How to use about:config to configure Tabs on your browser (Practice Article)

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  • Revision id: 43483
  • Created:
  • Creator: NicoleCYS
  • Comment: Concentrating on replicating a feature from Chrome whereby a numerous number of tabs can be opened in a single strip
  • Reviewed: Yes
  • Reviewed:
  • Reviewed by: Verdi
  • Is approved? Yes
  • Is current revision? No
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One of the reasons Mozilla Firefox is loved by so many is due to its flexibility. It allows users to tweak the web browsers based on how they want them to work. Besides add-ons, about:config is a great way to change some of the default settings. This article is going to show the basics on how you can change the way tabs can be displayed on your browser especially if you want to replicate a Chrome feature whereby there's no scrolling tabs function.

Configuring the Scrolling Tabs function

By default, Firefox will not reduce the width of the tabs. As a result, you have the scrolling function so that, the minimum width for the tabs will remain at 100px. If you are opening a lot of tabs in one window, some of the tabs will be hidden. The scrolling function enables you to scroll to find the desired tab while still allowing the tabs to have the same width. However, there are some people who do not like this scrolling function. You can use about:config to ask Firefox to display all tabs in a single strip, if you do not mind them being very small. This is an option that you are used to if you are an avid Google Chrome user. Apart from that, you can also adjust the value to a smaller number and Firefox will show more tabs in a single strip.

How to disable the scrolling tabs function

  1. On the URL, type in about:config without the protocol http:// and www.
  2. When prompt, click on the button I'll be careful, I promise

How to use about:config to configure Tabs on your browser

  1. Type browser.tabs.tabMinWidth in the 'Search' bar and press 'Enter'.
  2. Double click on 'browser.tabs.tabMinWidth' and you will see a new pop-up window.
  3. Change the value to '0' if you wish to disable the scrolling tabs function. Otherwise, you can change the default value to a smaller value like 75 pixel in order to show more tabs in each strip.