It has been a while since Google implemented URL elisions in Chrome 70, removing the www or https part from the beginning of website addresses. It is safe to say the decision hasn’t gone down well with the majority of users.
Though there are ways to display the full URL of a website on Chrome, many users want the original way to do that back. At the time, Google claimed it had introduced the change to improve the decisions users make about a website’s security. However, recent signs show they are willing to at least consider the complaints of power users who want to see full website addresses in the omnibox.
And the balance was somewhat redressed in the latest version of Google Chrome for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Yes, the start of a website’s URL is still hidden in Chrome’s omnibar; however, the option to make Chrome always show full URLs has been added to the Chrome context menu.
This option isn’t enabled by default, though. Power users need to pull up Chrome’s hidden experimental features page and enable the “Show full URL in the context menu” option. Only then can users bring back the old web address style via the context menu.
Can Chrome Always Show Full URLs in Windows?
Before Chrome 70 changed how website addresses were displayed in the Chrome omnibox, this wouldn’t have been a question. Prior to that landmark Chrome release, what you typed was what you generally got. Even if you typed just the domain of a website without the www part, Chrome would display the full address after loading the page.
After the change, even though the protocol part of a website address disappeared, there were still ways to display it, albeit momentarily. One method was to select the address. Another was to double-click on it.
However, with the changes in the new build of Chrome, the browser can display full URLs permanently. You just have to enable the option in the context menu first.
How to Always See Full URLs and Subdomains in the Chrome Browser on Windows 10
The first step towards enabling full URLs in the Chrome omnibox is to visit Chrome’s hidden settings page and turn on a very specific flag:
- Go to “chrome://flags” in the Chrome address bar. The hidden Chrome settings page will be instantly displayed.
- Scroll down and look for the “Context menu show full URLs” flag. You can find it faster by simply typing a related keyword into the search bar at the top. Alternatively, type or paste “chrome://flags/#omnibox-context-menu-show-full-urls” into the address bar to quickly jump to the flag.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the flag and select Enabled from the options.
After this, reboot Chrome.
Now, you can open Chrome again and right-click the address bar. Click the last option in the context menu. This option, which says, “Always show full URLs”, makes Chrome permanently display full website addresses in the omnibox.
While you’re taking advantage of this cool feature for power users, you should also use the opportunity to tune up your PC and get faster speeds in your browser. Auslogics BoostSpeed will clear out needless browser cache files and cookies so you can have a smoother Internet experience.
