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

Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

How do I open pages in a new tab? They always open in a new window?

more options

Every time I click on a link they open in a new window and not a new tab? The only way I can get the link to open in a new tab is to right-click on it before selecting the link and then choosing the "open in a new tab option" Is this something new? Ive never had this happen before. So its very annoying. Every link I click on opens in a new window and I DO have the option that says open windows in a new tab. HELP!

Every time I click on a link they open in a new window and not a new tab? The only way I can get the link to open in a new tab is to right-click on it before selecting the link and then choosing the "open in a new tab option" Is this something new? Ive never had this happen before. So its very annoying. Every link I click on opens in a new window and I DO have the option that says open windows in a new tab. HELP!

All Replies (3)

more options

The first thing to check is the setting on the Options page to see whether the checkbox for Open new windows in a new tab instead somehow got "unchecked". See: Startup, home page, tabs, and download settings.

If that setting is okay, it's possible the page has some script code that bypasses the usual behavior. Or does this happen on every site?

more options

I do have that setting already checked and it still happens. It must be script code? I have had Mozilla before and I don't ever remember this happening. Is their a way to disable this behavior. Its driving me crazy and I like using this browser.

more options

One option might be to "middle click" the link with your mouse's scroll wheel.

Also, there is a setting in Firefox about whether to allow certain scripted windows to bypass the "new tab instead" setting, and you could close the loophole. Here's how:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste LINK and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction preference and try zero to see whether that fixes it:

0 = apply the standard rule to ALL new windows (even script windows) 2 = apply the standard rule to normal windows, but NOT to script windows with features (default) 1 = override the standard rule and always use new windows

Note: There are various other similarly named preferences that do other things, so please ignore those.