Firefox switch tab, focus stays in old tab [SOLVED]

This doesn't happen all the time, but quite often.
I switch to a different tab with alt+# or ctrl-(shift)-tab, and then press e.g. page-down, and instead of anything happen on this tab, the previous tab gets a page-down.
Has anyone experienced anything like this?
EDIT: [SOLVED] problem went away after installing Vimperator.
Last edited by Procyon (2008-09-30 17:56:56)

I'm guessing that one of your extensions has redefined the way tabs work. Firefox 3 works as expected here.

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Focus-requests when switching tabs in JTabbedPane

I have a tabbed pane with a JTextArea in each tab. I would like to switch focus to the corresponding area each time I select a tab or create a new one. A ChangeListener can detect tab selections and call requestFocusInWindow() on the newly chosen tab's text area.
For some reason, the focus only switches sporadically. Sometimes the caret appears to stay, sometimes it only blinks once, and sometimes it never appears. My friend's workaround is to call requestFocusInWindow() again after the setSelectedIndex() calls, along with a Thread.sleep() delay between them. Oddly, in my test application the delay and extra focus-request call are only necessary when creating tabs automatically, rather than through a button or shortcut key.
Does the problem lie in separate thread access on the same objects? I tried using "synchronized" to no avail, but EventQueue.invokeLater() on the focus request worked. Unfortunately, neither the delay nor invokeLater worked in all situations in my real-world application. Might this be a Swing bug, or have I missed something?
Feel free to tinker with my test application:
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
/**Creates a tabbed pane with scrollable text areas in each tab.
* Each time a tab is created or selected, the focus should switch to the
* text area so that the cursor appears and the user can immediately type
* in the area.
public class FocusTest2 extends JFrame {
 private static JTabbedPane tabbedPane = null;
 private static JTextArea[] textAreas = new JTextArea[100];
 private static int textAreasIndex = 0;
 private static JButton newTabButton = null;
 /**Creates a FocusTest2 object and automatically creates several
 * tabs to demonstrate the focus switching. A delay between creating
 * the new tab and switching focus to it is apparently necessary to
 * successfully switch the focus. This delay does not seem to be
 * necessary when the user fires an action to create new tabs, though.
 * @param args
 public static void main(String[] args) {
 FocusTest2 focusTest = new FocusTest2();
 focusTest.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
 focusTest.show();
 //Opens several tabs.
 for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
 try {
 //adding the tab should automatically invoke setFocus()
 //through the tabbed pane's ChangeListener, but for some
 //reason the focus often doesn't switch or at least doesn't
 //remain in the text area. The workaround is to pause
 //for a moment, then call setFocus() directly
 addTabbedPaneTab();
 //without this delay, the focus only switches sporadically to
 //the text area
 Thread.sleep(100);
 setFocus();
 //extra delay simply for the user to view the tab additions
 Thread.sleep(1900);
 } catch (InterruptedException e) {
 /**Adds a new tab, titling it according to the index of its text area.
 * Using "synchronized" here doesn't seem to solve the focus problem.
 public static void addTabbedPaneTab() {
 if (textAreasIndex < textAreas.length) { //ensure that array has room
 textAreas[textAreasIndex] = new JTextArea();
 //title text area with index number
 tabbedPane.addTab(
 textAreasIndex + "",
 new JScrollPane(textAreas[textAreasIndex]));
 tabbedPane.setSelectedIndex(textAreasIndex++);
 /**Constructs the tabbed pane interface.
 public FocusTest2() {
 setSize(300, 300);
 tabbedPane = new JTabbedPane();
 //Action to create new tabs
 Action newTabAction = new AbstractAction("New") {
 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
 addTabbedPaneTab();
 //in my real-world application, adding new tabs via a button successfully
 //shifted the focus, but doing so via the shortcut key did not;
 //both techniques work here, though
 newTabAction.putValue(
 Action.ACCELERATOR_KEY,
 KeyStroke.getKeyStroke("alt T"));
 newTabAction.putValue(Action.SHORT_DESCRIPTION, "New");
 newTabAction.putValue(Action.MNEMONIC_KEY, new Integer('T'));
 newTabButton = new JButton(newTabAction);
 Container container = getContentPane();
 container.add(tabbedPane, BorderLayout.CENTER);
 container.add(newTabButton, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
 //switch focus to the newly selected tab, including newly created ones
 tabbedPane.addChangeListener(new ChangeListener() {
 public void stateChanged(ChangeEvent evt) {
 //note that no delay is necessary for some reason
 setFocus();
 /**Sets the focus onto the selected tab's text area. The cursor should
 * blink so that the user can start typing immediately. In tests without
 * the delay during the automatic tab creation in main(), the cursor
 * sometimes only blinked once in the text area.
 public static void setFocus() {
 if (tabbedPane == null) //make sure that the tabbed Pane is valid
 return;
 int i = tabbedPane.getSelectedIndex();
 if (i < 0) //i returns -1 if nothing selected
 return;
 int index = Integer.parseInt(tabbedPane.getTitleAt(i));
 textAreas[index].requestFocusInWindow();
}

