Description from extension meta
Optionally open new tabs in the front.
Image from store
Description from store
Causes new tabs to be brought to the front when opened.
The standard behaviour of Chrome is to only open tabs to the front when pressing the Ctrl key - which is not an option for touch displays or people with physical disabilities. The Chrome devs have stated several times that they do not intend to change this.
Features
* Brings newly opened tabs in the front.
* Popup menu allows you to disable it for a period of time.
* Options page (using new Chrome v40 styles).
* Change the button between toggle state or popup menu.
* "Donation..." link can be hidden via the options page.
* "Options..." link can be disable via options page (you can still open it by right-clicking or on the Extensions page).
* A domain ignore list - if both tabs are on ignored domains then don't bring the new one to the front.
* Hotkey support to toggle state and toggle ignoring domain.
* Optionally hold the "Ctrl" key to disable (requires additional permissions).
* Locale support (translations welcome).
This extension is released under the GPL, with source code on GitHub (see the developer website link).
Please note that this extension will never have advertising, tracking or analytics as part of it. Companies contacting me on either subject are simply ignored.
Latest reviews
- (2023-08-08) Jeff Fessler: I have been using this extension since its inception. I can say with certainty that all of the negative reviews are based on system-specific errors, not developer errors. Every error I've encountered with this extension has been user error or browser settings changes which interfered with the extension's function. While Ryochet has had an infinitesimally small number of issues on his GitHub page, none of them are reproducible en masse. What's even more amazing is that the guy always acknowledges legitimate GitHub issue posts and tries to reproduce/resolve them unless it is specifically a Chromium change that breaks his extension - that's pretty impressive. There is a reason why 70,000+ users (as of 2023) install this extension (discounting that Google should put the setting back into Chromium as it was in the beginning). This extension just works. It's awesome. It's necessary. The developer refuses to take money for it ... and it's GREAT WORK, RYOCHET!
- (2023-04-22) JC VM: parfait ! honte a google chrome !!! qui ne programme pas cette opération si simple et si intuitive !!!
- (2022-12-23) Pepyk Balun: Rozšíření bohužel přestalo fungovat.
- (2022-07-30) シュウヘイ: 新規タブで開いたときに、自動的にそのタブに移動して表示してくれます。 通常だとバックグラウンドで開いてしまうため、新しいタブをクリックする手間が省けます。 オプションで「Ctrl キーを押している間は無効」にする事もできます。 しかしこれに関しては、動作が不安定な場合もあり改善に期待しています。 総じて非常に便利なプラグインです。
- (2021-12-27) Alexandru Pănoiu: This should really be a native option of any decent web browser.
- (2021-11-22) WoDi P.: Indispensable. Thx!
- (2021-09-10) 진월인: easy to toggle. most useful among similar apps.
- (2021-04-30) Christophe Gevrey: Recently (March 2021), by default the extension does not work, you have to turn it off and back on again for the new tabs to become active. Otherwise it's neat.
- (2021-04-17) Emrys Raydes: I thought I would try this out, but it seems useless as it neither opens new tabs in reverse order to usual or has an option to turn off its forced go to tab.Now, normally when I pressed the centre wheel button of my mouse, it will open tabs in background. This add-on is taking me to that tab, completely defeating the point of the centre wheel button. This add-on is useless. Doesn't do what it says it does, and does something that is completely stupid, and that no one would want.
- (2020-12-27) Thirteen Gears: it's garbage now, needs update
- (2020-12-03) Jebediah Clang: This extension stopped working a few days ago. I bet it's Chrome doing some changes again. Just now i updated Chrome and it still doesn't work. Current Chrome version: 87.0.4280.88 (Official Build) (64-bit)
- (2020-10-15) Covenant Eyes: Indeed, thank you! This is a significant UX problem in Chrome that I'm glad you've fixed.
- (2020-04-11) John Thompson: Worked for years. since a couple of days ago it's stopped working at all. Will update rating if I see a fix.
- (2020-03-19) WoT Weggekltascht: super
- (2020-01-21) Josef Horak: Konečně se mi chrom chová jako normální prohlížeč.
- (2020-01-18) Ojnor59: I have used Tabs to the Front for years. Internet Explorer offered a setting to go to the new tab once you selected a link, right clicked and selected Open in a new tab. Why Chrome, Edge and other browsers do not have this as a setting is beyond me. Why do the creators think that I want to open a link in a new tab, only to sit on the same page? That's true for me maybe about 1 out of 10 times. If it weren't for Tabs to the Front, I'd still be using Internet Explorer.
