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How can I avoid losing all my tabs when FF is giving me the "closing multiple tabs" warning despite there being no other instance of FF open?

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by John99

CHHFM
CHHFM
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Firefox is telling me that I'm about to close 60+ tabs when I'm trying to close the browser window. From previous experience I know that this usually only happens when I have another instance of FF open in the background, and that I need to close that instance first, before I close the main window, to avoid losing my tabs. However, at the moment there isn't another instance of FF running. How do I avoid losing my tabs, in this case?

Firefox is telling me that I'm about to close 60+ tabs when I'm trying to close the browser window. From previous experience I know that this usually only happens when I have another instance of FF open in the background, and that I need to close that instance first, before I close the main window, to avoid losing my tabs. However, at the moment there isn't another instance of FF running. How do I avoid losing my tabs, in this case?

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Use "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit) to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the Firefox title bar.

John99
John99
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Normally Firefox is only one instance, (There are advanced methods of running multiple instances) but possibly with multiple Windows.

If you close Firefox with the menu option 

Menu Button {Three bar icon) -> Quit Firefox (Standby icon)

then the windows will close without losing tabs. (Assuming you have Firefox set to open with previous tabs, or use the restore).

Should you really do have multiple instances open, only the Windows or Windows of the one instance will close.

On the other hand if you close a Window down individually before closing Firefox you may lose the option to reopen that Window.