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.

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

History and Bookmark links always overwrite page being viewed. How to stop that?

  • 2 iimpendulo
  • 1 inayo le ngxaki
  • 1 view
  • Impendulo yokugqibela ngu cor-el

more options

The History menu, Bookmarks menu, and (obviously) the Bookmarks sidebar have links (obviously). Every time I select one of those links, the web page overwrites the page I am looking at. If I don't remember to make a new tab, I must go back a page, open a new tab, and click the History or Bookmarks link again. I want History and Bookmarks links to ALWAYS open in new tabs. I can find no way to do that. I can find to keyboard shortcut that changes the behavior. Add-ons can do that for in-page links but not within Firefox links. I looked in about:config but found nothing of obvious relevance.

Are there Firefox settings, Add-ons, or threats to Mozilla that will address this problem? Am I off track in thinking that this caters to the users of handheld device who lack space for many tabs?

The History menu, Bookmarks menu, and (obviously) the Bookmarks sidebar have links (obviously). Every time I select one of those links, the web page overwrites the page I am looking at. If I don't remember to make a new tab, I must go back a page, open a new tab, and click the History or Bookmarks link again. I want History and Bookmarks links to ALWAYS open in new tabs. I can find no way to do that. I can find to keyboard shortcut that changes the behavior. Add-ons can do that for in-page links but not within Firefox links. I looked in about:config but found nothing of obvious relevance. Are there Firefox settings, Add-ons, or threats to Mozilla that will address this problem? Am I off track in thinking that this caters to the users of handheld device who lack space for many tabs?

Isisombulu esikhethiweyo

For bookmarks there is a pref on the about:config page that you can set to force opening the bookmark in a new tab.

  • browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInTabs = true

For history there is no such a pref, so you would have to middle-click an history item or hold the Command key and left-click like you would normally do to open a link in a new tab

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.

Funda le mpendulo kwimeko leyo 👍 1

All Replies (2)

more options

As far as Bookmarks go, try using this add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-bookmarks-in-a-new-tab/

For History, I can't find an add-on to open in a new tab; sorry.

more options

Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo

For bookmarks there is a pref on the about:config page that you can set to force opening the bookmark in a new tab.

  • browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInTabs = true

For history there is no such a pref, so you would have to middle-click an history item or hold the Command key and left-click like you would normally do to open a link in a new tab

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.