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Open new tabs but stay in current tab

  • 7 replies
  • 21 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by cor-el

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I have read a lot of threads, but I have not found that any help. I just reformatted my hard drive and installed FF4 fresh. . I open firefox to my homepage. No tabs opened at this point. If I right click on on the page to open a new link by opening a new tab, it stays on the current page and opens a new tab in the background. My problem is if I am on a page and I open a new tab by selecting a BOOKMARK, it switches to the new tab immediately. I want to stay on the current tab and have the bookmark tab open in a background tab. Any help? Thanks.

P.S. I have tried checking and unchecking "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately", I have tried safe mode, I have tried disabling all of the add-on's....nothing seems to work.

I have read a lot of threads, but I have not found that any help. I just reformatted my hard drive and installed FF4 fresh. . I open firefox to my homepage. No tabs opened at this point. If I right click on on the page to open a new link by opening a new tab, it stays on the current page and opens a new tab in the background. My problem is if I am on a page and I open a new tab by selecting a BOOKMARK, it switches to the new tab immediately. I want to stay on the current tab and have the bookmark tab open in a background tab. Any help? Thanks. P.S. I have tried checking and unchecking "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately", I have tried safe mode, I have tried disabling all of the add-on's....nothing seems to work.

Modified by xyphr3

Chosen solution

That is controlled by this pref (does affect Google search bar as well):

browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground

To open the about:config page, type about:config in the location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key, just like you type the url of a website to open a website.
If you see a warning then you can confirm that you want to access that page.

Read this answer in context 👍 4

All Replies (7)

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"I want to stay on the current tab and have the bookmark tab open in a background tab."

Un-check "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately":

  • Firefox button > Options > Options > Tabs
  • If using the Menu Bar: Tools > Options > Tabs

Also, some of the tab-related extensions (Tab Mix Plus, Tab Utilities, etc.) have options that can affect that behavior.

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I have tried checking and unchecking "When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately", I have tried safe mode, I have tried disabling all of the add-on's....nothing seems to work.

more options

Chosen Solution

That is controlled by this pref (does affect Google search bar as well):

browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground

To open the about:config page, type about:config in the location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key, just like you type the url of a website to open a website.
If you see a warning then you can confirm that you want to access that page.

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Cor-el, thanks for the help. You solved my problem

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You're welcome

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That didn't work for me. I confirm I closed firefox down and restared it. No joy.

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Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox (Tools) > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).