There is no doubt in the fact that with Chrome 88, we now get to see improved password protection and tab search. But with all advancements, there is a feature (previously been loved by the users) that is no longer available on the desktop version of the browser.
Chrome always allowed users to add custom search engines (by following the address chrome://settings/searchEngines) and then you could save them with custom keywords in order to open them by hitting the space bar or tab later. In a practical world, this process worked more like users enjoying the authority of either putting up "fa" or "yo" to visit Facebook or YouTube right from the address bar every time.
However, now this exact space bar shortcut seems to be not working anymore.
While this has brought users to their old habit of using the tab for all the sites, there is still a way to use this space.
Going into the depth of the small interface tweak, we are here to confirm that tab is the only remaining option to begin with custom search all over again. But in order to go back to the old behavior, you would be required to copy and paste either of the two addresses given below in your URL bar and then “Disable” one flag.
chrome://flags/#omnibox-keyword-search-button
chrome://flags/#omnibox-suggestion-button-row
As it is pretty much understandable that some of you would be wondering why using the tab shortcut to search with custom engines may is becoming so big of a deal, the shortcut provides extra convenience which a lot of users love.
This move by Google seems pretty much like the way they decided to backspace for back years before and the immense amount of users who relied on the shortcut criticized a great deal. But later, that backspace removal made a lot of sense as Google wanted to save users from losing their data in forms.
Hence, removing the space bar shortcut may have been done with the similar intention. A good example of this can be of users relying on a common term as a keyword such as "Twitter," because then the intention is to search Google for that specific term followed by a space, but instead, users end up going to the custom search engine instead. So, by removing the space shortcut, this problem won’t exist.
All in all, we can still hope for Google going for a browser extension to bring back the lost convenience but until then you can use the flag option to use the spacebar shortcut whenever you like.
Read next: Google is experimenting with new Tabs widths and size options in the new tab scrolling feature for its Chrome browser
Chrome always allowed users to add custom search engines (by following the address chrome://settings/searchEngines) and then you could save them with custom keywords in order to open them by hitting the space bar or tab later. In a practical world, this process worked more like users enjoying the authority of either putting up "fa" or "yo" to visit Facebook or YouTube right from the address bar every time.
However, now this exact space bar shortcut seems to be not working anymore.
While this has brought users to their old habit of using the tab for all the sites, there is still a way to use this space.
Going into the depth of the small interface tweak, we are here to confirm that tab is the only remaining option to begin with custom search all over again. But in order to go back to the old behavior, you would be required to copy and paste either of the two addresses given below in your URL bar and then “Disable” one flag.
chrome://flags/#omnibox-keyword-search-button
chrome://flags/#omnibox-suggestion-button-row
As it is pretty much understandable that some of you would be wondering why using the tab shortcut to search with custom engines may is becoming so big of a deal, the shortcut provides extra convenience which a lot of users love.
This move by Google seems pretty much like the way they decided to backspace for back years before and the immense amount of users who relied on the shortcut criticized a great deal. But later, that backspace removal made a lot of sense as Google wanted to save users from losing their data in forms.
Hence, removing the space bar shortcut may have been done with the similar intention. A good example of this can be of users relying on a common term as a keyword such as "Twitter," because then the intention is to search Google for that specific term followed by a space, but instead, users end up going to the custom search engine instead. So, by removing the space shortcut, this problem won’t exist.
I finally figured out how to get back being able to press SPACE instead of being forced to use TAB while using custom search in Chrome.
— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) February 3, 2021
If you see the pill, then you are currently forced to use TAB. To get spaces back: disable chrome://flags/#omnibox-keyword-search-button pic.twitter.com/U5UkEtNXpW
All in all, we can still hope for Google going for a browser extension to bring back the lost convenience but until then you can use the flag option to use the spacebar shortcut whenever you like.
Read next: Google is experimenting with new Tabs widths and size options in the new tab scrolling feature for its Chrome browser
