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Why google chrome does not provide a GoTo Link button like in IE, Firefox, etc.?

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And if this is because of the simple & modern design concept than why does other browsers still have GoTo Button?

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    Why should it? The only case you need it, is because you're typing the url in the address bar - and then you can use the enter key.
    – tjati
    Mar 21, 2014 at 10:55
  • Then why are the other browsers still providing the GoTo Button?
    – Vivek Parekh
    Mar 21, 2014 at 10:56
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    Kind of habit, I think. Because it was always there! But it's useless and you should remove unnecessary elements of your UI. :)
    – tjati
    Mar 21, 2014 at 10:58
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    The Omnibox essentially keeps this functionality by making the first item in the suggestion box the thing that you've typed in. That item is clickable.
    – Joel Cornett
    Mar 21, 2014 at 14:05

3 Answers 3

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Chrome used to have a "go button", which was removed in Google Chrome 6.0.437.1 (dev) - June 2010. You can read about some of the motivation on the issue tracker, although there isn't a lot of information available. It seemed to coincide with a revamp of their omnibox, and the combining of the reload and stop buttons into one button.

To quote from the issue tracker:

  • Reload becomes its own button again and combines with Stop. I will not stab anyone if this is done the way it's combined with Go now. (i.e. using logic so it doesn't change state if the mouse is over it).
  • We kill the go button.
  • The omnibox gets rounded rect edges matching the shape of adjacent buttons on either end.

Subsequently, someone logged a "bug" to bring the "go button" back. The removal seemed to have upset users. The official response by the person involved with UI decisions was:

Paste and go is a context-menu option for the address bar. We don't intend to re-introduce a "Go" button.

The issue was closed with a status of "Won't fix".

I did notice that someone developed an extension to reintroduce the "go button" shortly after it was removed, but I'm not sure if that extension is compatible with newer versions of Chrome.

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  • This answers what happened. Why we don't need a "go" button is explained here: instead of pressing a button, we press under the text we just typed.
    – cipricus
    Nov 7, 2019 at 20:04
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paste&go

The above answers were not useful. Sometime we dont have the keyboard handy. (Have people not heard of wireless keyboards I wonder :)

This is what did the trick for me. If anyone lands on this page because they were using just the mouse to browse and the the cat was sleeping on the BT/Wireless keyboard

After typing a URL in Google Chrome, how can I launch the address without pressing the Return/Enter key?

Type your text and then click under that:

enter image description here

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  • I was about to ditch chrome out of frustration when I came across this post, hope it helps others
    – killjoy
    May 26, 2016 at 22:08
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    "Paste and go" is a completely separate function to what the OP was asking about.
    – Liam Hammett
    May 27, 2016 at 0:09
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    I agree, but I came upon this page because of the same symptom. While OP didn't state why the GO button was needed, which the first comment reflects, I am stating the reason it is needed. I agree it is not an answer, but I cannot paste an image in a comment I think, or dont have enough rep or whatever is needed to comment on other's posts lol.
    – killjoy
    May 28, 2016 at 15:36
  • Update - Chrome now detects a URL in clipboard and offers to go to it. Nice.
    – killjoy
    Nov 12, 2019 at 19:52
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Some people prefer to have go button, some out of habit, and the other are mouse users who used to do copy, paste and cut in the URL box.

The use case is when there are some links copy-ed with long variable after the URL, like: https://domain.com?variable=a_very_long_variable_here_or_provide_some_infos

Browsing with mouse not require interaction with keyboard at all. You want to copy those URL using mouse, then using mouse to cut the words after ? then go to the URL. The "Paste and go" mouse context menu is not a solution since you want to cut parts of the URL.

Doing that without go button requires us to rise from our lazy chair to the keyboard just to press "ENTER" button. Which is annoying on lazy browsing state with only wireless mouse nearby while your keyboard is far away, near your feet. You can also use your feet to press keyboard enter. :-D But clicking a go button is much more lazier.

That's why many people need the clickable go button.

Most of the time we can get the button back by editing browser style sheet.

Google programmers, UI experts, and staff have no idea that lazy people like us exist. They know browsing with keyboard only, never heard browsing with mouse only. That's why they remove the button.

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