When you are browsing the Internet, you click on a link. The new link or tab will open. If you don’t want your browser to switch to the link that opens in a new tab, you will have to set your browser so as to force links to open in the background. This way, you continue to remain focused on the same page while opening the external links in new tabs.
Open New Tabs in background
This is how you can open New Tabs in the background in Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera browsers.
Force Links to open in background in Chrome
Chrome does not offer any straightforward method to force links to open in the background. Nevertheless, there are some different approaches you can follow to force Chrome to open links in the background.
Move Links to Tab Bar New Tab
Click to move the link on a web page and drop it anywhere in the Tab bar. You will observe that the link automatically gets opened in a new tab. You can move the tab anywhere in the address bar you want.
Using Chrome extensions
- Force Background Tab: This is a convenient to use plugin that will open new tabs in the background.
- Open _new & _blank in a new background tab: Forces all links that have
_newor_blankas the target to open in a new background tab, instead of a foreground tab. The plugin, however, does not seem to work for Google Reader entry titles, it will open two tabs instead.
Force Links to open in background in Microsoft Edge
In the Edge browser, when you right-click and select Open in new tab, it opens the tab in the background – like most other browsers.
When you press CTRL+SHIFT and left-click on the link, it opens the tab in the foreground – like most browsers.
You can also use the Chrome extensions mentioned above on Microsoft Edge Chromium.
Force Links to open in the background in Firefox
Open your Firefox browser. In its address bar, type ‘about:config’ and hit ‘Enter’. Instantly, a warning message will flash on your computer screen. Ignore it if seen and press the ‘I’ll be careful, I promise’ tab.
Proceeding further, try locating ‘browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground‘ in the configuration window of advanced settings. Use the search bar to simplify your search process. In the search bar, just type “browser.tabs” and hit Enter.
When seen, you will observe by default the ‘browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground‘ value is set to false. You’ll have to change the value.
For this, double-click on browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground and set its value as ‘true’. That’s it! You can disable this if you want at any point of time by simply settings its value as false again.
Force Links to open in background in Opera
Open Opera > Tools > Quick Preferences > Ensure Block unwanted Pop-ups is checked.
Next type about:config in the address bar and hit Enter. Scroll down to Target Destination.
Type ‘2.’ Save and Exit.
Open New Tabs in background in Internet Explorer
In Internet Explorer, you can easily change this setting via Internet Options > General tab > Tabs button > Uncheck Always switch to new tabs when they are created.
Hope this helps!
The position of screenshots in the firefox category seem wrong, the first one is with the modified value and the second one with the default one; shouldn’t it be opposite? Also, “change he value.” instead of “change the value.”
Email Client Thunderbird Portable
1. Browser Firefox
2. IE
3. Chrome
I use the [Ctrl] key when I click the link, it also forces to open in the background.
Then I can choose to open or not open in the background.
I start everyday by checking the email, it is sorted from the start in folders (I get a lot of emails) your newsletter are among other newsletters, I then mark and open them all the newsletters at the same time [Ctrl]+[a] then press [Enter] you all know this :-) then I have up to 20 newsletters open in each tab.
In your news letter there are many links of interest, but just like you I want them to pen in the background, so when I click on a link I just use the [Ctrl] key at the same time, then when I have gone through all the newsletters, I can then go to Firefox and read each tab and close it when done.
I prefer this instead of letting all clicks open in the background.
I hope it wasn’t to confusing :-)
this doesn’t actually force them to open in the background, it just doesn’t force them to open in the foreground. any page that has a code call to bring page focus to the front will still do so after these changes are made, thusly not ‘forcing’ them to open in the background.
OMG it works!!!
“I use the [Ctrl] key when I click the link, it also forces to open in the background”
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!