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Even though I don't have it selected every time I open a new tab Firefox switches to it

  • 4 ŋuɖoɖowo
  • 1 masɔmasɔ sia le esi
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  • Nuɖoɖo mlɔetɔ Figureguy

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Good evening. I have Firefox set to NOT switch to a new tab when it opens from a link but it does anyway. I clicked the box and unclicked it but it still switches over. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, how can I stop the address bar from searching the web and just search bookmarks and history? I have a separate bar for searching and prefer my web searches show up there.

Thanks in advance.

Good evening. I have Firefox set to NOT switch to a new tab when it opens from a link but it does anyway. I clicked the box and unclicked it but it still switches over. Any help would be appreciated. Also, how can I stop the address bar from searching the web and just search bookmarks and history? I have a separate bar for searching and prefer my web searches show up there. Thanks in advance.

All Replies (4)

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You can set keyword.enabled = false on the about:config page to disable searching via the location bar, Also see the settings for the location bar in "Settings -> Search".

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can click the button to "Accept the Risk and Continue".

cor-el trɔe

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Thanks for responding, Cor-El. That did the trick for searches as I am now only getting bookmarks and history. Anything to stop switching to the new tab when opened? I didn't have any trouble before but my computer had a major hiccup and I had to reset windows. Firefox needed some adjusting while things had worked fine before.

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There are a couple different scenarios for opening a link in a new tab:

(A) Manual method -- opening it yourself, for example:

  • right-click > Open Link in New Tab
  • Ctrl+click
  • Middle-click with the mouse wheel

Usually the checkbox on the Settings page handles these

(B) Diversion method -- Firefox diverts a new window to a new tab instead

This is not covered by the checkbox, you need to go under the covers:

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

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste inback and pause while the list is filtered

Firefox should list several preferences:

  • browser.search.context.loadInBackground -- for searching selected text from the right-click context menu
  • browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground -- for bookmarks
  • browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground -- for scenario (B) above
  • browser.tabs.loadInBackground -- checkbox on the Settings page

(3) Double-click any preference to switch its value between false and true

Can you get it working the way you want?

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox.

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jscher200,

Thanks to you as well. That seems to be working great. I believe that is all the problems I am having now but I will check throughout the day as I didn't finish getting everything set until late last night and haven't had much time to try it out today. But these two seem to make a big difference.

I appreciate your time, everyone.