Force New Tab - Links & Buttons

Force any link, button, or JavaScript navigation to open in a new tab — even on sites where Ctrl+Click does nothing. Many modern websites don't use normal links. They use buttons, click handlers, and JavaScript routers instead. When a site does that, Ctrl+Click and "Open link in new tab" stop working, every click replaces the page you were on, and you lose your place. Force New Tab fixes that. It intercepts navigation and opens it in a new tab automatically, so your current page stays exactly where it was — no Ctrl, no middle-click, no right-click menu. 🚀 WHY INSTALL IT • Never lose your place while browsing • Works where other extensions fail: buttons, JavaScript navigation, and single-page apps (React, Vue, Angular routers) • No need for Ctrl+Click on sites that break it • Hold a key when you want it just this once, instead of setting up a rule • When a site still slips through, point at the element and target it directly • New tabs open right next to your current tab, not dumped at the end • Built for research, shopping, price comparison, and job hunting ✅ WHAT IT HANDLES • Regular links (<a href>) • Buttons and clickable elements • JavaScript navigation (window.location, history.pushState, SPA routers) • Links hidden behind scripts or click handlers • Same-tab redirects, which it can cancel before the page reloads • Anything you target yourself with a CSS selector • Anything at all, for as long as you hold your chosen key combination ⌨️ NEW: HOLD A KEY, FORCE ANY CLICK (v1.3) Sometimes you don't want a rule. You just want this one click to open a new tab. • Choose a key combination and hold it. While it's down, anything you click opens in a new tab — links, buttons, cards, JavaScript navigation, all of it • Let go and every click behaves normally again • Works on any site, including ones your lists don't cover • Alt+Shift by default. Record your own in one step, and a live indicator confirms the browser is really seeing it • Choose whether these tabs open in front or quietly in the background • Switch it on and off from the toolbar, without opening settings • Off by default ⚙️ FEATURES • Run on every site, or only on the sites and pages you choose • Exclude list — run everywhere except the sites you pick, such as your bank or webmail. Exclude rules beat every other rule; the one thing that overrides them is a key you are deliberately holding • External links only — force links that leave the current site and leave same-site links alone • Wildcard patterns — *.example.com, example.com/path/* • Open the new tab next to the current one, or at the end of the tab strip • Focus the new tab or keep it in the background, with per-site overrides • Add the site you're on straight from the toolbar: one button that names the site, with a choice of the whole site or just the page you're on • Optional confirmation toast so you know a tab was opened • Tells you when your setup can't actually do anything — and fixes it in one click • Lightweight, with no background polling 🎯 TARGET ANY ELEMENT BY CSS SELECTOR For the stubborn sites — a button that isn't a link, a card that navigates by script, a custom component nothing else catches. • Whitelist a CSS selector and any click inside it opens in a new tab • Point and click instead of writing it yourself: the element picker highlights what you hover, suggests a selector, and shows how many elements it matches before you save (opens in Chrome's side panel, Chrome 116 or newer) • Choose "similar elements" to catch every card in a grid, or "this element only" for a single button • Scope each selector to one site, or apply it everywhere • Type selectors by hand too, with live match counting as you type • Works even on sites your allow list doesn't cover — and your exclude rules still win everywhere • Off by default. Nothing changes until you turn it on 🔄 SYNC ACROSS DEVICES • Turn on sync to share your settings, site list and selectors with every device signed in to the same browser profile • Off by default. Nothing leaves your device until you enable it • Already have a list on both machines? Choose to merge them, keep this device's list, or adopt the synced one. Your previous list is kept so you can restore it • Handles large lists — thousands of rules, split automatically to fit the browser's sync limits 💾 BACKUP AND RESTORE • Export all settings, rules and selectors to a JSON file • Import to replace or merge into your current setup • Move your configuration to another browser or another computer • Restore your previous list with one click 🔒 PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account required • No tracking, no ads, no analytics, no browsing history collected • Your settings stay on your device. Sync, when you enable it, uses your browser's own sync — it never touches a server of ours • The element picker runs only when you start it, reads only the page's structure to build a selector, and saves nothing but the selector you pick • Nothing is minified or obfuscated — unpack the extension and read every line ❓ FAQ Does it work on sites where Ctrl+Click does nothing? Yes. That's the main reason it exists. It intercepts the click itself, so it works on buttons and JavaScript navigation that Ctrl+Click can't reach. I only want it now and then, not all the time. Turn on Hold to force and leave everything else off. Nothing changes until you hold your combination, and it goes back to normal the moment you let go. Which keys can I use for that? Anything that includes at least one of Ctrl, Alt, Shift or Command. Alt+Shift is the default. You can add a normal key as well, such as Ctrl+Q. A bare letter isn't allowed, because it would fire while you type. A site still isn't working. Can I make it work? Usually yes. Open the picker, click the element that should open in a new tab, and save the selector it suggests. That covers buttons and custom components the automatic detection misses. Do I need to know CSS for that? N…