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How to prevent a single tab from closing (not the last tab in a window)?

  • 5 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • 21 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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Long ago, I would use Tab-Mix Plus but that functionality went away around FF57.

For most cases since then, Cntl-Shift-T works well.

But I found a use case where Cntl-Shift-T does not work. If one has an active form in progress in given tab, then opens another link on top of that, then closes the tab with Cntl-W or equivalent, then after the CS-T the form progress from the overlaid url is lost.

I use Cntl-W so freely that I can miss that I have accidentally closed tabs that I normally like to keep open. I sometimes don't notice till much later, too long for easy CS-T and I have to recreate from other resources. I have already removed the X-close buttons per tab.

Tab-Mix Plus would just prevent closing of protected tabs all-together and prevent both of these issues.

I have my own webapp framework, and my primary way to workaround this is use target=_blank liberally on local links. But that is an unnatural process in many ways with extra overhead of creating and destroying tabs rather that simply redirecting the current one.

Maybe there's another way around all of this?

Long ago, I would use Tab-Mix Plus but that functionality went away around FF57. For most cases since then, Cntl-Shift-T works well. But I found a use case where Cntl-Shift-T does not work. If one has an active form in progress in given tab, then opens another link on top of that, then closes the tab with Cntl-W or equivalent, then after the CS-T the form progress from the overlaid url is lost. I use Cntl-W so freely that I can miss that I have accidentally closed tabs that I normally like to keep open. I sometimes don't notice till much later, too long for easy CS-T and I have to recreate from other resources. I have already removed the X-close buttons per tab. Tab-Mix Plus would just prevent closing of protected tabs all-together and prevent both of these issues. I have my own webapp framework, and my primary way to workaround this is use target=_blank liberally on local links. But that is an unnatural process in many ways with extra overhead of creating and destroying tabs rather that simply redirecting the current one. Maybe there's another way around all of this?

All Replies (5)

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Not sure if this is useful for you, bit pinned tabs are not closed by Ctrl-W

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When I pin a tab, it gets hidden at the front of my tab list, I need to unpin it to work on it again. I want to protect it from accidental closure while I'm actively work on it. Am I missing something?

Thanks...

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Note that the Tab Manager button is enabled by default in 106+, so you can use this button to locate a pinned tab since with browser.tabs.tabmanager.enabled = true pinned tabs are included in the list all tabs drop-down list.

Modified by cor-el

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I don't believe this matches my needs since I want to prevent accidental closing while I am actively working on a tab, not while it's pinned. Again, am I missing something?

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Like written above by Balázs Meskó, the only way to prevent Ctrl+W from closing the tab is to pin this tab. If you normally aren't using pinned tabs then this will be the only pinned tab in case you want to give this a try.