This tutorial explains how to disable Chrome tabs to open links in new Chrome window. At the end of this tutorial, you’ll be able to completely disable tabs on Google Chrome such that all the URLs will open up in a new window and not tab. If you’re a Google Chrome user, then you might have noticed that wherever you click on any URL, it will either open up in the same tab or in a new tab. Google Chrome doesn’t have any native option to disable tabs to open links in new window, but there is a way using which you can do the same. So, today in this tutorial, I will explain how to disable Chrome tabs to open links in a new window in Chrome.
Actually, there is a free Chrome extension called “New Tab, New Window” which you can use to disable tabs in Chrome. It actually forces Chrome to open all the URLs in a new window (Chrome instance) instead of opening them in new tabs. In addition to that, if you would like to open links from external programs such as MS Word, PDF readers, etc. in a new Chrome window, then there is another simple registry hack which can do the job for you.
If you’re looking for a way to forcefully open all the links in the same tab in Chrome, then you can check out our post on How to Force URLs to open in the same tab in Chrome, IE, Firefox.
How to Disable Chrome Tabs to Open Links in New Window in Chrome:
The process of disabling Chrome tabs using the “New Tab, New Window” extension is very simple, as all you got to do is install the extension and you’re done.
Step 1: First, simply install the Chrome extension “New Tab, New Window” on your browser.
After installing the extension, it will automatically disable Chrome tabs and all the links will open up in a new window in Chrome instead of a new tab. For example, let’s say you’re reading an article and you found a link to another article which you want to open in a new window. Then the possible option for that is to right-click on it and then choose “Open in New Window” from the context menu. But, if you’ve installed this extension, then you don’t need to do that as you can simply click on the link and it will directly open up in a new Chrome window.
Step 2: No manual configuration is required to disable Chrome tabs after installing the extension. However, you can change the position of the new window either as default (cascade) or same as the parent window. For this, simply right-click on the extension icon and select “Options”. After that, a new popup will appear where you can choose the position of the new window, as shown below.
How to Always Open URLs from External Programs in New Chrome Window:
Step 1: To get started, the first thing you need to do is press “Windows Key + R” to open “Run” prompt and then type “regedit” in the input field. After that hit Enter and it will open up the registry editor.
Step 2: Now, you need to navigate to the following registry key location in the registry editor:
"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ChromeHTML\shell\open\command"
Step 3: After you navigate to this key location, you’ll see a key value named “Default” on the right panel. Double-click on the key value to open up the string editor. In the “Value Data” field, you will be able to see a long string ending with -- "%1".
Step 4: Now, you need to replace -- "%1" with --new-window "%1" at the end of the “Value Data” string. As soon as you do that, click “OK” and close the registry editor. After that, whenever you click on a link in any external program like MS Word, PDF Viewer, Powerpoint, etc., it will always open up in a new Chrome window instead of in new tab.
My Final Verdict:
If you’re looking for a way to disable tabbed browsing in Chrome such that you can open up links in new windows in Chrome, then this tutorial is definitely for you. In this tutorial, I was able to completely disable Chrome tabs using the “New Tab, New Window” extension to open links in new window. I was also able to open links from external programs in new windows with the help of a simple registry hack.