- (2020-01-17) Akihisa Toyota: これこそ求めていた機能です。
- (2019-10-27) Rick White: Works great, installs easily.
- (2019-09-08) franciszek świetlik: działa zgodnie z oczekiwaniem
- (2019-03-04) Duane Hutchins: This extension is great. I'm not sure the trouble others report for installation. No troubles here on latest Chrome on Win 10. I was looking for something to duplicate this functionality on Firefox, and this extension is it! You automatically get directed to the newly opened tab. This functionality can be suspended for N minutes or even disabled on a per-domain basis. There's also an option to suspend functionality with the CTRL button, but I use that to open new tabs, so it wouldn't work. The Shift or ALT buttons might be better choices, but this extension is just great as-is. Thank you.
- (2019-02-10) Neal Miller: Don't know why Chrome can't make this a browser-supported setting like Firefox and IE (but Edge somehow left this one off). This extension solves the problem nicely, never had a problem with it :-)
- (2018-12-20) Brian Tully: Great extension, but stopped working on Mac Version 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit). Sadly there doesn't appear to be an alternative.
- (2018-12-13) R. J. Fields, Jr.: Would have been a very desirable and useful extension, but apparently the developer is no longer attending to it, as it does not work on Chrome 71.0.3578.98 64-bit. Solutions anyone?
- (2018-12-06) Gilbert D: Indispensable, je l'avait perdu, je ne sais pas trop comment, mais j'ai eu du mal à la retrouver...
- (2018-12-06) Pierre Chazal: Caution there are pb. I disabled it Attention il provoque des pb aléatoires : plantages sur des sites; Ce pb disparaît en la désactivant
- (2018-10-14) Ed Kolis: It works pretty well, but every so often it stops working and I have to disable and re-enable it. When I do so, I get this malware extension installed which causes my Google search results to be hijacked by ads from Yahoo.
- (2018-10-02) This is very useful. would like this to be a standard setting.
- (2018-09-28) Syun Oikawa: 非常に便利。これChromeの標準機能にしてほしい
- (2018-08-17) Ty Buchanan: You cannot install the extension from the Chrome Store anymore. Moreover, it will install but you cannot tick it on by dumping the crx file on to the extension page. You get the error, "This item is already being downloaded and added into Chrome." When you try to re-install it, you keep getting this popup. You have to close the browser and keep trying to install from the Chrome Store. Eventually, it does install.
- (2018-08-16) Ashley Hoang: This works well.
- (2018-08-03) Ross Kelson: Been using this for years, and it's great!
- (2018-06-23) SheratanLP: Gerade wenn man z.B. Youtube Videos mit der mittleren Maustaste aufruft, muß man nicht erst in den geöffneten Tabs rumsuchen. MMeines Erachtens ein sehr nützliches Toll, welches ich nicht missen möchte.
- (2018-06-22) Christina Heineman: I LOVED Tabs to the Front for YEARS. But in the last month or so it's stopped working on my Macbook Pro, my Windows 10 laptop and my Windows 10 desktop. Every day I have to go into extensions and turn Tabs to the Front off and then on again to get it to work. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the extension and the browser itself. I tried signing out of my Google account in Chrome, resetting my account settings... Not sure what else I can do. It's better than nothing but it's become much less convenient.
- (2018-06-20) Осторожно! Веган!: Quick and correct and lightweight.
- (2018-06-12) Mauricio Garcia: Los amo!
- (2018-06-09) Patrick Nance: Does it with no hassels
- (2018-06-07) Guy B: Google devrait payer cher les développeurs pour d'Incroyables extensions de ce genre qui sont pourtant indispensables... Merci
- (2018-06-01) Volker Ehlting: Super! THX.
- (2018-05-13) Margie Luckhardt: Can't live without it. It should be added as an option in native Chrome.
- (2018-03-12) Bradley Haslett: I use this in Vivaldi and it works perfectly.
- (2018-01-31) It's so simple yet so very useful.
- (2018-01-29) Sergey S: Переключается на открываемую вкладку. Работает исправно. Советую попробовать.
Latest issues
- (2020-11-12, v:2.6.2) Fr Vdb: tabs to the front don't work
tabs to the front don't work even after re-installation on chrome Version 86.0.4240.193 (Build officiel) (64 bits) - (2020-09-10, v:2.6.2) Q Jones: Re-enable Extension after Chrome Shutdown
After every Chrome shutdown, I have to disable and re-enable the extension to get it to work again. Can you please look into making the extension persistent across sessions? Thank you! - (2019-06-08, v:2.6.2) Clair Abel: Needs repair frequently
Tabs to the front stops working after each session and needs repair. - (2019-01-24, v:2.6.2) Lee Hodsdon: Stop working ... again. Disable & reenable only resolves within a session. Must uninstall & reinstall to fix.
