Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Buscar en Ayuda

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Open New links in same tab

more options

My browser opens new links in new tabs. I want them to open new links in the same tab.

Others inquire about the same issue get a response saying:;

"Did you try it? Some sites add a target="_blank" attribute to links. Links with these attributes are supposed to open in a new window when left clicked. However, Firefox by default opens these links in a new tab in the current window. By setting browser.link.open_newwindow to 1, these links will instead open in the current tab/window."

I need step-by-step help understanding what I need to do to set the browser are suggested in the above response.

My browser opens new links in new tabs. I want them to open new links in the same tab. Others inquire about the same issue get a response saying:; "Did you try it? Some sites add a target="_blank" attribute to links. Links with these attributes are supposed to open in a new window when left clicked. However, Firefox by default opens these links in a new tab in the current window. By setting browser.link.open_newwindow to 1, these links will instead open in the current tab/window." I need step-by-step help understanding what I need to do to set the browser are suggested in the above response.

Todas las respuestas (1)

more options

Here is the step-by-step:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste browser.link.open_newwindow and pause while the list is filtered

Firefox will display several preferences with related names

(3) Double-click the browser.link.open_newwindow preference to display an editing field, and change the value to 1 then press Enter or click the blue check mark button to save the change.

What the different values do:

  • 3 = divert new window to a new tab instead (default)
  • 2 = allow link to open a new window
  • 1 = force new window into same tab replacing the current page <== select this

(4) Double-click the browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external preference to display an editing field, and change the value to 3 then press Enter or click the blue check mark button to save the change.

What the different values do:

  • -1 = apply the setting under (3) to external links (default)
  • 3 = open external links in a new tab in the last active window <== select this
  • 2 = open external links in a new window
  • 1 = open external links in the last active tab replacing the current page

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox.