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Prevent tab from shifting to a new window

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  • 1 has this problem
  • 186 views
  • Last reply by GunChleoc

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While working in a tab, I sometimes hit some combination on my touchpad that will detach the tab and shift it into a new Firefox Window. I have no idea what the combination is, it's probably my thumb hitting the touchpad while I'm doing something else.

Is there any way to prevent this from happening? If not, is there a way to join the 2 Firefox windows into 1 again?

While working in a tab, I sometimes hit some combination on my touchpad that will detach the tab and shift it into a new Firefox Window. I have no idea what the combination is, it's probably my thumb hitting the touchpad while I'm doing something else. Is there any way to prevent this from happening? If not, is there a way to join the 2 Firefox windows into 1 again?

Chosen solution

Hi GunChleoc, Both are possible actually. The later you can click on the new window or the top of the tab and hold the click and drag it to the other window. Look for a vertical line in the tab bar before releasing the click to add the tab next to the one you hover over.

To prevent the new tab from opening a new window you can change this in the settings.

  1. Click on [about:preferences#general]
  2. Under "Tabs" uncheck "Open new windows in a new tab instead"

Open a new link, did the preference change?

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Chosen Solution

Hi GunChleoc, Both are possible actually. The later you can click on the new window or the top of the tab and hold the click and drag it to the other window. Look for a vertical line in the tab bar before releasing the click to add the tab next to the one you hover over.

To prevent the new tab from opening a new window you can change this in the settings.

  1. Click on [about:preferences#general]
  2. Under "Tabs" uncheck "Open new windows in a new tab instead"

Open a new link, did the preference change?

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You can "tear off" a tab from the tab bar to a new window using either:

  • click the tab and drag downwards
  • right-click the tab > Move to New Window

There's no built-in way to turn off this feature, but there is an add-on for that: bug489729 (Disable detach and tear off tab). I haven't tried it myself.

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Problem solved, thanks! :)