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How do I retrieve a tab that was automatically deleted from my New Tab page?

  • 6 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by 52pkstew

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There was a tab on my New Tab page that has been there awhile because I wanted to check out the site, but hadn't had time. When I opened Firefox a different tab had been added to my New Tab page and the one I wanted to keep there had been removed. The New Tab page was not full. There were only 6 tabs on it. Does anyone know how I can retrieve the tab that was automatically deleted? Thank you very much.

There was a tab on my New Tab page that has been there awhile because I wanted to check out the site, but hadn't had time. When I opened Firefox a different tab had been added to my New Tab page and the one I wanted to keep there had been removed. The New Tab page was not full. There were only 6 tabs on it. Does anyone know how I can retrieve the tab that was automatically deleted? Thank you very much.

All Replies (6)

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Security Issue: Update your Flash Player Version 19.0.0.226
https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html
Note: Windows users must download the “Internet Explorer” and “Plugin-based browsers” installers.

Note: Edge on Win10 does not use ActiveX version but its own Flash.

See if there are updates for your graphics drivers https://support.mozilla.org/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration


On the about:newtabs page, move your mouse over one of the boxes. You will notice a "pin" on the left to lock the box in place. And an X on the right to remove that box.

The entry is still there. It just is not where you can see it.

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My Flash Player was updated recently. I'm not very computer savvy, so I'm not sure as to what the other things you mentioned has to do with how I can retrieve an automatically deleted tab on my New Tab page. How does downloading and upgrading the things you mentioned help me retrieve the deleted tab? This is the first time this has happened. I did move my mouse over all the boxes and there are no entries there. Thank you very much.

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Flash, and the updates, were a separate issue.

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Do you mean the lost tile was a suggestion by Firefox, not a page from your browsing history? In that case, you could first check that suggestions are enabled. Click the gear or wheel icon on the right side of the page and turn on "Include suggested sites" if it is not checked. If you have suggested sites but not the one you were looking for, try zooming out by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing - a few times. There are as many as 15 tiles available depending on your display size/zoom level. If it's still not displayed, I have no idea what you could to do to get it to reappear.

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If you want a specific tile to stay on the about:newtab page then best is to click the pin button to pin this tab.

You could check out the directoryLinks.json file in the parent location of the disk cache to see if you can locate the page in that file. See the about:cache page for the location of the disk cache and go one level up. You can open "about" pages via the location/address bar.

  • "about" is a protocol to access special built-in pages

The directoryLinks.json file stores the data about the sponsored links that you see on the about:newtab page. You can open this file in the Scratchpad (Firefox menu button or Tools > Web Developer). Click the "Pretty Print" button to format the file for readability.

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To cor-el: I didn't know about pinning a tile until after I lost the tile I wanted. I guess I didn't pay any attention to it, but I know now!! The remainder of your reply is too technical for me. Our son is a computer guru and he will be here on Saturday, so I will have him try what you suggested. Thank you very much for you reply.

To jscher2000: The lost tile was a page from my browsing history. "Include suggested sites" was already checked before I lost the tile. I'll try what you suggested. Thank you very much for your reply.

FredMcD: OK, Thank you for enlightening me. Thank you very much for your reply.