How to disable tabs switching upon flicking (fast scrolling) in window?
Hi. I've done multiple google searches on this but couldn't find an answer. When using panning in Firefox on MS Surface Pro (1) tablet, I swipe up on the page to scroll down, and often times this flicking gesture ends with lifting the finger on the tabs bar and causes the current tab to switch to the next one. I want to disable this as everytime it happens, it's unintentional. I looked in the Firefox (tab) settings, as well as Windows 8 settings, but could not find an option to change it. (e.g. It seems to have happened on Google Chrome on mobile phones as well, causing the team to add an option to disable it.) I'd appreciate if anyone knows of a way to do it. Thanks.
Modified by user1116603
Chosen solution
Yes, it has an Options windows with a whole bunch of settings under different tabs, which seem to get listed into about:config as allinonegest.*, including those for the mouse, wheel, rocker, etc. but I couldn't see anything related to flicking (panning or scrolling itself doesn't seem to change the current tab, from what I have tried). Then again, on a tablet (perhaps as well as on a mobile phone), something in there might be translating to flicking to switch tabs. When I have more time, I might be able to experiment with the most likely candidates. Thanks.
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Do you have the Tab Bar on top or do you have an extension you place the Tab Bar at the lower position?
If the Tab Bar is in the default high position then this shouldn't happen easily.
I'm not aware of a way to prevent scrolling tabs on the Tab Bar when you hover this bar by accident.
Modified by cor-el
Thank you for your response. Yes, I have the Tab Bar at the top. In terms of the extensions/add-ons, the relevant ones I have are All-in-One Gestures, Grab and Drag, and Tab Mix Plus. Your comment made me (re-)look at the extensions and experiment to see what exactly is happening.
First, it looks like the tab switch happens on a "flick" motion inside the window (but it's a thin line between a scroll and a flick, you know?), and the finger doesn't have to released on the tab bar (the motion can be completely inside the content window) for the switch to the next tab to happen.
Second, I experimented with the relevant add-ons one by one, and it looks like disabling the All-in-One Gestures is causing the behavior to go away. I can't see any mention of the Flick motion in the options for this add-on, but in the absence of any further comments, I can just keep the add-on disabled (the issue is that annoying), and consider the matter closed (though I want to wait a bit and continue with the new setting before marking it, in case I might have spoken too soon...)
Thanks again.
Modified by user1116603
Did you check if there are any (default) gestures defined that might cause this? Are gesture stored as a pref that shows on the about:config page or is a separate file used?
Chosen Solution
Yes, it has an Options windows with a whole bunch of settings under different tabs, which seem to get listed into about:config as allinonegest.*, including those for the mouse, wheel, rocker, etc. but I couldn't see anything related to flicking (panning or scrolling itself doesn't seem to change the current tab, from what I have tried). Then again, on a tablet (perhaps as well as on a mobile phone), something in there might be translating to flicking to switch tabs. When I have more time, I might be able to experiment with the most likely candidates. Thanks.