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How can I make ONLY my pinned tabs restore next time I open Firefox? This is what I thought they were for.

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by arfyness

I'm pretty sure that what I'm looking for is not currently possible with Firefox 60.

1) Define pinned tabs 2) Close Firefox in any way. 3) Open Firefox 3 a) my pinned tabs are opened (and still pinned) 3 b my other tabs from last time are not opened.

If I open all my tabs from last time, two non ideal things: 1) I must make sure that the last window I close is the one with pinned tabs in it ... 2) All my other tabs from last time open as well.

This behavior is contrary to the text at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pinned-tabs-keep-favorite-websites-open which reads: "Pinned Tabs allow you to always keep your favorite web apps like Facebook, Gmail and Twitter open and just a click away. Pinned Tabs are small, can't be closed accidentally and open automatically when you start Firefox."

Further down it says: "All of the Pinned Tabs you have set when you close Firefox will open as Pinned Tabs when you start Firefox again." This is not the behavior I am seeing. It's either ALL my tabs come back (with the option enabled "Show your windows and tabs from last time") or NONE of my tabs come back pinned or regular (with either of the other options chosen). There is not an option like "restore only my pinned tabs" or something, which is what I have experienced before as the behavior of these things.

It's clear from reading through this support forum that I'm not alone in being frustrated by this behavior. If pinned tabs are supposed to be persistent (e.g. across closing firefox or reboot), then they should be handled separately from all other tabs in the session restore data.

The only difference I see between pinned tabs and normal tabs is the size, lack of the close button (X), and the blue update dot. NONE of their persistence behavior (or lack thereof) behaves as described on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pinned-tabs-keep-favorite-websites-open.

Any insights are welcome.

I'm pretty sure that what I'm looking for is not currently possible with Firefox 60. 1) Define pinned tabs 2) Close Firefox in any way. 3) Open Firefox 3 a) my pinned tabs are opened (and still pinned) 3 b my other tabs from last time are not opened. If I open all my tabs from last time, two non ideal things: 1) I must make sure that the last window I close is the one with pinned tabs in it ... 2) All my other tabs from last time open as well. This behavior is contrary to the text at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pinned-tabs-keep-favorite-websites-open which reads: "Pinned Tabs allow you to always keep your favorite web apps like Facebook, Gmail and Twitter open and just a click away. Pinned Tabs are small, can't be closed accidentally and open automatically when you start Firefox." Further down it says: "All of the Pinned Tabs you have set when you close Firefox will open as Pinned Tabs when you start Firefox again." This is not the behavior I am seeing. It's either ALL my tabs come back (with the option enabled "Show your windows and tabs from last time") or NONE of my tabs come back pinned or regular (with either of the other options chosen). There is not an option like "restore only my pinned tabs" or something, which is what I have experienced before as the behavior of these things. It's clear from reading through this support forum that I'm not alone in being frustrated by this behavior. If pinned tabs are supposed to be persistent (e.g. across closing firefox or reboot), then they should be handled separately from all other tabs in the session restore data. The only difference I see between pinned tabs and normal tabs is the size, lack of the close button (X), and the blue update dot. NONE of their persistence behavior (or lack thereof) behaves as described on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pinned-tabs-keep-favorite-websites-open. Any insights are welcome.

All Replies (3)

Additional information -- I'm using:

MacOS - 10.13.4 (17E202) Firefox - 60.0.2 (64-bit)

Both are current version.

When I only have one Firefox window, my pinned tabs do come back regardless of which option is selected in preferences (see picture). When I have multiple windows of Firefox, and close them in any order, my pinned tabs are not restored except with the third option selected. This, even when the last window closed is the one with the pinned tabs.

My take: It should not matter which order you close Firefox windows, pinned tabs should remain pinned. Here's an idea: Pinned tabs should migrate from a window which is closed to a still-open window. If that's what it takes, I'd be happy with that.

If you close Firefox with only pinned tabs open then Firefox will open one normal tab with the startup page on the next start.

Pinned tabs are always connected to a specific window and if you open a new window then you need to pin tabs in this window. There is no way to move/copy pinned tabs from one window to another window. To preserve all open windows and its pinned tabs you need to make sure to close Firefox properly via the menu and not click the close X that closes a specific window. You would have to use "History -> Recently Closed Windows" to restore (pinned) tab s from a closed window.

Use one of these to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the Firefox title bar.

  • "3-bar" menu button -> Exit (Power button)
  • Windows: File -> Exit
  • Mac: Firefox -> Quit Firefox
  • Linux: File -> Quit

cor-el said

If you close Firefox with only pinned tabs open then Firefox will open one normal tab with the startup page on the next start. ...
  • Mac: Firefox -> Quit Firefox

Yeah, CMD-Q on Mac = Quit ... or right click the dock icon and quit.

The problem with that is multiple windows close one after another (very quickly, but not exactly all at once), in whichever order they feel like closing, and there is no guarantee that the window with my pinned tabs will be the last to close. Therefore, I have to manually close all other windows first, to be sure that my pinned tabs are in the last remaining window before I actually quit Firefox. Super annoying, and seems logically contrary to the concept of having something "pinned." </grumble>