Did you ever get everything figured out with this? I have a similar problem ... which I have working, but it seems like I had to use a bunch of hacks.
I think the problem with the mouse clicks is because each event when you click the moues (mousePressed, mouseReleased, mouseClicked) causes the tab to switch, and also these methods are called twice for some reason - for a total of 8 events giving the tab the focus instead of your textarea.
This works, but seems aweful hacky:
 class TabMouseListener extends MouseAdapter
 private boolean switched = false;
 public void mousePressed( MouseEvent e ) { checkPop( e ); }
 //public void mouseReleased( MouseEvent e ) { checkPop( e ); }
 //public void mouseClicked( MouseEvent e ) { checkPop( e ); }
 public void checkPop( MouseEvent e )
 if( e.isPopupTrigger() )
 mousex = e.getX();
 mousey = e.getY();
 int index = tabPane.indexAtLocation( mousex, mousey );
 if( index == -1 ) return;
 tabMenu.show( tabPane, mousex, mousey );
 else {
 if( !switched )
 switched = true;
 e.consume();
 int index = tabPane.indexAtLocation( e.getX(), e.getY() );
 if( index != -1 )
 tabPane.setSelectedIndex( index );
 TabFramePanel panel = (TabFramePanel)tabPane.getComponentAt( index );
 if( panel != null ) panel.getInputComponent().requestFocus();
 else {
 switched = false;
 TabFramePanel panel = (TabFramePanel)tabPane.getSelectedComponent();
 if( panel != null ) panel.getInputComponent().requestFocus();
 }Do you know of a better way yet?
Adam

How do I prevent firefox from switching tab groups when closing a tab?

I really like the tab groups feature, as it helps cut down on the number of tabs I have open at once. The problem is that when I close a tab, I sometimes get shunted to another random tab group. It is then a pain to get back to where I was before. Is there a way to force Firefox to choose among the current tab group for a tab to open?

This problem persists in Firefox 5.0 on all of my computers (Windows 7, OS X 10.6, and *any* Linux distro). It would be nice if Firefox was forced to remain within a single tab group until no more tabs remain. Also, if we have pinned tabs, closing the last non-pinned tab should select the nearest pinned tab, without switching tab groups.
This issue is pretty annoying. It would be nice to see a remedy. For reference, here is another post with the same issue: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/828677

Firefox freezes when I switch tabs or write in a form.

Every time I switch tab by clicking on them(and sometimes when using the short cut, ctrl+tab ctrl+2 etc) or when I start writing in the awesomebar/a form Firefox freezes. It just visual freeze so I can still go to a website, click on stuff and so on. But when I resize the window by pressing F11 or something like that it returns to normal. I've tried to disable all the plugins and add-ons and i've tried to make a clean reinstall, and when I say clean, I mean clean (deleted all the mozilla/firefox folders in /AppData etc) . Two things that's not affected by this freezes is
1. Flash objects
2. The title of the page. (the tabs title still freezes)
I'm using a ProBook 4330s and I have tons of friends using the exact same model with firefox who's not experiencing this problem. Also note that I don't have this problem with Chrome or Explorer.

