how to control when new tabs get opened
I just got a new laptop and cannot get my tabs to work as they used to. On my old laptop, when I was in Firefox and clicked a link, I stayed on the same tab. When I was reading email and clicked a new link, I a new tab opened.
On my new laptop, I got a new tab every time a link was clicked regardless on being in Outlook or Firefox - too may tabs. My son helped me change the about:config file and now when I select links from Outlook, whatever tab I am in gets replaced with the link I select in Outlook. I want my existing Firefox tabs to stay the same and open a new one for the link select from email. However, I don't want a new tab for every link selected while in Firefox.
Hope that makes sense, thanks.
Chosen solution
Normally, Firefox will open a link in the same tab unless the link is coded to open in a new tab (or new window). It shouldn't be necessary to make any changes in about:config to get that standard behavior.
For the moment, you can have Firefox open links in a new tab using any of these methods:
- hold down the Ctrl key when clicking the link
- right-click the link > Open Link in New Tab
- click the link with the mouse scroll wheel ("middle-click")
It's also worth checking whether any of your add-ons could be affecting how links open. If you look at your installed extensions, do any of them relate to tabs? You can review them on the Add-ons page. Either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Extensions.
To grab a list of them for pasting into a reply, you can use another internal page. Either
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
In the upper left corner, look for the "Copy text to clipboard" button, click that, they paste into a reply. Usually no personal information is included, but please skim down through the data to check for any possible email address or other personal information and XXXXX it out.
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Chosen Solution
Normally, Firefox will open a link in the same tab unless the link is coded to open in a new tab (or new window). It shouldn't be necessary to make any changes in about:config to get that standard behavior.
For the moment, you can have Firefox open links in a new tab using any of these methods:
- hold down the Ctrl key when clicking the link
- right-click the link > Open Link in New Tab
- click the link with the mouse scroll wheel ("middle-click")
It's also worth checking whether any of your add-ons could be affecting how links open. If you look at your installed extensions, do any of them relate to tabs? You can review them on the Add-ons page. Either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Extensions.
To grab a list of them for pasting into a reply, you can use another internal page. Either
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
In the upper left corner, look for the "Copy text to clipboard" button, click that, they paste into a reply. Usually no personal information is included, but please skim down through the data to check for any possible email address or other personal information and XXXXX it out.
You can also check the setting of the browser.link.open_newwindow.* prefs on the about:config page.
You can override how external links are opened via the browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external pref. The meaning of the value of browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external is the same as for browser.link.open_newwindow
- 1: current tab; 2:new window; 3:new tab;
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.
This pref applies to links opened via JavaScript window.open().
thanks