Automatically Switch to a New Tab in Firefox
Article by George Norman
On 15 Sep 2009
Tabbed browsing used to be a new feature, but this is no longer the case. Every modern web browser out there is capable of offering tabbed browsing, and the Mozilla developed Firefox web browser is no exception. As a matter of fact, Firefox 3.5 has a plenty other things to offer, apart from tabbed browsing (see a full list of Firefox 3.5 features here, check out a Firefox review here).

Getting back to the topic of tabbed browsing, you should know that you can easily open a link in a new tab by doing one of the following:
1. Press down Ctrl and click a link.
2. Use the Middle mouse button (scroll) to click on a link.
3. Right click a link -> in the dropdown menu that appears click Open Link in New Tab.

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Alternatively you can use a keyboard shortcut to open a new tab: Ctrl + T. A blank tab will be opened and Firefox will switch to it; you will have to type in an URL in the address bar or click a bookmark.

As you can see, there are several ways of launching a new tab and all of them are quite easy to comprehend. The catch is that once you open a new tab, you have to click it in order to switch to it. Firefox does not automatically switch to a new tab – not by default anyway.

Here is what you have to do to get Firefox to automatically switch to the new tab you just opened:

Step 1. Launch the Firefox browser.

Step 2. In the list of menus at the top, click Tools (it’s the second to last menu, the last menu is Help).

Step 3. In the dropdown menu that appears click Options.

Step 4. The Options window should have popped up. Click the Tabs tab.

Step 5. Check the box next to When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately.

Step 6. Click OK and you’re done.

Tips and warnings
You can undo this by simply unchecking the box next to When I open a link in a new tab, switch to it immediately.



Tags: Mozilla, Firefox,Browser, Tab
About the author: George Norman
George is a news editor.
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Automatically Switch to a New Tab in Firefox
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