Unsolved Why is it so easy to accidentally close tabs??

[OakdaleFTL]

@SaphiraBlue said in Why is it so easy to accidentally close tabs??:

@OakdaleFTL What if I don't want accordion display style (which I don't--it takes up too much real estate)? Why can't we just expect the close function to work properly?

First, the Accordion style tabs only takes up at most the width of the window: That's the point!
But -even if you thought the Tab Bar took up too much space — why keep it on-screen when you can easily hide/show it as you please?

(I generally run three profiles all the time. But in the main one I usually have between 120 and 200 tabs open (with a few Workspaces and Windows open). Imagine trying to keep track of them — without using all the features of Vivaldi!)

I don't understand what behavior you want...

Consider this screenshot:

That's a window pinned to the right side of the screen. The number os tabs it contains doesn't matter to the display. You can scroll left or right through them.

BTW: Are you using a track pad?

[becm]

@SaphiraBlue disabling the close button seems to be the only feasible option right now.
You will of course have to use other means (as already described) to close tabs then.

The option to only have a close button on the active tab (like Firefox) is still missing.

[OakdaleFTL]

@becm Am I wrong in remembering an Accordion Tabs option for FireFox?! I seem to recall it being quite popular...

[SaphiraBlue]

@OakdaleFTL said in Why is it so easy to accidentally close tabs??:

I don't understand what behavior you want...

I want the close function on tabs to work properly. That’s literally all I want. I’m astonished that that seems to be so surprising.

That's a window pinned to the right side of the screen. The number os tabs it contains doesn't matter to the display. You can scroll left or right through them.

Okay? But the way you like to use your tabs isn’t necessarily the way anyone else likes to use theirs.

BTW: Are you using a track pad?

Yes. Why does that matter?

[SaphiraBlue]

@becm said in Why is it so easy to accidentally close tabs??:

The option to only have a close button on the active tab (like Firefox) is still missing.

Sounds like this is the problem, then, and what needs to be fixed/added.

[paaljoachim]

I bumped into accidentally closing tabs yesterday and wondered what the heck happened.
I then went looking for a reopen recently closed tabs but could not locate it. Made a search and came across Tools -> History which has helped somewhat.

It would be nice if recently closed tabs where remembered and could easily be reopened again.

[Pathduck]

@paaljoachim

https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/tabs/opening-and-closing-tabs/#Reopening_recently_closed_Tabs
https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/tabs/window-panel/#Recently_Closed_Tabs

Also:

I have Show Closed Tabs mapped to Alt+Z but those are the defaults.

[ryofurue]

To summarize the problem:

The default Vivaldi behavior is . . . when you keep opening tabs, the width of the tabs eventually becomes so small that the tab-closing button occupies most of the tab area. Then, when trying to activate a tab, you accidentally close it and are annoyed.

In the feature request forum, there have been two requests that, if implemented, would solve the problem in one way or another.

1. Add the ability to set the minimum tab width (whether the tab is active or inactive). This request, from 2018, has gained some support but haven't been implemented.

2. Show the tab-closing button only when the tab is active. This request didn't get many upvotes and have already been archived.

I mean to propose a variation on request 2 above.

3. Hide the tab-closing button when the tab is inactive and too narrow.

But, looking at the fate of request 2, I'm discouraged. Also, I think that request 1 is a better solution.

---

[Aside] The original problem I described at the top, is a real problem. Instead of, or in addition to, offering some options to fix it, Vivaldi wants to change its default behavior.

Not only about this issue, but in general, I imagine there are a lot of newcomers who try Vivaldi out, is annoyed by some of its default behaviors, and quietly ditch it.

Only the minority of those users who are frustrated will post here in the user forum. So, if the default behavior is suboptimal, offering an option or workaround isn't good enough.

[OlManRivers]

As a brand new user, I found this behavior to be confusing and problematic as well. Restoring tabs is mostly useful good enough, but not always. A good side effect was that it encouraged me to learn how many options I have available.

I do agree, however, that an option to Hide the Close Tab button on background tabs would make a lot of sense. Combining it with sensitivity to tab width would be fantastic.

Single Close Tab button on the right of the tab bar is related and would be a better workaround for some (but not all people).

For now, I'm trying out the option of totally removing the close button on the tab, while also enabling double-click to close.

I'd vote for a #3 proposal if it came around.

[DenMcH]

This has been a major frustration for me, and while there's no solution to the problem of clicking tabs to switch, there's an alternative that I prefer, which is keyboard tab cycling.

Go to Settings and search for Tab Features. From there, select Cycle in Tab Order, and check Show Tab Cycler, Display Tab Cycler as List, and Switch Tabs by Scrolling.

Tab switch with scroll (e.g., scroll wheel if you have a mouse, two-finger swipe on Mac) while holding the alt/option key.

The tab cycler will pop up as a modal in the middle of the screen and persist as long you keep the alt/option key pressed. You can scroll through the list, which is wide and lets you read the full title of each tab with favicon, so it's easier to find the right tab. There's a thumbnail preview on the left for the selected tab. Releasing the alt/option key switches to the selected tab.

Note: By default, you can switch tabs with keyboard shortcuts using ctrl/command 1-8 for the first 8 tabs, and 9 for the last (meaning there's no way to access any intervening tabs). You can also move left and right from the current tab with ctrl or command plus shift and the left or right square bracket, which is kind of awkward. These keyboard shortcuts can be customized under Settings > Keyboard.

[DenMcH]

Having said all that, I decided to take another look at the settings and think I found a solution.

The TLDR: it's so easy to close tabs because the close button is large and appears on hover over the site's favicon, which is a natural target when clicking to select a tab. It can be mitigated by changing settings to make the button appear permanently on the right.

Settings > Tab Display > Tab Options

If you set the close button to display "Permanently," it mitigates the issue greatly because, by default, the close button appears on hover. This means that the available area to select a tab is misleading, and very often, the button will only appear just as you click, too late to have seen it.

This is further complicated by the fact that the close button is on the left side by default, perfectly covering the site's favicon. Psychologically, many people will aim for the favicon like a target (I know I do) and will unwittingly click the close button.

The better solution might be to uncheck "On Left Side" so that the close button appears on the right, not over the favicon and to check "Permanently" so that the close button persists and it doesn't sneak up on you.

(If the close button is set on the left and kept permanently, the favicon and any tab notification flags, e.g., number of emails, etc., will not be displayed, so having it on the right seems ideal. Also, many people will likely tend to click on the left if they're a native user of a left-to-right language.)

The close button doesn't appear at all under a certain width threshold, and so the permanent setting only applies then and reduces any ambiguity as to when and whether the close button will appear.

Another alternative, and much more strict, would be to uncheck Display Close Button, and then close tabs in one of the following ways:

1. Context menu > Close Tab
2. Set a keyboard shortcut for closing tabs under Settings/Keyboard > Tab
3. Under Settings > Tabs > Tab Handling, select Double-Click to Close Tab

The last would be the most fool proof, but still prone to accidents.