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Ctrl Left click switches to new tab

  • 2 ŋuɖoɖowo
  • 5 masɔmasɔ sia le wosi
  • 1 view
  • Nuɖoɖo mlɔetɔ markme72

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I don't know what happened but I haven't changed any settings and now my Firefox keeps opening new tabs and switching to them even though "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately" is unchecked in settings and both browser.tabs.loadInBackground and services.sync.prefs.sync.browser.tabs.loadInBackground are set to true in the about:config. I've also tried the extension "Switch to tab no more" and that doesn't work. I have no idea what caused my browser to act this way but it's pretty frustrating.

I don't know what happened but I haven't changed any settings and now my Firefox keeps opening new tabs and switching to them even though "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately" is unchecked in settings and both browser.tabs.loadInBackground and services.sync.prefs.sync.browser.tabs.loadInBackground are set to true in the about:config. I've also tried the extension "Switch to tab no more" and that doesn't work. I have no idea what caused my browser to act this way but it's pretty frustrating.

Ŋuɖoɖo si wotia

It depends on whether the link is designed to stay in the same tab or to open a new window. Firefox has a separate preference for each, and only the one for "same tab" is on the Options page.

Give this a try:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste tabs and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground preference to switch it from the default value of false to true -- the line should turn bold

Does that help?


Since there are a number of similar-sounding preferences, here is my understanding of when they apply:

  • browser.tabs.loadInBackground => when you open a regular link in a new tab using Ctrl+click (or right-click > Open in a New Tab)
    • default = true, do not make the new tab active
    • In the Options dialog/page, this is controlled by the "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately" setting.
  • browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground => when you divert a script-generated new window to a new tab using Ctrl+click, or when a page uses the target attribute to launch a link in a new window and you divert it to a new tab
    • default = false, make the new tab active
  • browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground => when you load a bookmark in a new tab using Ctrl+click (or right-click > Open in a New Tab)
    • default = false, make the new tab active
Xle ŋuɖoɖo sia le goya me 👍 3

All Replies (2)

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Ɖɔɖɔɖo si wotia

It depends on whether the link is designed to stay in the same tab or to open a new window. Firefox has a separate preference for each, and only the one for "same tab" is on the Options page.

Give this a try:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste tabs and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground preference to switch it from the default value of false to true -- the line should turn bold

Does that help?


Since there are a number of similar-sounding preferences, here is my understanding of when they apply:

  • browser.tabs.loadInBackground => when you open a regular link in a new tab using Ctrl+click (or right-click > Open in a New Tab)
    • default = true, do not make the new tab active
    • In the Options dialog/page, this is controlled by the "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately" setting.
  • browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground => when you divert a script-generated new window to a new tab using Ctrl+click, or when a page uses the target attribute to launch a link in a new window and you divert it to a new tab
    • default = false, make the new tab active
  • browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground => when you load a bookmark in a new tab using Ctrl+click (or right-click > Open in a New Tab)
    • default = false, make the new tab active
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My main issue was when I Ctrl left clicked on a bookmark and it kept opening to it. That last option, browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground, is the one that did the trick. It was on false but setting it to true fixed it. Thanks!