my brain to host a web page with all my thoughts.

    Oh man, I’d have to have severe encryption for some parts of my brain… and then some sort of adult content warning on other parts. I am, after all, a guy.

  • http://dmiessler.com/ Daniel

    Bogging is a fad? Sure, and so is the telephone. :)

  • http://dmiessler.com Daniel

    Bogging is a fad? Sure, and so is the telephone. :)

  • Tim

    The telephone is being replaced by cell phones… and talking on the cell phone is slowly being replaced by txt/pic/video messaging.

    Of course that’ll all be outdated when those cybernetic brain chips i’ve been waiting on comes out.

    And yes, Bogging is a fad. Who wants to get their car all dirty anyway?

  • Tim

    The telephone is being replaced by cell phones… and talking on the cell phone is slowly being replaced by txt/pic/video messaging.

    Of course that’ll all be outdated when those cybernetic brain chips i’ve been waiting on comes out.

    And yes, Bogging is a fad. Who wants to get their car all dirty anyway?

  • Pingback: johnboy’s linux planet » Blog Archive » Firefox: Use “/” To Search


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