How to Disable Tab Groups on Firefox

Chances are good that if you use Firefox, you now known that it has tab groups. For those of you who don't know what tab groups are, they are a browser feature that allows users to organize tabs into groups. In theory, at least this makes it easier to keep track of manage tabs. Chrome had had tab groups for about five years now, and other browsers have had them for a few years as well. As to Firefox, according to Mozilla, it was the most requested idea on Mozilla Connect.

Of course, while some people find tab groups a convenient way to organize and manage tabs, others of us don't.This can be a particularly problem for those of us who sometimes like to move tabs around, as Firefox will automatically assume that we want to create a tab group. Fortunately, Firefox has a means of disabling tab groups, unlike some other browsers (*cough* Chrome for Android *cough*).

If you are one of the many Firefox users who dislike and you want to disable them, simply type about:config in the address bar. You'll then want to click the button that reads "Accept the Risk and Continue." You'll then search for " browser.tabs.groups" and mark all of them "false."

This should disable tab groups, although some have found them re-enabled if they close and then re-open their browser. In my case this was caused by a study related to tab groups. I fixed it by simply going into setting and unchecking "Install and run studies," although you could also type about:studies in the address bar and disable any studies related to tab groups.

With regards to tab groups on Firefox, I have two recommendations for Mozilla. The first is that they should have a place in Settings (I figure "Brower Layout" might b a good place) where one can disable tab groups. This would be more obvious and thus easier than disabling tab groups in about:config would be. The second is that they should always allow users to disable tab groups and never force them upon users. Tab groups may be the most requested feature in Mozilla Central, but there are also a number of us who absolutely hate them.