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Cuireadh an snáithe seo sa chartlann. Cuir ceist nua má tá cabhair uait.

how to control when new tabs get opened

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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.

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.

Réiteach roghnaithe

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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Réiteach Roghnaithe

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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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().