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How to stop links from opening in new tabs?

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Why is it that when I click a link from a search engine, like google.com, Firefox always opens that link in a new tab (or window if I make that setting active). However, when I go to the website that was opened in the new tab and click on a link, voilà, no new tab. The second scenario is what I want all the time. Any suggestions?

Why is it that when I click a link from a search engine, like google.com, Firefox always opens that link in a new tab (or window if I make that setting active). However, when I go to the website that was opened in the new tab and click on a link, voilà, no new tab. The second scenario is what I want all the time. Any suggestions?

All Replies (3)

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Did you check your preference setting?

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Hi, Type about:config into the address bar, press Enter, accept the warning, scroll down the alphabetical list to browser.search.openintab and if it's set to True, double click on it to change 'Value' from True to False. You may need to restart Firefox to implement the change.

Also, search for anything to bring up a results page, then check the search settings. In Google for example, look for 'Open each selected result in a new browser window' and make sure it isn't selected.


If neither of the above fixes it, hold down the Shift key when you start Firefox to start in Safe Mode. More - Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

If it works in Safe Mode, disable any theme or extensions you have - 3-bar menu > Add-ons > Themes/Extensions and restart Firefox; then if it's OK, re-enable them one by one until you find the culprit. You may need to restart Firefox after enabling some extensions.

Modified by Scribe

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Google and some other search sites have an option to open each result in a separate window, which Firefox will divert to a new tab instead if you have the default settings.

For Google, check the "Where results open" section on this page:

https://www.google.com/preferences