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History and Bookmark links always overwrite page being viewed. How to stop that?

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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The History menu, Bookmarks menu, and (obviously) the Bookmarks sidebar have links (obviously). Every time I select one of those links, the web page overwrites the page I am looking at. If I don't remember to make a new tab, I must go back a page, open a new tab, and click the History or Bookmarks link again. I want History and Bookmarks links to ALWAYS open in new tabs. I can find no way to do that. I can find to keyboard shortcut that changes the behavior. Add-ons can do that for in-page links but not within Firefox links. I looked in about:config but found nothing of obvious relevance.

Are there Firefox settings, Add-ons, or threats to Mozilla that will address this problem? Am I off track in thinking that this caters to the users of handheld device who lack space for many tabs?

The History menu, Bookmarks menu, and (obviously) the Bookmarks sidebar have links (obviously). Every time I select one of those links, the web page overwrites the page I am looking at. If I don't remember to make a new tab, I must go back a page, open a new tab, and click the History or Bookmarks link again. I want History and Bookmarks links to ALWAYS open in new tabs. I can find no way to do that. I can find to keyboard shortcut that changes the behavior. Add-ons can do that for in-page links but not within Firefox links. I looked in about:config but found nothing of obvious relevance. Are there Firefox settings, Add-ons, or threats to Mozilla that will address this problem? Am I off track in thinking that this caters to the users of handheld device who lack space for many tabs?

Chosen solution

For bookmarks there is a pref on the about:config page that you can set to force opening the bookmark in a new tab.

  • browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInTabs = true

For history there is no such a pref, so you would have to middle-click an history item or hold the Command key and left-click like you would normally do to open a link in a new tab

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.

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As far as Bookmarks go, try using this add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-bookmarks-in-a-new-tab/

For History, I can't find an add-on to open in a new tab; sorry.

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Chosen Solution

For bookmarks there is a pref on the about:config page that you can set to force opening the bookmark in a new tab.

  • browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInTabs = true

For history there is no such a pref, so you would have to middle-click an history item or hold the Command key and left-click like you would normally do to open a link in a new tab

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.