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Whenever I click a link from something like outlook or a program opens a web page (not when I click a link from within chrome). It opens up in Chrome since it is my default browser but if I already have a page open it will open in a new tab on that same window. I can't tell you how many times I forget about this and close the window out, accidentally losing the other tab too. Ofcourse, I can open a new chrome window and find it under recently closed tabs but I would really just prefer if they opened in their own window so I can prevent this.

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There doesn't appear to be a user-friendly option to change this inside Chrome (presumably because most people prefer the new tab).

However, you can change this manually by editing the command specified in your Windows registry used to open an http url.

To do this, open regedit and:

  1. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\http\shell\open\command
  2. You should see one key, named (Default). Double click this to get an editing popup.
  3. At the end of the Value data: field you should see the text -- "%1". Change this to --new-window "%1".

That will instruct Windows to open all http links in a new window of Chrome instead of a new tab.

Presumably, the same general idea is true for Mac and Linux, but I don't know offhand where they store the command to open urls.

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When I double click default the pop has a field called Value Data it is empty. Should I just add --new-window or --new-window "%1" Also I am using Win7 if it matters. – John Isaacks Jul 22 '10 at 14:39
I tested that on Windows XP, and that key is where the default browser command is stored. Not sure if Windows 7 is the same, or you just don't have a default browser selected. The whole value should look something like: "C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --new-window "%1" – Chris S Jul 22 '10 at 16:42
Note, if you search the registry for any other keys containing "chrome.exe", and find one with a value containing " -- %1", then adding my change should work. – Chris S Jul 23 '10 at 13:42
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