Computer Basics · The Internet & Email · Lesson 2 of 5

Typing an Address vs Searching

Go straight to a site, or search for it, and land on the real one.

The address bar

The address bar is the long box at the top of the browser. It shows the address of the page you're on. You can also type in it.

You can type two kinds of things there:

• A web address, like library.example. The browser goes straight to that one site.
• A few words, like weather. The browser sends them to a search engine, and you get a list of results.

In Edge, the search engine is Bing unless someone changed it. In Chrome, it's usually Google.

To use the address bar:

1. Click once inside it. The old address gets highlighted.
2. Type your address or your words. What you type replaces the old address.
3. Press Enter.

If you know the exact address, typing it is the most direct way. If you don't, searching is fine. You'll just need to choose carefully from the list.

On the practice computer, type weather in the address bar and press Enter. Then type library.example, press Enter, and notice the difference.

Picking the right result

When you search, you get a search results page. It's a list of websites that match your words. Each result has a title, a web address and a short description.

The first few results are often ads. Companies pay to be shown at the top. Each one is marked with a small word like Sponsored or Ad.

Ads aren't always bad. But sometimes a fake site pays to appear above the real one. Looking for an official site, like your bank? Scroll past the ads.

Before you click a result, look at its web address:

• Does the name match the place you want?
• Is it spelled right? Watch for extra letters or odd endings.
• Many government sites end in .gov.

After you click, look at the address bar again. Make sure you landed where you meant to go.

If something looks wrong, click the Back arrow at the top left of the browser. Then try another result. Just looking at a search results page won't hurt anything.