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If you type the URL http://xyz.example (even with explicit http://), Firefox will redirect you to http://www.xyz.example, even if that site does not exist. It's a really annoying behavior.

How can I turn it off?

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Reset to default
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To disable Firefox's automatic URL fixup feature, do the following:

  1. Type about:config in address line
  2. Search for browser.fixup.alternate.enabled
  3. Change the value to false
  4. Search for browser.urlbar.autoFill
  5. Change the value to false

Source: How to disable automatic "www." prefix in Firefox

However, Firefox may not be doing this.

In the case where you navigate to a web address (e.g. example.com) but are redirected to a different URL (such as www.example.com), the redirection can be performed by the website's owner, not the browser.

There are two ways this can be done:

  1. URL 301 redirect on the web server
  2. CNAME record in DNS

Both methods are under the control of the owner of the example.com domain and cannot be defeated by changing settings in your browser.

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  • Note: browser.fixup.alternate.enabled disables "fixup" which inserts "www." when the entered domain can't be resolved and browser.urlbar.autoFill disables auto-completion in the address bar.
    – Athari
    Commented Jun 18, 2022 at 12:08

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