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Middle mouse key

  • 4 replies
  • 8 have this problem
  • 18 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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So, i had an older version of firefox and i've been also using the very same toolbar of my website as i do now. Earlier i could click the middle mouse button on a link of the toolbar and it would open in a new tab. Now, it doesn't, it does nothing with the middle mouse button, only left click works (opens link in the same tab).

Also, if someone could help with a further question (not so important) i can't find the "Open new tab" button, I do know if u double click on the tab bar it will open a new tab, but i still can't open as much as i want... Anyway, I mostly need help with the first question... Thanks a lot everyone in advance.

P.S. Middle mouse button works correctly on firefox when closing tabs or scrolling.

So, i had an older version of firefox and i've been also using the very same toolbar of my website as i do now. Earlier i could click the middle mouse button on a link of the toolbar and it would open in a new tab. Now, it doesn't, it does nothing with the middle mouse button, only left click works (opens link in the same tab). Also, if someone could help with a further question (not so important) i can't find the "Open new tab" button, I do know if u double click on the tab bar it will open a new tab, but i still can't open as much as i want... Anyway, I mostly need help with the first question... Thanks a lot everyone in advance. P.S. Middle mouse button works correctly on firefox when closing tabs or scrolling.

All Replies (4)

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As a temporary workaround, holding the Ctrl key when you left click should launch the link in a new tab.

Is this problem limited to the one site or does it affect all links everywhere?


Regarding the new tab button, could you check using the Customize feature:

Alt+v (opens the classic View menu) > Toolbars > Customize

The new tab button usually appears as a simple + at the right end of the tab bar. If it has been moved to another toolbar or returned to the Customize dialog, it may appear as an icon of a tab with a + on it. Can you locate it in an unexpected location and drag it back to the end of the tab bar?

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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Too bad that wasn't helpful my friend.. :/

It doesn't have to do with sites. Well middle key works on other links, for example of i middle key your account name, it will open your profile account on a new tab, but that doesn't work on toolbars (It worked on the previous version)...

Also about my 2nd question, i already searched there, no "+" found...

P.S. Also Alt+V won't work on this version.

But thanks a lot for replying..

Modified by GeoMura

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Wow, how did I miss your reply.

On the first point, do you mean the Bookmarks Toolbar? That should work. You could check whether you have any non-default settings for the middle mouse button.

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

(2) In the filter box, type or paste middle and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If any of the middlemouse. preferences are bold (set to non-default values), double-click them to switch back to the default value. You might need to restart Firefox before these changes take full effect.


On the second point, if you are missing toolbar controls and standard menus do not work, this could indicate a corrupted toolbar settings file and/or interference by add-ons.

(A) The localstore.rdf file does sometimes become corrupted. You can rename the file and customize from scratch.

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using

Help > Troubleshooting Information > "Show Folder" button

Switch back to Firefox and Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename localstore.rdf to something like localstore.old

(B) A standard diagnostic to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings) is to try Firefox's Safe Mode.

First, I recommend backing up your Firefox settings in case something goes wrong. See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles. (You can copy your entire Firefox profile folder somewhere outside of the Mozilla folder.)

Next, restart Firefox in Firefox's Safe Mode (Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode) using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode."

If your middle mouse button works correctly, this strongly suggests that one of your extensions or custom settings is the problem.

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You can find the New Tab button showing as a '+' on the Tab bar.
You can open the Customize window and drag the New Tab button that shows as a plus sign (+) from the Tab bar on another toolbar and it will become a regular toolbar New Tab button.
If you can't find the New Tab button then click the "Restore Default Set" button in the Customize window.

You can check for problems with the localstore.rdf file and delete this file if the above didn't help.