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Why are new tabs becoming new windows when I open them?

Frequen-z@live.co.uk
Frequen-z@live.co.uk
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When I open a new tab (via a link or through Ctrl+T) and click on it while it's still loading, sometimes it will split from the others to become a new window. This is rather irritating. What could be causing this? Is it an option I'm missing or some feature I'm accidentally setting off?

It happens most frequently when a tab is loading, but it doesn't have to be. For example, when I switched tabs to paste my Troubleshooting Information here, this tab split into a new window.

When I open a new tab (via a link or through Ctrl+T) and click on it while it's still loading, sometimes it will split from the others to become a new window. This is rather irritating. What could be causing this? Is it an option I'm missing or some feature I'm accidentally setting off? It happens most frequently when a tab is loading, but it doesn't have to be. For example, when I switched tabs to paste my Troubleshooting Information here, this tab split into a new window.

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Make sure that you do not drag a tab in the browser window.

Firefox 3.5 versions and later have a feature called tear-off tabs.
You can detach a tab from the current window and open it in a new window by dragging a tab in the browser window.
You can drag that tab back to the tab bar in the original window to undo that detaching.

Frequen-z@live.co.uk
Frequen-z@live.co.uk Question owner
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Nope, I'm afraid it's not that. No dragging involved, I'll just click a tab to view it and it'll spring to a new window. Does this maybe about a quarter of the time I switch tabs, but happens more if something is loading on any one of the tabs.