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Cmd+Click to open in new window

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I want to have Cmd+Click open link in new window in Firefox (instead of new tab).

  • Firefox 11, Firefox 12 beta
  • No 3rd-party extensions enabled
  • Mac OS X Lion
  • Regular HTML page with <A> link (no JS handler)
  • browser.link.open_newwindow=2
  • browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction=2
  • browser.tabs.opentabfor.middleclick=false

1. No combination of options seems to make Cmd+click open link in new window (instead of new tab).

2. Inconsistent behavior between Cmd+click and middle click: with mentioned settings Cmd+click opens in new tab and middle click opens in new window.

I believe that Cmd+Click should do the same as middle click. Specifically with browser.tabs.opentabfor.middleclick set to false Cmd+click has to open link in new window.

Should I file a bug? Or is there some other relevant option?

I want to have Cmd+Click open link in new window in Firefox (instead of new tab). * Firefox 11, Firefox 12 beta * No 3rd-party extensions enabled * Mac OS X Lion * Regular HTML page with <A> link (no JS handler) * browser.link.open_newwindow=2 * browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction=2 * browser.tabs.opentabfor.middleclick=false 1. No combination of options seems to make Cmd+click open link in new window (instead of new tab). 2. Inconsistent behavior between Cmd+click and middle click: with mentioned settings Cmd+click opens in new tab and middle click opens in new window. I believe that Cmd+Click should do the same as middle click. Specifically with browser.tabs.opentabfor.middleclick set to false Cmd+click has to open link in new window. Should I file a bug? Or is there some other relevant option?

Modified by nichtverstehen

All Replies (3)

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You can use a Shift + left-click to open a link in a new window.

Command + left-click will open the link in a tab and you can't change that.

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Thanks. It helped. I have tried Alt and Control, but didn't expect Shift to change behavior.

Then again, considering multi-window browsing use-case,

1. It is undiscoverable. Hardly ever Shift alone qualitatively changes behavior of a gesture. Thus it makes the gesture less discoverable. I even had to post question here after an amount of googling.

2. It is inconsistent. Other browsers make possible multi-window browsing with one or two simple settings. In Safari those are "never use tabs instead of windows" and "⌘click opens window". In Opera — "use windows insead of tabs". (Chrome doesn't support windowed browsing at all though).

Both browsers redefine ⌘click to open in new window. Safari uses shift+click to add to reading list instead. So Firefox behavior is inconsistent with alternatives and it makes switching harder.

Related question: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/758539

3. Requires changing habits. Suppose you want to switch from tabbed browsing to windowed browsing (my case). Firefox's behavior requires to change to gesture you use to open links. It may be quite hard to fight habits.

On the other hand, an option turning meaning of all gestures upside down (tab instead of window/window instead of tab) would make the switch transparent and intuitive. Intuitive I mean in the sense that with the options you don't redefine action bindings (action for middle-click, action for target="_blank", action for ⌘click) but you just choose your prefered mode of browsing: windows or tabs. Tab or Windows.

I'd like to hear any comments regarding what the issue is worth.

Modified by nichtverstehen

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Additionally, in spite of the flags, mentioned in topic, no modifier key seems to make search results opened with [Context Menu → Search Google for ...] open in new window (they are opened in a tab).

Do you know a way to change this behavior?

Modified by nichtverstehen