Force Safari to Open All Links in New Tabs

My absolute favorite advance in web browsing technology over the past decade or so is the idea of single-window browsing, or at least of multiple tabs in a single window. Just about every browser out there now allows you to keep all the different web pages you have open in a single window as multiple tabs.

The impression I have gotten as a user is that the tab feature originally was targeted mainly at keeping your web browsing session organized and not having too many windows open, but it later transformed into something that changed the outlook of web browsing for many; tabs became a must-have feature of browsers, and may users now use tabs far more than windows.

Safari has a couple of primary ways to let you use tabs. You can press Command-T, select “New Tab” from the File menu in the menu bar, or double-click on the tab bar (added in Safari 3.1) to open an empty new tab up. To open a link in a new tab, you can hold down Command before clicking it. However, some sites manage to override Safari’s commands to open pages in new tabs, and just open the link up in the same page or in a new window.

Finally, in Safari 3.1, Apple has provided us with a hidden feature that forces every single web page to open links in new tabs when you ask it to.

Simply launch the Terminal from the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and type or copy this command into it, and then restart Safari:

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true

If for some reason you change your mind and want to revert to your previous setting, use this command:

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool false

[Terminal Command Via Mac OS X Tips]

 
 

Submitted on March 30, 2008 at 6:00 am - Force Safari to Open All Links in New Tabs was written by Omer Zach - There have been 15 comments - Categorized in Easy Tips, Safari Tips, Terminal Tips, keyboard shortcuts - Tags: 3.1, Links, safari, Tabs, terminal

15 Responses to “Force Safari to Open All Links in New Tabs”

1. 
   Pirate Pinion
   The second command should say 'false' at the end, I guess... March 30th, 2008 at 8:07 am
   
   
2. 
   Katie Berryhill
   Is that last command supposed to say false at the end? March 30th, 2008 at 9:21 am
   
   
3. 
   Travis Jeffery
   Yep March 30th, 2008 at 9:22 am
   
   
4. 
   Charlie
   Shame on you for listing both commands with "true" instead of having the second one be "false". You are slipping...lol. March 30th, 2008 at 10:24 am
   
   
5. 
   Charlie
   I have Safari 3.1 and pasted the command in Terminal using true and quit Safari, opened Safari and clicked on a link and it just used the same page to open the link but did not give it it's own tab. I tried using false and it did the same thing. It does not work for me. I have Tiger, do you need Leopard for this to work? March 30th, 2008 at 10:37 am
   
   
6. 
   Pirate Pinion
   propably yes, charlie. it did work for me in leopard. March 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
   
   
7. 
   Alan
   Same thing. It's not working. Using Leopard...I would be helpful if you can fix it for us. Thanks! March 30th, 2008 at 11:47 am
   
   
8. 
   Alan
   Sorry, I misunderstood the entire post. The tip is working perfectly fine. I thought the tip was about opening a link in a new tab rather in a new window but not in the same tab. March 30th, 2008 at 11:50 am
   
   
9. 
   Brad Jasper
   Sorry about that, should have caught that. Fixed.
   
   And shame on us Charlie!? Where have you been? YOU are slipping :). March 30th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
   
   
10. 
    Discerptor
    This works perfectly. It's a feature of Firefox's that I've wanted Safari to have for a while, too. March 30th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
    
    
11. 
    in2insight
    Wow, cheers!
    Woks great, 10.5.2 May 26th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
    
    
12. 
    anonym
    seems to not work in safari 4 beta June 11th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
    
    
13. 
    KT
    Worked like a charm for my Safari 3.1.1 and OS 10.5.3. Many thanks! June 21st, 2008 at 9:13 am
    
    
14. 
    Chris
    Hey guys, I'm just wondering how this can be tweaked to work in the Windows XP Safari version, as windows doesn't have the MAC OS Terminal Command and has only Command prompt. Not to sure if you can use Command prompt for Windows. Thanks August 13th, 2008 at 2:55 am
    
    
15. 
    Donna
    Hi, after inputting the first one a couple of times and then quitting and relaunching safari, it worked, but I'm having difficulty reverting back. September 1st, 2008 at 9:07 am
    
    

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