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.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Load new tab completely?

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by MisterM

MisterM
MisterM
more options

Hi

Firefox 72.0.2 Win 8.1

When I open a new tab, the whole page doesn't load until I select that particular tab.

Is there any way of loading the content of a tab completely without having to select it, in the same way as the content would load if I open in a new window instead?

Foe example, if I were to load an Amazon page in a new tab, some of the content loads, but the page waits for the tab to be selected before loading everything else.

Many thanks

Mr M

Hi Firefox 72.0.2 Win 8.1 When I open a new tab, the whole page doesn't load until I select that particular tab. Is there any way of loading the content of a tab completely without having to select it, in the same way as the content would load if I open in a new window instead? Foe example, if I were to load an Amazon page in a new tab, some of the content loads, but the page waits for the tab to be selected before loading everything else. Many thanks Mr M

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window

Firefox will detect if your computer’s memory is running low, which is defined as lower than 400MB, and suspend unused tabs that you haven’t used or looked at in a while. The new tab unload feature is controlled on the about:config page with a preference that you can set to false to disable this feature. Keep in mind that this makes you vulnerable to low memory issues.

  • browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory = false

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.

MisterM
MisterM Question owner
more options

Thanks for the reply, but that's not really the problem.

I did try what you suggest, but still the tab isn't loading fully in the background.

For example, scripts on the background tab don't run until the tab is selected.

So what I need is to fool the tab into thinking it has focus.

I've looked through the config to see if there is a switch in there, but nothing stands out.

Thanks

Mr M