One of the new features in Safari 4 is that the URL entry area is now integrated with two additional features—an “add bookmarks” button immediately to the left, and the Google search box on the right. If you hold down the Command key and try to drag the URL bar, you’ll see that all three of these elements drag as one object.
To me, the placement of the button to add a new bookmark is quite odd—by placing it so close to the URL entry area, it’s quite easy to accidentally click the button instead of the URL entry area, leading to an extra click on a Cancel button. If this bothers you as well, there are two related solutions. You can either separate the button from the URL entry area, or remove it entirely.
Both solutions are basically identical in implementation. First, Control-click anywhere on Safari 4’s toolbar and select Customize Toolbar from the pop-up menu. In the sheet that drops down, drag the Add Bookmark button to the toolbar—as soon as this button enters the toolbar region, you’ll notice that the existing button to the left of the URL entry area vanishes.
Drop the button on the toolbar and click Done to dismiss the sheet. If you want to keep the Add Bookmark button, you’re done—you can use Command-drag to move it to a new location on the toolbar, if you wish. If you’d rather not have the Add Bookmark button at all, hold down the Command key and drag the Add Bookmark button down off the toolbar; when you release the mouse, the button will vanish in a puff of smoke (and the attached button won’t reappear).
If you ever decide you want the Add Bookmark button back, you can simply add it through the Customize Toolbar menu again. (You could also drag in the “Add Bookmark, Address, and Search” icons from the Customize Toolbar sheet if you want to get the attached button back. Unfortunately, there’s no way to do this with the search box; it’s permanently associated with the URL entry area.