Tabs to Front has a bug in Google Chrome 71.0.3578.98 (or possibly earlier but this is my version when I noticed again the extension doesn't "stick"). Clicking on a hyperlink no longer opens new tab and changes focus to it (opens it on top). This is not a new bug but happening for many many months now. I can go into the extensions, disable and reenable the Tabs to Front extension, and it starts working again -- but only within that session of Chrome. After exiting Chrome and reloading it, Tabs to Front fails to perform again (and I have to disable & reenable the extension to get it working again). This has happened several times in the past; however, back then I would uninstall and reinstall the extension to get it working again across sessions of Chrome. So I did that again this time: uninstall extension, exit Chrome, reload Chrome, visit the Play Store page, install the extension again, and restart Chrome. That got this extension to again "stick" across Chrome sessions. This is not a unique situation. Lots of other users have reported having to disable & reenable this extension to get it working again but may only work within the current Chrome session. Uninstalling and reinstalling this extension gets it sticking permanently - well, for awhile until this extension fails to perform again whereupon I have to uninstall & reinstall it again. Uninstalling & reinstalling Chrome is not the correct fix. Uninstalling & reinstalling this extension gets it working again. The problem is not with Chrome but with this extension. The last updated version of this extension was way back in June 18, 2017 and Chrome has had many versions and changes since then. Since the the author is unwilling to investigate the problem, I'll have to find something else to perform the same feature but is better developed and supported along with adapting to whatever changes are embued by Google in new versions of Chrome. 2.5 years of absence in fixing bugs with this extension along with 12 major version releases of Chrome hints this extension has been abandoned. - (2018-12-11, v:2.6.2) A L: Browsing history
Why do you need permission to read our browsing history? - (2018-10-08, v:2.6.2) Joshua Lyman: Any way to clear omnibox focus and input?
On a Mac, when pressing Command + Enter to open the tab (technically in the background, but in the foreground thanks to T2F), the Omnibox retains focus and the address/search on the previous tab, so that when you go back to that tab at some point you have to escape out of the omnibox to get back to the URL and remove the omnibox results from the screen. It would be *amazing* if T2F could somehow also clear the contents and focus of the omnibox on the old tab too. This is a decently recently change in how Chrome's maintaining focus of the omnibox, as far as I remember. - (2018-09-20, v:2.6.2) Christopher Hallock: Extension stops working, have to disable and renable
I started having problems with your extension not working reliably after the major Chrome update that changes the way tabs look: Version 69.0.3497.100 (Official Build) (64-bit). The problem is that when I right click a link and "open in new tab," it does not switch over to the new tab immediately. When I disable and re-enable your extension, it does work until it seems like I sleep my computer and wake it up again, and then I have to disable/re-enable your extension manually. Please look into a fix for this! I totally rely on your wonderful extension all day, every day! Thanks! - (2018-09-06, v:2.6.2) Robert Dailey: Doesn't work on Chrome 69
It's enabled but middle clicking links does not switch to new tab. - (2018-06-22, v:2.6.2) Christina Heineman: Have to disable and re-enable each day
For the last month or so, every morning when I turn my computers (Macbook Pro, Windows 10 laptop, Windows 10 desktop) on, Tabs to the Front doesn't pull new tabs to the front. If I go into extensions and disable then re-enable the extension, it works until the next time I turn the computer off and back on. On all three computers I've tried uninstalling the extension, I've uninstalled Chrome, I've logged out of my Google account, I've reset all my Chrome settings... Any thoughts on what else I can try to get it working again? - (2018-04-21, v:2.6.2) Neal Wright: Have to stop and restart each time Chrome opens
With every new Chrome instance I have to disable and re-enable T2F because it is not working even though it's enabled. Running most current T2F and Chrome Version 65.0.3325.181 (Official Build) (64-bit) - (2017-06-29, v:2.6.2) Monday Monster: Activity
Is there some plugin to control Tab activity? Counted tab will be pointed on as it is opened always. I need to get sounds of livescore site while do other work at other tabs. Thank You! - (2017-05-31, v:2.6.1) Ben Stallings: Crashes
This extension has started to crash every time I open Chrome. This has been going on for the last couple of weeks. I have made no changes to my system. Your assistance would be appreciated.