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.
You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:
* [http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/default.aspx Microsoft Safety Scanner]
* [http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/ MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware]
* [http://support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208283363 TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility]
* [http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro/ Hitman Pro]
* [http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner/ ESET Online Scanner]
[http://windows.microsoft.com/MSE Microsoft Security Essentials] is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.
Further information can be found in the [[Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware]] article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

After update to Firefox 25, tabs will "go back" 2 to 3 pages, when switching tabs or exiting full screen.

It happens most frequently when exiting full screen from a video. i.e. youtube, dailymotion, nbc.com - any site with embedded video players.
When exiting full screen, the page skips backwards 2 to 3 pages. And no, I'm not clicking related videos while in full screen the whole time - this is while initiating full screen and exiting full screen, all from the same video page.
This happens less frequently when switching tabs - but if I switch to another tab, then back, the first tab will load the page I was on 2 pages ago.
More info: When this happens, the "forward arrow" is greyed out and the page that that loads is on the "back arrow" list twice - further down the list where it should be, as well as at the very top of the list, as though I had clicked on a link to that page.
This all started immediately upon restarting Firefox after updating to version 25 - no other changes have been made to my computer.

Thanks for the canned responses, but you guys are way off.
More information: It's related to HTML5 - whenever I fullscreen an HTML5 video, Firefox skips backwards to the most recent HTML5 video before that one, when exiting fullscreen. This last time, it skipped backwards past 4 pages that had no HTML5 content at all, to the one that did.

Firefox lags when I switch tabs

Whenever I switch tabs, it takes 2-10 seconds for firefox to respond. When it takes longer, windows even mark browser as Not responding.
In the task manager I can see that it is using full one of my 4 cores.
Very rarely, the firefox also "spits out" the tab I click into a new window - what is that supposed to be?
I tryed to click tabs, double click tabs and none of such actions led to a new window - but as soon as the browser lags, new window is very likely to appear.
I have added the debug info. But I insist that the thing is same in the no-addon mode. I also remember having similar problem with clean firefox installation.

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.
You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:
* [http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/default.aspx Microsoft Safety Scanner]
* [http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/ MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware]
* [http://support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208283363 TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility]
* [http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro/ Hitman Pro]
* [http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner/ ESET Online Scanner]
[http://windows.microsoft.com/MSE Microsoft Security Essentials] is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.
Further information can be found in the [[Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware]] article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Firefox unmaximizes itself when switching tabs in task bar

When switching tabs using the windows taskbar during an extended online session spanning multiple tabs and windows, the window will unmaximize itself. Switching tabs using the physical tab works correctly. This only occurs with the "Show tabs preview in the Windows Taskbar" opton enabled. Closing all open firefox windows and restarting firefox is the only fix I have found.

Hi achenbachs630420,
This is expected behavior for the Windows 7 operating system. However when I have Firefox in fill screen mode for a window and hover over the taskbar the preview will show up and the full screen will remain, and I have the same feature selected, weird?
'''Try Firefox Safe Mode''' to see if the problem goes away. [[Troubleshoot Firefox issues using Safe Mode|Firefox Safe Mode]] is a troubleshooting mode that turns off some settings, disables most add-ons (extensions and themes).
If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:
*In Firefox 29.0 and above, click the menu button [[Image:New Fx Menu]], click Help [[Image:Help-29]] and select ''Restart with Add-ons Disabled''.
*In previous Firefox versions, click on the Firefox button at the top left of the Firefox window and click on ''Help'' (or click on ''Help'' in the Menu bar, if you don't have a Firefox button) then click on ''Restart with Add-ons Disabled''.
If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:
* On Windows: Hold the '''Shift''' key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
* On Mac: Hold the '''option''' key while starting Firefox.
* On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run ''firefox -safe-mode'' (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)
When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode". 
[[Image:Safe Mode Fx 15 - Win]]
'''''If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode''''', your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the [[Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems]] article to find the cause.
''To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.''
When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.

Old Firefox new tab had a snazzy list of websites i chose, but I can't find that option again.

Ok so it was just a nice looking background and had websites I chose displayed. It had icons for each website and i really want that back but I cant find anything about it. Can anyone help?

