1545611 - Cmd+W on any pinned tab should prompt to close that tab

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Tabbed Browser, enhancement, P2)

Description

[Dietrich Ayala (:dietrich)]

68.0a1 (2019-04-17) (64-bit) Mac OS X

Use-case for cmd+w: As a user, I want to close the tab I'm on.

Actual behavior, regular tab: Tab closes

Actual behavior, pinned tab: User is sent 4 tabs to the right (in my case)

The current behavior is counter-intuitive. It deviates very far from the user's intent.

Here are different ways to handle this, sorted by alignment with the user's intent (task: close the active tab), and balanced with the fact that it is pinned:

• Prompt to close tab
• Immediately close tab
• Do nothing
• Keep tab open, and activate adjacent tab
• Activate first non-pinned tab

A prompt would match the user model. It strikes the optimal balance between respecting the user intent now (close the tab) and respecting a user intent (pin this tab) made at some prior time.

Prompts are not ideal in many cases, however in this case I believe that aligning with the user model is better than the inexplicable outcome we have now. And it's preferable over semi-destructive behavior (closing the tab immediately - which is undo-able) and frustrating/broken behavior (do nothing).

Note: I know this was implemented as a feature. Please do not close this bug solely because of that. I am filing this because I think the design conclusion behind the original decision was incorrect.

Comment 2

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

(In reply to Dietrich Ayala (:dietrich) from comment #0)

Note: I know this was implemented as a feature. Please do not close this bug solely because of that. I am filing this because I think the design conclusion behind the original decision was incorrect.

Well, I marked it a duplicate now simply because it was filed as such. This discussion should probably move to a newsgroup and then, if needed, we can reopen bug 1464358 or file a new one for implementing some new agreed-upon behavior.

Comment 3

[Dietrich Ayala (:dietrich)]

Ok, thanks Dão!

I've updated the bug to follow exactly the process used in bug 1420601.

• title describes the proposed solution
• small discussion occurs
• you fix it, hehe :D

The main divergence from the process in bug 1420601 is that I've outlined the model the user is operating under, and explained the rationale behind the new design.

Comment 4

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

For comparison, Chrome treats Cmd+W on pinned tabs the same as on regular tabs: it closes pinned tab without warning.

Cmd+W on a pinned tab in Firefox 130 focuses on left-most non-pinned tab, which is surprising behavior because the UI looks like it's doing something but not it's not closing the tab like the user requested. Some other options:

• Close the tab like Cmd+W on a non-pinned tab.
• Ignore the Cmd+W request.
• Ask the user if they'd like to close.

We can also consider adding a new setting (like "Confirm before closing multiple tabs") or about:config pref to restore the previous behavior.

Comment 5

[Simon Friedberger [:simonf]]

I would suggest we do the same as Chrome but also make sure that "undo close tab" works properly.

Comment 6

[Sarah Clements [:sclements]]

(In reply to Simon Friedberger (:simonf) from comment #5)

I would suggest we do the same as Chrome but also make sure that "undo close tab" works properly.

How do you define this action as 'working properly'? Are you referring to the behavior of Ctrl/Cmd + shift + T or something else?

Comment 7

[Simon Friedberger [:simonf]]

Sorry, maybe I shouldn't said that because it is somewhat implicit. Yes, I mean it should be possible to reopen the tab with C-S-t or with History > Recently Closed Tabs and similar entry points.

What I was trying to say is, closing should not be a big deal because it should be equally easy to re-open. I have encountered problems when trying to re-open pinned tabs (they re-opened in new windows or as non-pinned) but those should be tracked in separate bugs.

Comment 8

[Max Christian Pohle [:/dev/max]]

On other operating systems, the shortcut is Ctrl+w and it does not close tabs. I found several threads where users were looking for a shortcut to close pinned tabs, so I guess that means that this is counterintuitive to some. Someone suggested unpinning and keeping the focus instead, so that a double Ctrl+w really closes a pinned tab. Someone else suggested to use Ctrl+F4 instead. Personally, I think it could be a first step to make the Ctrl-w to close tabs configurable in about:config and consider making it available in about:preferences -> Tabs where we already have an option to toggle what Ctrl+Tab does (cycles through tabs in recently used order).

Comment 9

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

This doesn't seem to be a particularly common request on Connect, and Safari (which we decided to follow in bug 1420601) has so far also maintained their behavior. In conclusion, misha from UX says they don't see a compelling reason to change our behavior at this time.

Comment 10

[Dietrich Ayala (:dietrich)]

Ok, thanks Dão.