30

Is there a way to get my bookmarks (wired to my bookmarks bar) to open them (by default) into a new tab?

It seems to me that this would be a terrific option to build in. I am all about reducing mouse clicks and speed.

  • I know that I can hit the + tab and then select my bookmark - but this is 2 mouse clicks.
  • I know also that I can right mouse click the bookmark link and select "open in new tab" - but once again 2 steps.

Also since the default is to replace the current tab window, this is not intuitive and generally annoying. I find myself always going "back", reloading the current page (that I didn't want to leave) and then re-selecting the bookmark button with the right mouse button and selecting "open in new tab".

Using Chrome Portable Beta (7.0.517.36).

4
  • I think what you are looking for is discussed here:[google.com/support/forum/p/Chrome/… and within other non-Google Chrome threads. However, I think thus far it is only a suggestion and has not yet been implemented.
    – ricbax
    Oct 19, 2010 at 15:46
  • thanks - yes that's exactly the topic. no resolution however
    – John C
    Oct 19, 2010 at 18:04
  • Use another browser. If you want customizability, Chrome is the worst browser you could possibly choose. Try Opera. (I'd recommend Firefox but even the latest beta is nowhere near as quick as Chrome.) I know that's not what you want to hear, but as of this moment, it's not possible to configure Chrome in this way. Jan 18, 2011 at 6:12
  • That's your opinion and you are quickly becoming the minority. I have tried them all and Chrome is the best and fastest browser I have experienced. Try Chrome Portable Dev 10.0.634 Build installed to local hard drive partition - it is a rocket! Chrome has a very nice and rich set of terrific Extensions as well. I am tired of hearing user's say Chrome isn't customizable. Go try the latest versions. It's very customizable with a huge set of rich Extensions. And Firebox is extremely bloated and slow. I won't ever want the pain and slowness of that cow.... :)
    – John C
    Jan 22, 2011 at 2:55

4 Answers 4

21

If you have Chrome set up to open new windows as tabs, then you can edit the bookmarks as in the following example:

javascript:window.open("http://www.delicious.com/home");

This is an excellent workaround for your Bookmarks Bar, but note that it will break the favicon and give a blank page favicon.

PS, don't forget the quotation marks, and the semicolon!

2
  • It's a brilliant workaround, except for a couple problems: (1) You can't have your own icon for it, at least not easily. (2) It won't open chrome://apps. Not your fault, naturally.
    – user156329
    Sep 13, 2013 at 15:37
  • It's a good workaround, but has one problem - it's a workaround.
    – Danijel
    Feb 15, 2021 at 10:00
10

Middle click the bookmark.

If you middle-click a folder, it will open every link in the folder.

7
  • 1
    solution offered up in the Google forum - but not acceptable to me. I posted a rather lengthly discussion in the Google forum and recommend you read about all of band-aids offered. none however is acceptable nor a single click solution. Also when was the last time you tried middle-clicking a modern scroll wheel mouse? ! :)
    – John C
    Oct 19, 2010 at 18:45
  • 1
    I middle click as often as I left click in my browser. Also, I don't understand what you mean by band-aids - Ctrl + X is fairly standard modifier to X, and I assume you'd have a hand on the keyboard anyway.
    – Squidly
    Oct 19, 2010 at 21:45
  • you are an exception to the rule. first off, not all mice have a middle button, some only have a scroll wheel. some of the mice don't have a clickable scroll wheel, and even those that do (like mine), it is awkward and error prone to "click" a scrollable wheel. you might do it - but many user's don't and some user's can't. Hence the middle button selection is not a universal solution, it may work for you but it doesn't work for others including myself. As I've mentioned both here and in the referenced Google forum, Google could easily fix this to offer it as a default selection.
    – John C
    Oct 20, 2010 at 4:58
  • as far as a band-aid, other browsers like Maxthon have this feature directly with the standard left mouse button action (single click) that is accessible from any mouse. Google's lack of a single click solution (without the middle selection or without 2 operations) is frustrating for power users including myself. I don't want to use a scroll wheel to select my bookmarks to open them up in a new tab- it's error prone and awkward. It's a band-aid because Google could offer this easily as a default option as other browsers have but have deferred to awkward solutions.
    – John C
    Oct 20, 2010 at 5:17
  • one more comment - laptop user's that use a touch pad don't have easy access to a middle click button either and most won't bother to try - myself included. middle button click solutions are weak and non-usable for many users.
    – John C
    Oct 31, 2010 at 20:08
4

Hold the control key while you click the bookmark.

I actually think that opening every bookmark in a new tab by default would be annoying.

2
  • 5
    That's why an option would be ideal for those user's who prefer to operate this way. For me any many other user's, it's natural to open a bookmark in a new tab. I operator Chrome with many tabs open at the same time (on purpose). It's inefficient and certainly not intuitive for me to overwrite the current window with my new tab link. Each to his / her own way of running a browser. It's far easier to me to simply select my saved tab. Overall a minor complaint and Chrome is the faster browser period. I won't change away from Chrome because of this issue.
    – John C
    Jan 22, 2011 at 2:50
  • Command+Click for MacOS users. And I personally prefer to open a bookmark in a new tab, as I often rely on those to quickly open web documents during video calls (and mistakenly leave the meeting because of it). Terrible UX.
    – m-p-3
    Jul 3, 2020 at 15:44
1

I'm actually working on a solution using AutoHotkey that recognizes that a click was placed into the bookmarks bar (by location in the Chrome window) and if it was, sending a Ctrl-click instead of a generic click. If you use AHK, feel free to test this out.

I did this by intercepting the click, determining if the click was in Chrome, then determining if the click was within the box I defined as the bookmarks bar. If all of those conditions are met, send the click as a Ctrl-click instead of a click which will open the bookmark in a new tab.

This should work effectively for the bookmarks bar, but of course it ignores any other bookmark clicks under the "Other bookmarks" folder. We'll still have to remember to Ctrl-click any of those links (or middle-click if you're that dexterous with your mouse wheel). Also, the size and location of your bookmark bar may be different depending on lots of different things like themes and other toolbars, so YMMV, make sure you use WindowSpy to get the location of your own bookmark bar and change the lower and upper bounds for the X and Y coordinates.

Perhaps one thing I might improve is to detect when "Other bookmarks" is clicked, and then send the next click as a Ctrl-click, so you navigate the menu tree, and then when you find and click your link, it is a Ctrl-click.

#SingleInstance force
#Persistent

LButton::
{
    If MouseIsOver("ahk_class Chrome_WidgetWin_1")
    {
        MouseGetPos, LocationX, LocationY
        If LocationX between 6 and 965
        {
            If LocationY between 75 and 95
            {
                ; If we are here, the mouse has been clicked in Chrome in the
                ; bookmarks bar.  Send a Ctrl-click instead of a click.

                Send, {Control down}
                Click
                Send, {Control up}
            }
            Else
                Click
        }
        Else
            Click
    }
    Else
        Click
}

MouseIsOver(WinTitle) {
    MouseGetPos,,, Win
    return WinExist(WinTitle . " ahk_id " . Win)
}
1
  • Works, but you can't click and drag text while the script is running. Jun 7, 2022 at 17:07

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