I would like new tabs not to load until I visit them (give them focus)
I am on Firefox 64 on Windows (32-bit). When I open links in a new tab they open in the background (good) but start to load immediately even if I don't need them yet (bad).
Unfortunately after a few such tabs my browser crashes. Of course my browser shouldn't crash but I can totally forgive it, obviously it is taxing to have so many tabs open at the same time.
As a workaround I think it would be fine to simply not load background tabs when I open them, until I click on them or they otherwise get focus. My browser is fine opening with 200 tabs that aren't loaded, that's no problem, only loaded tabs are a problem.
So my request/question is:
-> I would like to have tabs not load until I visit them (give them focus.)
Please let me know how I can accomplish this. I thought I found the solution with an about:config option called "browser.tabs.loadInBackground" which defaults to True but unfortunately this just affects whether the tab opens in a background tab or if opening a link in a new tab also switches to that tab.
Unfortunately, Iif it's set to "true" the tab will still load in the background after you open it, even though it doesn't have focus yet. I want it NOT to load until I visit that tab (click on it or otherwise give it focus.)
Thank you.
All Replies (4)
robooo said
I would like to have Tabs not load until I visit them (give them focus.)
Please let me know how I can accomplish this.
I have this set to False:
browser.tabs.loadInBackground False (Incorrect.)
browser.newtabpage.enabled; false
browser.newtabpage.enhanced; false
This only loads the last-visited, 1 Tab per Window, while other Tabs do not load until they're visited again. I'm down to 794 Tabs in my 'Main' FF window - down from my peak 1,000+. Got more to delete. (Grin)
~Pj
Modified by Pj
That's not what the option you listed does. If I set "browser.tabs.loadInBackground" to false, then when I right-click a link and open it in a new tab, it switches to that tab in immediately.
Did you mean to refer to some different option?
robooo said
That's not what the option you listed does. If I set
browser.tabs.loadInBackground; false,
then when I right-click a link and open it in a new tab, it switches to that tab in immediately.
Did you mean to refer to some different option?
HA! You're right. I looked again and saw these under 'Modified':
browser.newtabpage.enabled; false
browser.newtabpage.enhanced; false
Try the first one or both.
I need to find and document all the changes I made. (Sigh)
~Pj
Hi robooo, add-ons can load a tab in a "pending" state where the content isn't loaded until you visit the tab. They also can load tabs progressively/lazily to avoid taking too many cycles away from your active tab. I haven't tested these myself, but they popped up in a search. They have mixed reviews; I'm sure there are more.