closing tab opened from essentials will leads to blank window

[lolipodass]

Captchas

• [x] I have read the instructions.
• [x] I have searched existing issues and avoided creating duplicates.
• [x] I am not filing an enhancement request.
• [x] I have checked that this issue cannot be reproduced on Mozilla Firefox.
• [x] I have checked that this issue cannot be reproduced once I removed all my Mods and Custom CSS.

What happened?

When a tab is added within the "Essentials" section, and a further tab is opened from within that new tab, closing the second tab results in a blank browser window instead of returning to the original "Essentials" tab.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/50da4ea7-521f-4486-899d-d5f1a507d9db

Version

1.10.3b but persist from 1.9ish

What platform are you seeing the problem on?

Windows - x64

What component is this issue related to?

Tabs

Relevant log output if applicable

[LeMoonStar]

I can confirm this to be an issue with Zen 1.11.1b on Fedora Workstation 41 as well. This is also occurs if there are other non-pinned and non-essential tabs open.

Do note for reproduction:

• External pages to essentials are opened as glance popup first. This issue occurs if that glance popup is first "expanded" to be its own tab and then closed.
• If the user switches to another tab in-between of opening and closing this tab, the next tab is chosen instead.

[gavink97]

This also occurs in the latest version of Zen for MacOS.

For reproduction:

1. Go to an essential tab
2. Open a new tab
3. Close new tab

Expected: User to return to the essential tab

Result: User is returned to a non essential / non pinned tab or a blank new page if no tabs are open.

[TaeyoungLeeJack]

I guess this phenomenon is also a reason for blank preview windows of the zen browser on the taskbar of Windows OS, which is an issue that I posted yesterday. Even if the essential or pinned tabs are closed, the preview windows still show them as opened but with a blank page.

[nh2seven]

This issue still persists on version 1.12.10b, Linux build. Same behavior as reported in previous comments. Any tab that is opened as a result of expanding a glance tab is not restored in a new session. To be precise, a glance tab that is expanded from a pinned/essentials tab returns to a blank tab after reopening the browser. Happens regardless of which workspace is being used.

[HeasHeartfire]

I've been checking this issue regularly and I'm sad to see no updates after all this time.

I use essentials a lot and the fact that closing a glance/tab doesn't return to the essential it was opened from is really getting on my nerves.

~~I'm surprised to see no progress and also not that many people complaining about it, since it isn't precisely a minor issue. So what's the deal? Would a fresh install fix it perhaps?~~

Well, nevermind all that because I just realized that if I have just a single regular tab open (I usually don't), then it works properly. Otherwise, I get a blank tab. Why?

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi, @lolipodass. I'm Dosu, and I'm helping the desktop team manage their backlog. I'm marking this issue as stale.

Issue Summary

• Problem with tab management in the "Essentials" section on Windows x64.
• Closing a new tab results in a blank browser window instead of reverting to the original tab.
• Confirmed by multiple users across different OS, including Fedora and MacOS.
• Persists in Zen versions 1.11.1b and 1.12.10b.
• Mitigation noted: having a single regular tab open reduces the issue.

Next Steps

• Please confirm if this issue is still relevant to the latest version of the desktop repository.
• If no further updates are provided, the issue will be automatically closed in 7 days.

Thank you for your understanding and contribution!

[nh2seven]

This issue continues to persist on version 1.14.5b, Linux build. The same behavior described earlier still exists.

[TaeyoungLeeJack]

It does persist on the latest version on windows, and the blank windows are showed as blank windows previews on the taskbar as well.

[rodalpho]

My issue 10407 was closed for this one but I believe they may be different.

Mine was with pinned tabs, although the same problem happens with essentials. And the issue was the browser doesn't shift focus back to the most-recently active tab, instead it shifts to the bottom-most pinned tab. It does not focus a blank tab for me..

Firefox works properly, this is a Zen-specific problem.

As I noted in that issue this breaks my workflow and means I personally cannot switch to Zen, which I otherwise really enjoy.

[rodalpho]

This is still not fixed in the latest twilight releases, even though I see the commit was several weeks ago now. Maybe just a Windows issue.

I'm specifically speaking about my problem with pinned tabs mentioned above.

[HeasHeartfire]

Oh yeah I almost forgot since I just leave the settings tab open all the time to avoid this issue. But considering that a button to clear all unpinned tabs is in the works, it would be pretty inconvenient if this issue isn't resolved by then.