Switch to tab not working if tab is unloaded

[helscarthe]

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.
• [ ] I have checked that this issue cannot be reproduced on Mozilla Firefox.
• [x] I have checked that this issue can be reproduced once I removed all my Mods and Custom CSS.

What happened?

When you open new tab and try to access a link that already has a tab open for it, Zen correctly detects that and suggest you "Switch to tab". This function works fine if the tab is loaded - if the tab is unloaded however, Zen just opens a new tab.

I expect it to move to the existing tab and reloads the tab.

Version

1.10.3b, 1.11.1b

What platform are you seeing the problem on?

Windows - x64

What component is this issue related to?

Tab unloading

Relevant log output if applicable

[KiKaraage]

Yeeeeeeeeeeees this bugged me

[Oddward]

Same issue as #5881 but seeing as that was just closed as part of a repo cleanup I guess we should follow this thread now... This feels like a core feature to me so I wish devs could take notice.

[helscarthe]

Update: still happening on 1.11.1b.

[HanchaiN]

I believe this might have a similar cause as #6743 (the setting page doesn't switch to the unloaded setting tab), which I was about to reopen after the cleanup. Although this issue may not occur before 1.10.1b (if I remember correctly), #5881 has been present since 1.8.2b.

[jamjam2103]

same issue on linux (flatpak) as well

[IvanRosNavarro]

Yes, "Switch to tab" doesn't work, create a new tab. In Mozilla Firefox Developer Edition 138.0b6 doesn't happen. Zen Twilight v1.11.3t

[mr-cheffy]

Switch tab from the urlbar?

[jamjam2103]

do you mean using the urlbar instead of the new tab bar? also does not work, same issue

[starfishpatkhoo]

Duplicate issue, but has a nice Video that shows the buggy behaviour: https://github.com/zen-browser/desktop/issues/7653

[dibenzepin]

not exactly a "workaround", but i set browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory to false and then just ctrl+tab'd through all my tabs to keep them loaded

[Oddward]

@poopsicles ya you can turn off tab unloading altogether in the regular settings: browser settings > Tab management > Tab Unloader, or set specific tabs to avoid being put to sleep: right-click context menu > Tab Unloader Actions > Prevent Tab Unload, but the issue is with unloaded tabs.

[EpicGazel]

Issue still exists on 1.12.5b appimage on linux.

[EpicGazel]

Still exists in 1.13.2b appimage.

[dosubot[bot]]

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

Issue Summary:

• The "Switch to tab" function in Zen does not work correctly when the target tab is unloaded.
• This issue results in a new tab being opened instead of switching to and reloading the existing tab.
• It affects multiple versions (1.10.3b, 1.11.1b, 1.12.5b, 1.13.2b) and both Windows and Linux users.
• Similar issues have been reported (#5881, #6743), with some users suggesting settings adjustments as temporary workarounds.
• The issue remains unresolved and is significant as it impacts core functionality.

Next Steps:

• Please let me know if this issue is still relevant to the latest version of the desktop repository by commenting here.
• If there is no further activity, this issue will be automatically closed in 7 days.

Thank you for your understanding and contribution!

[EpicGazel]

Still in 1.14.5b appimage.

[krad246]

Definitely still getting hit by this too

[Lu9-ST]

still a relevant issue that shouldn't get stale

[starfishpatkhoo]

I can confirm this bug still exists in 1.14.9b on Windows x64..

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open a bunch of new tabs, choose one of them as your "original" active tab
2. Choose some tabs and right click and unload them, keeping some others active
3. In your "original" active tab, press CTRL+T to bring up the tab URL bar
4. Type "%" and space to start looking for tabs, and key in the page title of a tab that was unloaded in step 2
5. Click on the "Switch to tab" button
6. Notice a new tab opens with the URL of the tab in question
7. Click on some other unloaded tab to reload them back
8. Go back to the first "original" tab
9. Try steps 3 to 5 again, but this time with one of the active tabs
10. Notice it switches to the tab correctly

Expected behavior: In step 6, it should switch to the unloaded tab, and load it.

