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"Warn when closing multiple tabs" not working

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The "Warn when closing multiple tabs" option (which, by the way, is hidden for some reason until you modify its value via about:config) doesn't even do anything. You could close like 10 tabs and Firefox will do it without warning you. Same with the "Close other tabs/tabs to the right" options.

The "Warn when closing multiple tabs" option (which, by the way, is hidden for some reason until you modify its value via about:config) doesn't even do anything. You could close like 10 tabs and Firefox will do it without warning you. Same with the "Close other tabs/tabs to the right" options.

All Replies (20)

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Hello Leo40Fox,

Would you please check your settings in Options => General :

                   

If you don't use the "Restore previous session" option, on the   about:config   page the preference browser.warnOnQuit should be set to true.

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Maybe this is a bug in Beta/Developer? (I checked Developer Edition, version 67.0b8.) The preferences do not seem not to be working:

(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 or accepting the risk.

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

  • browser.tabs.warnOnClose
  • browser.tabs.warnOnCloseOtherTabs

These are still here and set to true by default. ???

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The warn settings are hidden in Options/Preferences when the related prefs have their default value; they only show when they are user set to prevent users from modifying these settings and accidentally disable the warnings. There is also browser.sessionstore.warnOnQuit that is controlled by the second checkbox in the above screenshot to show a warning when you use session restore to reopen tabs automatically; in this case Firefox doesn't show the waning dialog.

Is this about a warning when you close Firefox or about a waning when you would close multiple tabs via the Tab bar context menu or with closing a secondary window or something else ?

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Here is one change in Firefox 67:

If "Close Tabs to the Right" or "Close Other Tabs" or "Close [selected] Tabs" will close more tabs than shown on the "Undo Close Tab" menu, but less than all tabs in the window, then you will get a warning. Otherwise, you won't get a warning, and you would have to undo the closure if it was done by accident.

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/f5b403254529

I'm not ecstatic about this change because I sometimes do mis-click on the context menu.

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McCoy said

Hello Leo40Fox, Would you please check your settings in Options => General :                     If you don't use the "Restore previous session" option, on the   about:config   page the preference browser.warnOnQuit should be set to true.

That's related to quitting the browser entirely, not closing tabs.

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jscher2000 said

Here is one change in Firefox 67: If "Close Tabs to the Right" or "Close Other Tabs" or "Close [selected] Tabs" will close more tabs than shown on the "Undo Close Tab" menu, but less than all tabs in the window, then you will get a warning. Otherwise, you won't get a warning, and you would have to undo the closure if it was done by accident. https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/f5b403254529 I'm not ecstatic about this change because I sometimes do mis-click on the context menu.

So setting "browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo" to 1 should always show the warning when closing more than 1 tab right? Just tested it, and that is indeed the case.

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Leo40Fox said

So setting "browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo" to 1 should always show the warning when closing more than 1 tab right? Just tested it, and that is indeed the case.

Yes, but unfortunately, reduces your ability to restore closed tabs.

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jscher2000 said

Leo40Fox said
So setting "browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo" to 1 should always show the warning when closing more than 1 tab right? Just tested it, and that is indeed the case.

Yes, but unfortunately, reduces your ability to restore closed tabs.

Ok, so this is the right connection, finally, and thank you for that! Buy what a silly logic, and why those two (number of remembering open tabs and warn on close) needs to be in relationship?! Especially it wasn't the case before!

Is there any chance to un-link this ridiculous restriction? And how to ask Firefox developers, as I don't believe they are reading those lines....

Thanks for solving the puzzle, anyway!

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umpahpah said

Is there any chance to un-link this ridiculous restriction?

I am not aware of any settings to change it back to the way it worked before, no.

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This is indeed an EXTREMELY unhelpful change. I'm very glad I found this by accident rather than how I could have found it - on occasion I've used that dialog to figure out how many tabs I have open and would have been *very* *very* upset to accidentally close ALL THE TABS.

I can't imagine who would want this change - if there's a setting for warn on multiple tabs, why on earth would anyone want that setting NOT to work?

I've never actually built Firefox from source before but this "improvement" is ridiculous enough that I'm willing to do a custom build just to get rid of this absurd change.

Who on earth reported that as a BUG? Good Lord.

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gbonehead said

I'm very glad I found this by accident rather than how I could have found it - on occasion I've used that dialog to figure out how many tabs I have open and would have been *very* *very* upset to accidentally close ALL THE TABS.

I'm not sure I understand what you were clicking to get a tab count. The warning that is suppressed is the one associated with:

  • right-click > Close Other Tabs
  • right-click > Close Tabs to the Right
  • right-click > Close Tabs (referring to multi-selected tabs, dangerous if you select all tabs in the window)

The warning for closing a window using the "X" button has not changed. If you have Firefox set to restore your session at startup and you want a warning when closing the last window, there is a checkbox on the Options page, General panel: check the box for "Warn you when quitting the browser".

