506285 - tabs switching to new browser windows

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[katscrch]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.1) Gecko/20090715 YFF35 Firefox/3.5.1
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.1) Gecko/20090715 YFF35 Firefox/3.5.1

I have multiple tabs open in the new version of Firefox and at times when I click on a tab to view it, it closes the tab and opens in a completely new browser window.
For example, I had a tab open for my Yahoo Mail among other tabs and when I clicked on that tab to view my mail, the tab closed and a new browser window opened with my Yahoo Mail.
Why is this happening????????

Reproducible: Sometimes

Steps to Reproduce:
1.have multiple tabs open 
2.click on a tab
3.

Comment 1

[Ria Klaassen (not reading all bugmail)]

When you drag a tab outside the tab bar it should open in a new window; that's a new feature in Firefox 3.5.
Not sure why the feature is triggered when you click only on the tab. Maybe a bug in an add-on? 
Please retest in safe-mode: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Safe+Mode

Comment 2

[Roscoe Primrose]

Seeing the exact same problem here with Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.3) Gecko/20090824 Firefox/3.5.3 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729).  Seems to happen more often when you click on a tab that doesn't have focus when another app had focus, but does occasionally happen when merely switching tabs.

Comment 3

[Leon]

I also have experienced this problem. On occasion when I click once on a tab the tab closes, or opens in a new window. Once this happens I cannot undo it. If I go to the 'history -> recently closed tabs' for the original window, the tab is not listed. If it doesn't, by chance, open the new window, I cannot get my original content back.

Comment 4

[Bob Aquino]

This is an annoying feature that should be user controlled.  Laptops in particular sometimes have issues with the touchpad acting "Sticky" and causing things to drag when they were never intended to.  If you have a setting that allows tabs to not be dragged, you will give the users the capability to control this. Or you can post a confirmation window so that the user can tell the browser not to go ahead with opening a new window.  Whatever you do, please fix it, it is annoying.

Comment 5

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Reporter, are you still seeing this issue with Firefox 4.0.1 or later in safe mode or a fresh profile? If not, please close. These links can help you in your testing.
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles

Comment 6

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 4 or later and a new profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles). Also, ensure you have the most up to date graphics drivers, operating system updates, and plugin versions (flash, java, etc). If you continue to see this issue with the newest Firefox and a new profile, then please comment on this bug.