Tabs suddenly switch to a new window
Somehow with these newer versions of FF (I'm using the latest), every now and then I'll be in a tab, when suddenly the tab becomes a new window or instance of FF. This is very annoying, since now the tab and site are no longer loaded into one instance with all my other preferred tabs.
I have no idea what I am doing to produce this effect -- not accidentally hitting a key, it seems to happen when I am moving the cursor, but apart from that .... I don't know.
Anyone know why this is happening?
All Replies (10)
This can happen if the left button is pressed over a tab and the mouse is lowered beyond the tab bar. For eg. if you left click a tab, hold it and move the mouse towards the center of the window and release the button, the tab would change to a new window. To put it back, grab that new window tab, bring it towards the task bar over the icon of the previous Firefox window and when the previous Firefox window opens, put it in that tab bar.
You can also install the following Add-ons to stop that from happening:
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Thanks Wilfred -- yes, doing what you say will produce a new window, but my problem is that it does this with no such action on my part. Seems to happen when I move my mouse cursor from bottom right to center of the screen. But I am not clicking any mouse button when doing so. I'll investigate the add-on solution ... I do not necessarily want to disable a feature, only to control it.
Hmmm ... Thanks for the tip, but this has only started happening with the latest version of FF, but I see this has been a continual problem in earlier versions. Looks to me like my problem may be a different one, esp. given the comments about how that add-on does not work. But I'll keep this in mind.
Tear-off/tear-away tabs has been around since Firefox 3.5. It was initally considered a "bug", but has since been accepted as a feature by most users, including me. I see no posts in the developer's support thread on Mozillazine concerning current problems ( http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=1284135 ) and it is shown as compatible through Firefox 10, which is not yet released. Note that it has only been downloaded less than 15,000 times since its release, which is a relatively small number, considering the time that it has been available, about 2-1/2 years.
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Modified by SafeBrowser
Well, I don't mind the feature, but DO mind the inability to control or predict when it is going to happen. I can right click on the tab and "Move to a new window" and that is a choice I can make. The bug is when the browser does it for me!
Thanks for the info.
Modified by chuckking
Tabs tear off/tear away when the tab is pulled downward into the main window.
- It is easier to do when the tabs are below the toolbars
- harder to achieve when tabs are on top as the tab must be dragged downward over the other toolbars.
- Tabs can also tear off/tear away if the tab is dragged to a position outside of the current window.
The tab in the new window can be dragged back into the tab bar of the original window and positioned within the tabs in that window by watching for the arrow that will appear from below at the break point between two existing tabs.
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Modified by SafeBrowser
I've been having this problem too. It has nothing to do with actually clicking on the tabs and dragging them. The tabs rip themselves off without any cause or reason, through no action of the user. It seems to be a random occurrence.
Thank you thank you VTbmac -- validation that I am not the crazy one!! I have already notified FF via the Help/Submit feedback screen. If you do too, then maybe they will fix what is certainly a bug -- again, a bug which only started appearing recently, I think with the latest version/update.
You are hardly crazy, t's been happening to me too. I came here searching fora solution.
I'm a member of a wallpaper site and I'll open several walls at once in tabs. Having a tab jump out into its own window while I'm trying to do something on it and being left in another tab is so frustrating. And it only started after I updated to Firefox 9.
Like most, I like being able to turn a tab into a window, I just want control of when it happens and to what tabs. Because sometimes one wallpaper can open doors to a whole new catagory of wallpapers.