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When I click a Gdrive item in Firefox it always opens in the current tab. How do I get it to open in another tab. When I click on any other URL it opens in a new tab why not Google docs?

In Chrome when I click on a Google drive item (such as a Gdoc or Gsheet) it will open in a new tab by default.

This is really frustrating if I'm working in a folder that is many levels deep and I open a document I have to open Gdrive again in another tab and navigate all the way back to the folder I was in to get to another document.

It appears this was once an option Google docs, but it has now been removed...

[UPDATE] THIS IS NOT the SAME ISSUE AS OPENING IN A WINDOW VS. IN TAB

In my case it is opening IN THE SAME WINDOW.

[UPDATE 2] I have checked the option in firefox options as well as in about:config and open in new tab is selected. The behaviour works properly on other sites and apps, just not google docs and other apps. It seems that google do not display the buttons like opening a new document as a standard URL in html.

I can use firefox's center click to open in new tab in some cases, but not all and particularly not when opening a doc.

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  • @Tedinoz no, the question you linked is about it opening in a new window, whereas the present question is about it opening in the same tab. They're different.
    – ahorn
    Nov 30, 2019 at 8:59
  • When I open a Google Doc in Firefox 70.0.1 (64-bit) for Linux Mint - 1.0, it opens in a new tab.
    – ahorn
    Nov 30, 2019 at 9:01
  • @ahorn I linked to that question to refer to a deprecated option (the window vs. tab option no longer exists) hoping it would lead to a solution. I'm using Firefox 70.0.1 on windows 7 and I can confirm it opens in the same tab...
    – pointydrip
    Dec 1, 2019 at 12:24
  • @Rubén can you remove the marked as duplicate...that question is not the same ...
    – pointydrip
    Dec 1, 2019 at 12:26
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    To everyone. Referring to the linked question. The answer still stands correct. "that option no longer exists". The option does exist in Firefox 70.0.1 (64-bit) for both Windows and Mac. (Sorry I don't have Linux installed). It may be a Linux issue. Please share a screenshot of your Linux FireFox Preferences at Options-> General -> Tabs " ...I cannot open a document from within gdrive with center click. ...gdrive buttons are not seen as a 'URL' by firefox". Partly correct. This was never an option at any browser.
    – marikamitsos
    Dec 2, 2019 at 23:21

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

SOLUTION:

  1. Open about:config
  2. Search forbrowser.link.open_newwindow
  3. Set value to 0
  4. Restart Firefox
  5. Go to options and uncheck "Open links in tabs instead of new windows"
  6. Restart Firefox
  7. Go to options and check "Open links in tabs instead of new windows"
  8. Restart Firefox

You may be able to just set the value to "3" instead of zero, but since I am not sure what other variables are changed by checking the box so this is the guaranteed approach at this point. You may also be able to skip option 6.

Somehow it is possible for the "Open links in tabs instead of new windows" option to be checked, but not changed in about:config properly.

I'm not sure how this happened, but checking and unchecking was not changing anything while it was set to "1". Here is a link for the exact value behaviour: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.link.open_newwindow

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  • Followed these steps exactly, but it did not change the original behavior of opening Google Drive files in the same tab for me in Firefox 94.0.1, Mac OS 10.15.7
    – Mike Eng
    Nov 18, 2021 at 2:49

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