Forum Discussion
Discussion: Add ability to close tabs via double-click
Hey Insiders, thanks for your continued feedback to help us improve Microsoft Edge! Recently we have noticed a growing trend in requests to support double clicking on a tab to close it. Even just receiving this feedback is helpful in highlighting the importance of efficiency and ease when managing and closing tabs, and also communicates a user problem that the tab close button can sometimes be difficult to interact with quickly.
As for the best way to address this user problem, we’d like to get additional context from you on the benefits and risks of different options. While double clicking on a tab can indeed be a very easy and quick way to close a tab, it also comes with the risk that if users are quickly clicking to switch between tabs, they might accidentally close a tab unintentionally by clicking on one twice. Given accidentally closing tabs is another top pain point users have shared with us, we want to be especially careful that we aren’t making that problem worse. We also wanted to share that another existing mouse-centric method for quickly closing a tab with a single click is to middle (mouse-wheel) click on a tab, which it could be argued is easier and faster than double clicking, though of course not everyone has a mouse that supports middle (mouse-wheel) click.
Given the potential risks of double clicking and the alternative middle click solution discussed here, please let us know if and why you feel double clicking is a superior method. We're also curious to know if you have any additional solutions to the problem of easily and quickly closing a tab that haven’t been discussed and avoid some of the risks discussed here. Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions, we couldn't do this without you!
- The Microsoft Edge Team
165 Replies
- MissyQ instead of the double click, i would find very great to close it with clicking on the scroll wheel. I was a firefox user coming to edge.
It would be great if by clicking on the scroll wheel on a tab, the tab closes, and if clicking on the scroll wheel next to the "+" for opening a new tab, would open a new tab.
That would be extremely awesome - I should add a note this behavior is not user friendly in tablet devices because double click on tablets are not easy.
It might be a good idea but I believe we should think about a smarter algorithm. - Close a tab via double click is good option instead of middle click.
Please add the "double-click on tab to close" feature, and it's fine to make it optional.
First of all, the middle button is just not good to use, you have to move your finger to press it, making the process a little bit slow. Staying at left (or right) button is faster.
Second, I use a Logitech mouse, which middle button is the scrolling wheel, however clicking wheel on my mouse has another function(shifting scrolling mode). They conflict with each other, so I have to config or something, it's just annoying.
Third, double-click is better than click the X in a tab, because it's easier and faster, it requires no accuratly aiming. The tab's area is larger than the X button's. Less aiming, less moving, more quick to close, more convienent.
Fourth, it is not possible unless you guys do it. There'is no way for a extension to do it, they don't have the access to the tabs as far as I know. There is no workround!!!
At last, you guys probably don't know that MILLIONS of user in China are relying on this feature. Chinese local browsers, such as 360/QQBrowser and a lot more other Chrome variant browsers, all have this. It is one of the biggest reason why people there are not like using the orginal Chrome. And for Edge, you guys can make it right this time if you'd like to pass Chrome. BTW, just FYI, another crucial feature is built-in mouse gesture.
Come on, add it, and make it optional, how hard or dangerous can it be? It's fine to let users turn it on themselves. People would know what they're doing. Don't worry too much.
- MissyQ
We could go for a more accessible way rather than double clicking, as sometimes you hover over the icons on the vertical tab and might double click them due to the server being slow. I mean if I am giving a test (servers would become slow as a lot of people are using them at the same time) and actually when something is taking actually way too long to load it is natural to click again and this could really cause problems. MissyQ ... Seriously? Why does this browser STILL not have "Double-Click" to Close Tabs...?
I have been using this function for some 25 YEARS.... with ZERO problems with primarily two different browsers, Maxthon and 360Chrome. What is the problem here?
A simple "setting" enables or disables it so those who like it can use it, those who don't don't "need" to use it.
And while I'm talking about Tabs... A "Middle Tab Bar" is a MUST for me... I can't stand the Top tab bars in modern browsers. Please add... Again, a simple setting so people can CHOOSE what they like. Other browsers do it, what's Microsoft's malfunction?
leeuniverse If you'd like there is 3rd party solutions
https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9N27WRS6LFRW
- I also looking for ability like when closing the Microsoft Edge, show a notification like do you want to close all tabs? I really missed this feature from previous version of Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer.
