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When I close a tab, focus always goes to the next tab on the right. I want it to go back to the last active tab, but I don't see that option anywhere.

  • 5 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by rx2v2x

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I want the focus to return to the last active tab, not to go to the next tab on the right of the closed one.

I want the focus to return to the last active tab, not to go to the next tab on the right of the closed one.

All Replies (5)

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Type about:config<enter> in the address bar. If a warning screen comes up, press the I Accept the Risk button. At the top of the screen is a search bar.

browser.tabs.selectOwnerOnClose = true

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Thanks for the quick answer, but it's not really what I want. Let me give a little more detail. Suppose I have three tabs open. I'm reading tab two and I open a fourth tab. I go back to tab one to read something, then back to tab four. I close tab four because I'm done with it. What I want is to go back to tab one. That's what I mean by "the last active tab"...the last one I was reading. This fix doesn't do that.

With your fix, closing tab four seems to take me back to tab two, which was active when I opened four.

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That's all Firefox has to offer. You might find an add-on that can help.

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rx2v2x said

What I want is to go back to tab one. That's what I mean by "the last active tab"...the last one I was reading. With your fix, closing tab four seems to take me back to tab two, which was active when I opened four.


Try using this extension. Haven't used it in Firefox 57 just yet -- in fact I just discovered that it appears to be compatible with Firefox 57. I'm a late adopter and avoid new major updates for a few versions. Focus Last Selected Tab Switch to last selected tab when closing tab. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/focuslastselectedtab/

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Thanks to both of you. I also left Firefox for a while. I've been using Vivaldi instead, but thought I'd come back and try the new version. As you can see from the attached image, this is a no-brainer in Vivaldi. Not sure it's worth fooling around with an extension, but if I get a chance, I'll give it a shot.