
How to open links on a different virtual desktop on Windows.
A recent update (https://windowsreport.com/firefox-fixes-an-8-year-old-windows-bug-that-broke-virtual-desktop-use/) has broken behavior I previously depended on as part of my workflows: If I clicked a link in one desktop, it would open that link in the browser instance on the last desktop I'd used, so I could keep all my browser windows on one virtual desktop full-screened for easy viewing, then slide back to my other workspaces for messaging/writing/etc.
Now, apparently as a bug fix, every time I try to open a link on a desktop, it creates a new Firefox instance in that desktop instead of opening the link in the browser I have open on other workspaces. This has dramatically impacted how I work. How can I restore the previous behavior? It is so disruptive having new windows opening all the time instead of keeping them in my dedicated browser workspace. If there isn't a fix for this, I will need to move to a new browser.
Chosen solution
I think it is theoretically possible for an add-on to move a tab in a new window to the end of the tab bar in the last active window, and that probably would also switch the view to the receiving window. However, I haven't tried to code/test it.
My initial thought is that you would need to click a button, since detecting that a window was opened from an external link and is on a different desktop than the previous active window looks difficult.
I can't tell whether the following will do that: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/move-tab-to-next-window/. Since it only requires menu permissions, it looks safe to try.
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Chosen Solution
I think it is theoretically possible for an add-on to move a tab in a new window to the end of the tab bar in the last active window, and that probably would also switch the view to the receiving window. However, I haven't tried to code/test it.
My initial thought is that you would need to click a button, since detecting that a window was opened from an external link and is on a different desktop than the previous active window looks difficult.
I can't tell whether the following will do that: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/move-tab-to-next-window/. Since it only requires menu permissions, it looks safe to try.
The move tab extension works fantastically for my problem. It's not quite as good as the behavior being automatic, but it's definitely good enough to save me a big headache. Thanks!
I've encountered this issue as well.
I have a dedicated virtual desktop solely for browser windows, I've been accustomed to using it this way for many years. And I've always considered it a feature, not a bug, that any link clicked, regardless of the virtual desktop, would open in the existing browser window.
I hope there's a setting (even if it's in about:config) that could revert to the previous behavior. Having browser windows on every virtual desktop is really driving me crazy.