- I searched and found in the stable edge and in the canary edge
Try searching your ms edge
edge settings -> appearance -> customize browser -> ask before closing a window with multiple tabs- Thank you for sharing this, Microsoft Edge updates regularly and I missed this feature , I remember there was a huge discussion about this topic and glad we have it. Thank you for letting me know.
- hello，How soon can I launch the double-click close tab
Hello
I think it is high time to make a decision on this issue - I would very much like to ask you to enable this feature with the possibility of disabling it .
Andrew
- Andrzej1, no, because double-click has a specific meaning to typical users. It means "perform default action." Therefore, if double clicking on a tab closed it, it would muddle the clarity of the UI, which means it makes EVERYTHING less clear. Consistency, more than anything else, is what brings clarity to a UI. Obviously, for you, you're OK with this, so let me take another example to illustrate the point. You're used to clicking on something to select it or activate it (like a button). What if in some programs, click meant delete, because that was a commonly needed action in that program. You could eventually learn that distinction, but it would make you perpetually slow or nervous to click on anything elsewhere as your brain would need to pause to think, "Will this delete or select?"
This is what adding double-clicking to close tabs would do. Double-click should NEVER = close in an official offering from MS.
I'm normally all for options, but NOT when the fight the fundamental clarity of he entire OS' UI. This should not be an option provided by MS. If you want it badly, commission a third-party extension to provide this feature. That's what those are for -- to provide non-standard functions that people can choose to install if they want to do something that's beyond the scope of normal system or browser behavior.Hello , good to meet you here, and I get your point. I agree with you that the UI logic should keep consistent and clear. However, for double-click to close tab, I think it may be not the case.
Would there be any problem if we make the default action (invoking by double-click) of a tab is to close it? I don't see any of it. In my imagination, this is just what Windows exactly should do, introducing "double-click tab to close" as the default action in all possible scenarios, such as tabs in future Explorer, Office, Visual Studio, and so on. Why? Because it is convenient, fast and easy to use. And I think there should be another default action for double-click in the empty space of the title bar, to create a new tab! Tabs are important, and we should develop some UI logic around it, not to avoid it.
BTW, maybe a little far from the topic, talking about UI consistency and clarity, I saw many people don't know why they have to single-click on a button, but to double-click on an icon. Why don't we just make everything single-clicked, just like using the touching screen in the cell phone? Wouldn't that be extremely purely UI consistent? However, that would sound like a crazy idea on a desktop computer, right? We have mouses with more powerful functions than fingers, and UI consistency and clarity are not always the first priority for UI design, practical functions and productivities might be the more important reason. The key to a good design is always about the trade-off between practical and aesthetic aspects, right?
- How soon will it come out
Sometimes I have to make an exception to dodging such loooong tape of replies.
Well, time to shed a light from another uncharted facet.
It's not about Opera, it's about Edge - to be, or not to be.
Opera has excellent feature. Imagine - you open a page, you read it and after a while you feel you have to check the name which was introduced to the readers at the beginning of the page. You feel urge to grab the slider at right? Well, me not. It's enough you click the page's tab once and you are on top of the text. You click second time and you are still facing the text at the place where you stopped reading!
Opera has excellent programmers and lousy managers, that's why Opera development run at the pace of snail race.
But there is more to the Opera. I've conjured up a follow up. What about if you want to jump to the bottom of your page? Wouldn't it be more sensible implementing double-click for this purpose? Bottom page contains usually a lot of other important hyperlinks, among others Contact, About, brand info etc.
Dedicate a small span of your precious time to ponder the new paradigm of moving quickly across page context presented by Edge browser:
Click - up
Click - down
Doubleclick - down
Doubleclick - up
Well, I have to correct the scheme, it'll be more understandable:
Click - up
Click - back
Doubleclick - down
Doubleclick - back
Have a nice day.
Regards,
--
MS Edge Dev 95.0.1011.1-1
Debian Bullseye GNU/Linux 5.10.46-4, X.org 1.20.11, IceWM 2.1.2
Nvidia GeForce GTX 650, Driver 460.91.03, systemd 247 (247.3-6)