Either way, an extension would be a safer approach for getting a tab count.

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You're nitpicking the example and ignoring the problem. The "why" doesn't really matter all that much, that was just an example.

The problem is making a change to existing, intuitive behavior as if it's a bug fix. The existing implementation paid attention to the "warn if closing multiple" setting. The new implementation mysteriously ignores that setting and generates pointless confusion.

Having a setting such as "warn when closing multiple tabs" that is silently and mysteriously ignored as *new* *behavior* is not good design. If someone wanted new behavior, there should be a new setting, not a strange and different interpretation of long-existing settings.

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gbonehead said

You're nitpicking the example and ignoring the problem. The "why" doesn't really matter all that much, that was just an example.

Actually, this is a support forum, so we focus on making the Firefox we have today meet your needs, through settings changes, add-ons, or other workarounds. You described what you wanted to do and I addressed it. Is that not what you want to do? When do you run into this problem?

Anyway, here in support, we don't make UX or development decisions. You could submit comments and suggestions for feature changes through one or more of the following links, or recently I saw someone created a Change.org petition (no idea whether that helps):

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UmpahPah said

jscher2000 said
Leo40Fox said
So setting "browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo" to 1 should always show the warning when closing more than 1 tab right? Just tested it, and that is indeed the case.

Yes, but unfortunately, reduces your ability to restore closed tabs.

Dear jscher2000, I just changed "browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo" to 1, and that restored the multiple tabs closing warning. I would be grateful if you would explain how the modification will reduce my ability to restore closed tabs.

Ok, so this is the right connection, finally, and thank you for that! Buy what a silly logic, and why those two (number of remembering open tabs and warn on close) needs to be in relationship?! Especially it wasn't the case before!

Is there any chance to un-link this ridiculous restriction? And how to ask Firefox developers, as I don't believe they are reading those lines....

Thanks for solving the puzzle, anyway!

UmpahPah said

jscher2000 said
Leo40Fox said
So setting "browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo" to 1 should always show the warning when closing more than 1 tab right? Just tested it, and that is indeed the case.

Yes, but unfortunately, reduces your ability to restore closed tabs.

Ok, so this is the right connection, finally, and thank you for that! Buy what a silly logic, and why those two (number of remembering open tabs and warn on close) needs to be in relationship?! Especially it wasn't the case before!

Is there any chance to un-link this ridiculous restriction? And how to ask Firefox developers, as I don't believe they are reading those lines....

Thanks for solving the puzzle, anyway!

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Dear jscher2000, I just changed "browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo" to 1, and that restored the multiple tabs closing warning. I would be grateful if you would explain how the modification will reduce my ability to restore closed tabs. Thanks. Rob in Austin

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rreply said

I just changed "browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo" to 1, and that restored the multiple tabs closing warning. I would be grateful if you would explain how the modification will reduce my ability to restore closed tabs.

Hi Rob, normally you can undo up to 25 closed tabs. But now you'll only be able to undo 1 closed tab. If you've never used Undo Close Tab, then you probably won't miss this feature very much.

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You can use code in userChrome.css to hide specific content menu items if you do not need them and only sometimes click them accidentally. If you need to close more tabs then use the feature to select multiple tabs via Ctrl/Shift.


@namespace url("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul"); /* only needed once */

#context_closeTabsToTheEnd,
#context_closeOtherTabs {
  display:none !important;
}

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Thanks, jscher, for clarifying. Right you are. I've never used the Undo Close Tab. With appreciation, Rob

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This doing backflips to reprogram back in, a longstanding safety feature is just BS!

Mozilla's Firefox crew just needs to read & be alerted on the problem, & reinstate the "warn when closing multiple tabs" protective feature, so that we normal people users do not accidentally close a bunch of tabs by accidentally getting a multiple click or whatever!

Most of us average folks are NOT going to go through all of this BS listed above to kluge a fix!

Mozilla - fix your Firefox updates.

Tom ///////

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Hi Tom, do you need help restoring closed tabs? You can use the menu items --

  • right-click any tab > Undo Close Tab (re-opens the last one you closed)
  • "3-bar" menu button > Library > History > Recently Closed Tabs
  • (menu bar) History > Recently Closed Tabs

-- or the keyboard shortcut (re-opens tabs in reverse order they were closed, most recently closed first, one at a time):

Ctrl+Shift+t (on Mac, Command+Shift+t)


Regarding changing Firefox, as noted earlier, folks here in support can't change do that. To submit feature suggestions, you have many choices, depending on your desired style of interaction.

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