Configuring Firefox not to use tabs

Here is how I configured Firefox to only use windows instead of tabs:

1. Right-click on the toolbar, select Customize Toolbar, and move the new tab button out of the tab bar.
2. Install the extension No Tabs. This will make the new tab button open a new window instead, and open links that would normally open in a new tab in a new window.
3. Go to about:support with the address bar, scroll to Profile Directory, and click the Open Directory button.
4. In the folder that opens, look for a folder named chrome. Check to see if userChrome.css is in that folder. If it isn’t there, create it.
5. Paste the following CSS code into userChrome.css:

toolbar#TabsToolbar {
  display:none !important
}

Now Firefox will no longer have tabs. The new tab button in your toolbar will open new windows instead, and anything that would open in a new tab will instead open in a new window. To undo this, delete the above CSS code from userChrome.css, uninstall No Tabs, and move the new tab button back to the tab bar (if you wish).

Before I get asked why on earth I would ever want to do this, the short answer is that for me, using tabs is more trouble than it’s worth.

The longer answer is that in my view, tiling and scrolling window managers make tabs obsolete. Unlike traditional window managers, tiling window managers (such as Awesome) make very effective use of space, and scrolling window managers (such as Niri) give you practically infinite space, so it no longer becomes worth it to save space with tabs. The more fully-featured ones also allow you to combine windows into the same space, giving you a tab bar to switch between them. By moving tabs out of the browser and into the window manager, I’ve found that I can navigate between tabs by keyboard the same way I navigate between open applications, and I can search tabs just like I can search other open windows. It’s incredibly useful if you work that way.