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How do I disable tabs?

  • 4 replies
  • 29 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by user418883

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I want to disable tabs. I use a Mac at home, so an application doesn't take the entire screen like on Windows, so tabs are a pointless distraction that constantly gets in the way. Opening a new window is much more convenient.

The extension TabKiller doesn't work on Firefox 4, so is there another way to entirely disable tabs? As for the moment I'm using Safari since Firefox 4 is utterly useless to me.

I want to disable tabs. I use a Mac at home, so an application doesn't take the entire screen like on Windows, so tabs are a pointless distraction that constantly gets in the way. Opening a new window is much more convenient. The extension TabKiller doesn't work on Firefox 4, so is there another way to entirely disable tabs? As for the moment I'm using Safari since Firefox 4 is utterly useless to me.

All Replies (4)

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See Tabs

Uncheck all the Tab related features you see in the picure.

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Except it opens new tabs by default all the time anyway. Changing those preferences changes the occurrence of some instances of tabs, but doesn't eliminate them entirely.

Opening a new window, and leaving an edge visible gives one an idea of what the page is about. Tabs hide everything. You have to click on the damn things to see what they're hiding. I don't understand why something so useless has become so popular. My only guess is that Windows has a tendency to have apps use the entire screen, and therefore Windows users have no choice but to use tabs.

I would like a simple method to prevent tabs from intruding on my browsing... I was hoping there was another add-on or extension that also disables tabs entirely like Tab Killer does.

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If you remove the checkmark from "Always show tab bar", you won't see any tabs. Every link you click on from that point forward will display in a window provided you refresh the page after make the change.

Modified by Xircal

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Regrettably, no it doesn't.

If I encounter a link that "pops" i.e. starts with a new page, I'll always get it in an open tab. Back before tabs it would open a new window, but no longer. Firefox assumes I want a new tab, because everyone uses/loves tabs.

In Safari all I have to do is set "Open pages in new tabs" to "Never" and I'll never see another tab. In Firefox it becomes infrequent, but I still get new tabs popping up. For example, it's happened 5 times since I've been searching the Mozilla websites.

In Chrome, forget it. Tabs are integrated into the interface. Asking Google to disable them in Chrome is like asking them to pull their eyes out. I should know, I have tried. (But then Google doesn't listen to anyone. They poop rainbows, and don't dare suggest otherwise.)

If I can't find an answer this way I'll have to find the fellow who made Tab Killer and convince him to write an update for version 4, or I'll have to downgrade back to version 3.6