The built-in Firefox "new tab page" doesn't have a special background, so you may have been using an add-on for that.
To check the internal setting:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste '''about:config''' in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the search box that appears above the list, type or paste '''newtab''' and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click the '''browser.newtab.url''' preference and enter the desired value:
* ''Page thumbnails (default)'' => about:newtab
* ''Blank tab'' => about:blank
* ''Built-in Firefox home page'' => about:home
* ''Any other page'' => full URL to the page
Press Ctrl+t to open a new tab and... does it look like you want?
You can check on whether any "speed dial" extensions have become disabled on the Add-ons page. Either:
* Ctrl+Shift+a
* "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column click Extensions. Then on the right side scroll down and check for any disabled extensions at the bottom of the list.

Firefox29 cannot close or switch tabs on OSX10

clicking on a tab no longer switches to corresponding tab window
no way to close tab; the 'x' is gone and right clicking the tab just shows the customize menu for the browser
this rendered it unusable for me and I had to switch back to FF 28

Problem with frozen / unselectable tabs applies to PCs as well, the extension that was affected by Firefox 29 is
 '''[https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/how-many-times-can-i-back/ How Many Times Can I Back?]''' :: Add-ons for Firefox
You will have to disable the extension for now. I see you went back to Firefox 28 (a lot easier on your health). It was really a pain trying to switch tabs strictly through the "List all tabs" drop-down, and use Ctrl+T, and Ctrl+W (or for you with the Mac Cmd key ⌘ ).
I had the same problem, it is now reported in
 [http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=Problematic_extensions Problematic extensions - MozillaZine Knowledge Base]
Firefox 29 made changes to Tabs, and removal of the Addons Bar. since you also show Status-4-Evar in your "MORE SYSTEM DETAILS" you use the Addons bar and have a problem there as well. You also have another extension one with the word "tab" in it "Old Firefox Tab 1.0" which could be affected as well.
Either of these extensions will restore the addons bar, I prefer
[https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/the-addon-bar/ The Addon Bar (restored)] which I prefer because I have tabs on the bottom.
Those who can stand tabs on top and the hugh Firefox button may prefer [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/classicthemerestorer/ Classic Theme Restorer (Customize Australis) :: Add-ons for Firefox]
 I see you did try that when you were on Firefox 29.
Both extensions preserve "Ctrl+/" shortcut to toggle the Add-ons bar.
To restore Tabs on the bottom (in Firefox 29)
 [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fdgueux-tabs-on-bottom/ Tabs on Bottom (Australis) :: Add-ons for Firefox]
If you look in your "'''MORE SYSTEM DETAILS'''" in the right hand panel you can see what see of the extensions and plugins that you have. For instance
 '''How Many Times Can I Back?''' 0.2.2011012001 ([email protected])
 '''Old Firefox Tab 1.0''' ({b4b3e886-52d2-11e3-b4ad-f2ea6188709b})
 '''Status-4-Evar''' 2013.10.31.22 ([email protected])
I'm working through my own problems and will be able to use Firefox 29 even though some of my toolbar buttons are almost invisible (only my own styles are affected by that).
 http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#fx29

Major annoyance - Safari switching tabs/windows after page load

When I cmd-click on a link to open a page in a new tab, it starts to load the page. If I switch tabs or windows before the page is loaded, it will switch back to that tab/window when the page load is complete.
Who thought this would be a good idea?!? This is the kind of impossibly poor user interface that I expect when I run Windows. Why has it infected my Mac? I DO NOT WANT MY SOFTWARE CHANGING MY INTERFACE ON ME!!! When I bring a tab or window to the front, I expect it to STAY in the front!!!!!
PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING SANE, FIX THIS NOW APPLE!!!

BTW, this does not happen all the time - only on certain pages. A good example is the Washington Post. Click on an article, then switch to a different tab/window before the page completes loading. When the page load completes, it will switch your tab/window, bringing the article to the front. Very annoying.
I suppose if could be an issue with the site using some severely twisted JavaScript. However, I have never seen this behavior before in Safari until very recently, and it does not happen in FireFox.

