"Single Window Mode" in Safari 3.1

By OperationBrian
in Apple (macOS)

 Share

Recommended Posts

Enthusiast

OperationBrian

Posted
Posted

One of my two biggest feature requests in Safari was double click on tab bar to make a new tab, and single window mode. Safari 3.1 includes the first feature.

Safari 3.1 does indeed have a single-window mode, but it has to be entered from the Terminal.

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true

Enjoy!

from TUAW

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/626971-single-window-mode-in-safari-31/
Share on other sites
Enthusiast

OperationBrian

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Whew, now I can get rid of SafariStand. That was the only reason I had it installed.

Same here, it is so much better now that it is official.... no more "Stand" bar.

FYI: Just like SafariStand, this will not work with certain javascript windows like Flash video and game windows.

Enthusiast

OperationBrian

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Apple finally fixed the two features I have wanted for years: double click tab bar, and (hidden) single window mode.

But there is "one more thing...."

Does anyone know of a way for the Downloads window to close automatically when a download finishes, just like Camino and Firefox? Also I do not want to have to use a plug-in to do so.

Collaborator

BGraceTFaith

Posted
Posted

What's really nice, is if you have a mouse with a middle button, and have it set up as Button 3, then enabling this feature along with the Command+Click=New Tab option, regular clicking targeted links will open them in a new tab in the foreground, middle clicking targeted links will open them in a new tab in the background.

Very nice.

Enthusiast

OperationBrian

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm not sure how to use it on Windows. It is designed for the Terminal in Mac OS X. I read somewhere that with the Windows version of Safari, a certain file can be edited to add these hidden options that Mac users type into the Terminal, but I'm not exactly sure. Maybe someone else has a better answer.

Still, this single window mode is awesome! I don't understand why Safari didn't have this from the start.

Grand Master

Quillz

Posted
Posted
Nope. Just tested a bunch of keyboard shortcuts and they all go to new tabs.

That's odd, doesn't seem very Apple-like, not to mention most other web browsers tend to just reverse the behavior. Oh well, I dislike links opening in new windows, anyway.

I'm not sure how to use it on Windows. It is designed for the Terminal in Mac OS X. I read somewhere that with the Windows version of Safari, a certain file can be edited to add these hidden options that Mac users type into the Terminal, but I'm not exactly sure. Maybe someone else has a better answer.

Still, this single window mode is awesome! I don't understand why Safari didn't have this from the start.

Probably because tab browsing still confuses some people. I know my parents, for example, still prefer having multiple windows only because they prefer alt+tabbing various windows instead of having them in tabs.

Grand Master

Quillz

Posted
Posted
I don't understand what this is.

Single window mode is exactly what it sounds like. This Terminal command forces all links to open in new tabs instead of new windows. Thus, you have just one active Safari window, instead of multiple.

Veteran

Scazza

Posted
Posted

Thanks for sharing this!

I must say I love Safari but like most people, hate how new links open in new windows! I have about 4 - 5 tabs running usually and it's always a pain when Safari opens a new window!

So yes, much appreciated for sharing this with us :D

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Major Xbox layoffs may claim South of Midnight developer Compulsion entirely

      By qbrick · Posted

      The reviews you refer to mean nothing. Where there is no journalism there is no reason to call the gaming media's opinion pieces "reviews". For GP games there is indeed a metric for success - increasing subscriptions. Which turns in revenue. The only circumstance in which subs do not rise when great is being released is a Game Pass system where the company is close to fully saturated with customers in a subscription. However, in that case as the theory goes you spend aplenty in all kind of games - from shady live service cash cows and customer offending agitprop crap in purple colours to robust and entertaining single player games. And keep a solid level of profitability. Ignoring the simply innocuous but mid games MGS has released primarily of the second kind.
    • Report: Microsoft to use AWS to help GitHub deal with a major surge in demand

      By pradeepviswav · Posted

      Report: Microsoft to use AWS to help GitHub deal with a major surge in demand by Pradeep Viswanathan Thanks to the surge of coding AI agents, GitHub's usage has skyrocketed over the past 12 months. To meet this demand, GitHub started with a plan in October 2025 to increase capacity by 10x. However, by early this year, the company realized that it needed 30x scale. This rapid growth has caused severe strain on the platform's reliability, resulting in several small outages over the past few months. In April, GitHub published a long blog post explaining the steps it is taking to resolve these reliability issues. In the post, the company also confirmed that it is working toward a multi-cloud architecture for better resilience. Today, Business Insider reported that GitHub is turning to Amazon Web Services to help deal with a major surge in AI-driven coding activity. It is important to note that GitHub is still in the process of moving completely to the Azure cloud. The current plan is to move the platform fully to Azure by 2027 so that it can scale better as per developer demand. Therefore, the current decision to utilize AWS might be part of a short-term plan to meet immediate demand. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that GitHub is using multiple cloud providers with the following statement: For Microsoft, the decision highlights the operational pressure behind the AI boom. GitHub has to stay reliable for developers at a time when rivals such as Codex, Cursor, Claude Code, and other AI coding tools are gaining attention. And the decision to use AWS for computing capacity seems practical given the circumstances.
    • Mozilla highlights Firefox Nova 2026 redesign and more upcoming features with new roadmap

      By +Eternal Tempest · Posted

      It's growing on me, however, your right, it make better usability sense if the tabs were bellow the address bar.
    • Microsoft's Copilot Cowork now generally available with usage-based billing

      By ryansurfer98 · Posted

      Qwen 3.6 is better value per dollar, and you can run it locally for free.
    • Threads scales past half a billion users, brings deeper community and feed controls

      By ryansurfer98 · Posted

      I don't believe them that anyone using threads, at least meaningfully. It's the same thing for Facebook, people just don't engage with Meta platforms like they are thinking. This isn't 2006.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      Dys Topia earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Conversation Starter
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Year In
      Console General earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      517
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      182
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      106
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      88
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      68
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!