Detailed enough steps to reproduce? ^_^

[helscarthe]

This issue makes working with a large amount of tabs virtually impossible, as Switch to Tab is practically a tab search function - without it, managing any sizeable number of tabs becomes ridiculously tedious.

This issue is also literally the only reason why I can't use Zen anymore even though I loved everything else about Zen 🥲 I hope devs look at this issue soon.

[AKuederle]

I am not sure if this is the same issue, but when I close and re-open the browser (i.e. all tabs are unloaded), non of the tabs show up in the CTRL+Tab menu. If I then manually click/switch to some of the tabs and they get loaded, they appear in CTRL+Tab

[skaldebane]

Still facing this issue. Makes working with lots of tabs basically impossible.

[integrii]

In the latest Zen (Version 1.15b (64-bit)) this is fixed for me!

This fix, along with all existing tabs coming up as a priority result in the new tab bar without prefixing with % are the things I want most from Zen (coming from Arc). Especially now that pinned tab folders exist!

[Propheticus]

Fixed in v1.15b

[integrii]

I hate to be the that guy, but today this feature is not working. Either I somehow had all 5+ tabs I tested this on open at the time I thought it was fixed, or it was working only on first start. Today, tabs that aren't open do not come up with I type % as a prefix.

This one needs Reopened.

[Propheticus]

@integrii Still works for me, even across different spaces. Only typing % (don't forget a space) will only show a handful of suggestions, maybe not containing the tab you're looking for. So you'd need to also type part of their title to search.

Trying to make this more specific:

• By "tabs that aren't open" do you mean tabs that exist but are unloaded?
• Any difference between tabs in collapsed folders and those outside or in open folders?
• Searching for tabs in the current workspace or others?
• Have these tabs been renamed and did you look for their new name or their (original) page title?

[Lu9-ST]

I'm not using folders just yet, so it is working for me. But I'd say now I am having a different adjacent issue that would be more a QoL addition for Zen as a whole: when you switch to the tab, the tab bar does not scroll to the place where the tab is but this also happens when closing a tab when it switches to a tab that is off-screen, or creating a new tab with Ctrl+T when you are at either the top or bottom of the list

[Propheticus]

@Lu9-ST Make sure no mods / custom theming is causing this. The tab bar scrolls to the activated tabs just fine here when I test.

[integrii]

Thanks for your reply Propheticus. I actually have not been using a space after the percent sign (because I didn't know) and that's been giving me what I want without the (TABS) pill popping up 😆.

Here are the 3 behaviors:

Just search for the pinned tab

In this situation, I get bookmarks, but never the tab that I want from my pinned tabs. For example, if I type unifi, I want the tab to favor the UniFi Network pinned tab to the left, but it's not in the results at all. If I select an item there from my bookmarks, it will open a new tab which leads to tab spam.

However, if I type %unifi (I know this is wrong now lol) I see the result.

For fun, it also does work when I use the proper % unifi query as well.

The feature I want is for the % behavior to be enabled by default. Most of the time, I want to keep my hands on my keyboard and get to a tab by just typing part of it's name (good fuzzy search would be great!). That means that I want my existing tabs to be my top result in searches. I think there are many people coming from Arc that want this too.

As far as folders are concerned, I don't notice any behavior in them. I can nest things in folders and they seem to behave the same way as above.

As for renaming, I don't notice a difference either.

I am always searching within my same workspace.

Thanks for your time and I really hope that Zen continues to enable an Arc-like experience over the long run. It only needs a few things now that tab folders exist!

[Ivaon]

In this situation, I get bookmarks, but never the tab that I want from my pinned tabs. For example, if I type unifi, I want the tab to favor the UniFi Network pinned tab to the left, but it's not in the results at all. If I select an item there from my bookmarks, it will open a new tab which leads to tab spam.

@integrii Make sure "Open tabs" is checked in Settings > Search.

[integrii]

All of those search check boxes are checked for me.