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If a site is open, switch to it rather than opening a new tab.

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by Kleid

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If I put a url into the address bar and it matches a tab that I already have open, I'd like FF to switch to the existing tab rather than duplicating the tab by navigating to the url I've just entered.

To take the simplest possible example: I open FF and navigate to mozilla.org. Then I open a new tab and type the url for mozilla.org into the address bar. I would like FF to switch me to the original tab (leaving the new tab blank) rather than opening the site again in the second tab.

Obviously this doesn't make much sense for just two tabs, but if I have 100 tabs open it's useful to be able to flip to an existing one rather than creating a duplicate. Of course FF needs to have the capacity to open a duplicate as well, but it's useful to have both options.

I'm using 45.0.2 on Win 7.

If I put a url into the address bar and it matches a tab that I already have open, I'd like FF to switch to the existing tab rather than duplicating the tab by navigating to the url I've just entered. To take the simplest possible example: I open FF and navigate to mozilla.org. Then I open a new tab and type the url for mozilla.org into the address bar. I would like FF to switch me to the original tab (leaving the new tab blank) rather than opening the site again in the second tab. Obviously this doesn't make much sense for just two tabs, but if I have 100 tabs open it's useful to be able to flip to an existing one rather than creating a duplicate. Of course FF needs to have the capacity to open a duplicate as well, but it's useful to have both options. I'm using 45.0.2 on Win 7.

All Replies (2)

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Is showing open tabs selected for the location/address bar drop-down list?

Does the drop-down list open when you type such an URL in the location/address bar with switch to tab?

The location bar drop-down list can show history items, bookmarked pages, pages opened in tabs, and search suggestions. You can set what suggestions show when you enter an URL in the location/address bar bar via Tools > Options > Privacy

  • Location Bar: When using the location bar, suggest:
    History
    Bookmarks
    Open tabs
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Thank you. Yes, the dropdown menu is set to show all three (history, bookmarks, open tabs). And you're right, when I start typing a url that is already open I do get a Switch to tab option. Awesome!