# Tab behavior in Firefox **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-behavior-in-firefox/498192 "2009-05-30T20:00:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-behavior-in-firefox/498192/1 "2009-05-30T20:00:03Z")
I’ve been watching threads about Firefox problems and haven’t seen this one yet. When I read the SDMB, I open threads in a new tab from the listings and then I read each thread and closing each tab as I read each thread. It used to be that if I clicked on a link in a thread, it would open a new tab and when I was done, it would return to the last tab I was viewing. At some point a couple of months ago, this stopped working. It now goes to the tab furthest to the right instead of the tab I was viewing. I’m running Firefox 3.0.10. Last night I was at a friend’s house and I noticed that his tabs behaved the way mine used to. He’s running the same version of Firefox. I can’t find any setting to change this behavior. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![TaterRecon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@TaterRecon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaterRecon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-behavior-in-firefox/498192/2 "2009-05-30T23:06:36Z")
I have seen mine do what you describe and sometimes it doesn’t. So, I decided to research this and I think I have found what you are looking for. Open a new browser window and type in **about:config** in the address bar. Click “I’ll be careful” on the warning notice. Then, in the filter box type **browser.tabs** Look in that list for this setting: **browser.tabs.selectOwnerOnClose** This setting should be set to **true** to return to the tab which opened the new tab, as described here: [Browser.tabs.selectOwnerOnClose - MozillaZine Knowledge Base](http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.tabs.selectOwnerOnClose) I hope that was what you were looking for. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-behavior-in-firefox/498192/3 "2009-05-31T03:53:54Z")
> [@TaterRecon](#): > > Look in that list for this setting: **browser.tabs.selectOwnerOnClose** > > This setting should be set to **true** to return to the tab which opened the new tab, as described here: [Making sure you're not a bot!](http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.tabs.selectOwnerOnClose) > > I hope that was what you were looking for. I checked and it’s set to “true”. I tried toggling it to false and then back to true and it still doesn’t work. It’s got to have something to do with a add-on or extension or script I was running. I scrolled through that list and there are remnants of extensions that I’ve uninstalled. I might have to reinstall from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-behavior-in-firefox/498192/4 "2009-05-31T07:18:53Z")
If you add [TabMix Plus](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122) as an extension, you will be able to do all these kinds of settings from a UI. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-behavior-in-firefox/498192/5 "2009-05-31T15:14:38Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > If you add [TabMix Plus](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122) as an extension, you will be able to do all these kinds of settings from a UI. Still doesn’t work. All of the other TabMix Plus options work, but no matter how I set the behavior for closing tabs, it still goes to the rightmost tab. Even if I just set it to go the leftmost tab. No effect. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-behavior-in-firefox/498192/6 "2009-05-31T15:20:20Z")
Ok…I disabled all my add-ons (except TabMix Plus) and restarted and it worked fine, just like it’s supposed to. So I reenabled my add-ons one by one to see which one was causing the problem. And now it still works, even with all the add-ons turned back on. Go figure. Thanks for the suggestions.