Temporarily show tab bar upon switching tabs with the keyboard in fullscreen mode

I use Firefox in fullscreen mode and switch tabs with Ctrl + PgUp/PgDn. I need to peek at the tab bar when I switch tabs, to avoid searching for the desired tab with multiple shortcut presses.
Is there a way to temporarily show the tab bar when I switch tabs with the keyboard shortcut? I want the tab bar to hide again after, say, 2 seconds of no tab switching.

You can try to set the focus to the location bar with Ctrl+L before switching the tabs to make the toolbar and tab bar appear.

I am doing two people's jobs and I need to use two separate log-ins on the same website. How can I keep both log-ins open at the same time. Everytime I switch tabs I have to log in again.

I am doing two people's jobs and I need to use two separate log-ins on the same website. How can I keep both log-ins open at the same time. Everytime I switch tabs I have to log in again.

Try one of these extensions for multiple cookie sessions.
Multifox: 
http://br.mozdev.org/multifox/ 
Cookie Swap extension: 
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3255/ 
Cookie Pie extension: 
http://www.nektra.com/oss/firefox/extensions/cookiepie/

When I'm on youtube and I'm watching a video, and I switch tabs or look at something else, the video from youtube will appear in the corner of my screen and won't leave.

Alright, lets say I'm watching a video on youtube. If I switch tabs, the video from youtube will appear in my top left screen and won't go away. Or if I go to any other site or program and try to open a file from my computer, the video will pop up in the corner again and I won't be able to see anything I need to. This sounds like a glitch or something. I just need to know how to fix it.

Does this only happen on specific pages?
Start Firefox in [[Safe Mode|Safe Mode]] to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance).
*Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window.
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
You can try to disable notifications as a test (you may want to reverse this).
You can try to set the dom.webnotifications.enabled pref to false on the about:config page.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config

Cannot switch tabs past a tab viewing a PDF

When I have a tab open with a PDF in it (using Adobe Acrobat 9.3.0.148 plugin) I cannot switch tabs using Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab past that particular tab. Ctrl-W won't close the tab with the PDF in it either. It looks like if you dont click within the PDF document or one of the viewer plugin toolbars etc it will let you tab past, as soon as you click within the PDF it no longer works, even if you change to a different tab and then try going past it again. Using the mouse scroll wheel to scroll through the document does not cause this behaviour to kick in either. Also in this state you cannot use Ctrl-F when you tab onto the PDF tab unless you click on the PDF itself (same goes for cursor keys and page up/down keys). FF2 used to allow you to tab past the PDFs without any issue, i noticed this on 3.5.1 while upgrading to 3.6.3. So its like keyboard focus is lost somewhere between FF and the PDF plugin.
I remember in FF2 you used to get a faint rectanglular highlight within the tab so you could tell the focus was on the tab not within the page. Thats also gone now.
I havent been able to find an existing bug specificaly on this issue, or any other potential work arounds. So just want to check before i log a bug, of course this could be an Adobe plugin issue, although it does appear to be linked with how the focus is maintained on components within FF.
== User Agent ==
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; InfoPath.1; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.648; .NET CLR 3.5.21022; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; MS-RTC LM 8)

This is a known item - a plugin steals keyboard focus - happens with Flash in addition to PDFs (Relevant bug report appears to be [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=93149]

I use "firefox -new-tab anyPage.html" but it does not open it in new tab. Instead it replaces the last active tab.

Well I use following command to view offline pages using firefox on my linux box
$ firefox -new-tab anyPage.html
But instead of opening it in new tab, it replaces the last active tab.
I have tired
$ firefox -new-tab anyPage.html &
$ firefox -remote "openurl(anyPage.html,NEW_TAB)"
But none works.
Sometimes it do open in new tab but mostly it does not. I have been unable to figure out any pattern.
== This happened ==
Every time Firefox opened

(''Note: cross posted from [https://support.mozilla.com/nl/questions/801471 here].'')
I had the same problem, but was able to fix it somewhat.
# Open the about:config page.
# Set the ''browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction'' setting to 0 (= zero).
On my machine this will open new windows in a new tab. However, it switches to the new tab regardless of the setting ''"When I open a link in new tab, switch to it immediatly"''.

Firefox switch tab, focus stays in old tab [SOLVED]

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