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Firefox opens a single, blank tab in addition to my previous session on every startup

Wil Langford
Wil Langford
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This [previous question] previous question is archived, but it exactly describes and explains the problem: when only pinned tabs are open when Firefox closes, then on startup - when restoring the previous session is enabled - the previous session is restored and a new tab is created. This is annoying, so I "fixed" it:

https://gist.github.com/adeilt/6ed372f4d8a7c54f9df49a3ca1adc4b2

That's a gist of an html file that will automatically close the tab it's in. It does involve using about:config, so use appropriate caution. Just set that to be your "homepage" in the Firefox settings and the new tab will likely disappear before you even notice it. You can tweak the delay if it's not fast enough or you want to savor the impending doom of the offending tab.  :)

This [[https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1195017 previous question]] previous question is archived, but it exactly describes and explains the problem: when only pinned tabs are open when Firefox closes, then on startup - when restoring the previous session is enabled - the previous session is restored ''and'' a new tab is created. This is annoying, so I "fixed" it: https://gist.github.com/adeilt/6ed372f4d8a7c54f9df49a3ca1adc4b2 That's a gist of an html file that will automatically close the tab it's in. It does involve using about:config, so use appropriate caution. Just set that to be your "homepage" in the Firefox settings and the new tab will likely disappear before you even notice it. You can tweak the delay if it's not fast enough or you want to savor the impending doom of the offending tab. :)

Modified by cor-el

Chosen solution

TL;DR: the original post contains a workaround for the problem. See above.

Thanks for the reply, but this doesn't solve my problem. The problem is reportedly a design decision in Firefox (according to a reply to the linked older question), so this is a workaround for anyone interested. I would have replied to the older question, but it's now archived despite not being solved.

I guess this question will be open until a solution is accepted, so I'll see if I can accept this reply as a "solution".

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All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You can check that those pages aren't set as multiple homepages.

You can check the homepage setting in "Settings -> Home".

Firefox supports multiple homepages separated by '|' (pipe) symbols.

Helpful?

Wil Langford
Wil Langford Question owner
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Chosen Solution

TL;DR: the original post contains a workaround for the problem. See above.

Thanks for the reply, but this doesn't solve my problem. The problem is reportedly a design decision in Firefox (according to a reply to the linked older question), so this is a workaround for anyone interested. I would have replied to the older question, but it's now archived despite not being solved.

I guess this question will be open until a solution is accepted, so I'll see if I can accept this reply as a "solution".

Helpful?

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