Tab Notes going live in Firefox Labs - please share your feedback

[asafko]

Hi folks,

Tab notes feature will become available in Firefox Labs in Release 149, coming out in late March. Your feedback in Nightly greatly helped us improve it from the first working prototype – and you'll see some of the usability enhancements land in the next few weeks. Now that more folks would have access to the improved version of tab notes in Labs, we would appreciate your feedback to make tab notes more stable, useful, and visually polished.

What are tab notes?
A tab note is a simple way to write yourself a note about a web page. Notes can be reminders, to-do items, quick thoughts, longer excerpts — anything you want to capture, up to 1,000 characters. A note is indicated by a little sticky note icon and remains associated with the web page until you delete it. If you close a tab and later reopen it, the tab note will appear again. The notes are stored locally and even if you have Mozilla account with Sync on, they are currently not synced to the cloud or to your remote devices. 

Ready to share your feedback? 
Please give notes a try and tell us what works well and what can be improved. One thing we actively seek feedback on is notes persistence – ensuring that tab note remains associated with the web page even as a website modifies its URL when you navigate around the page, apply filters, etc. We're curious to know how often do you experience problems with persistence –  do notes disappear from pages unexpectedly or stick to pages where you don't expect to see them? Please share any issues you’ve encountered here or file a Bugzilla ticket in the Tabbed browser component.

Some of you have suggested changing the current model (tab notes are associated with URLs) and associating tab notes with tabs instead, so we're curious to gather more feedback on this at scale.  

Want to get into the nuts and bolts of tab notes implementation?
Check out this doc for known limitations around tab notes persistence.

If you have used tab notes in Nightly 
Please note that we will turn the feature off by default in Nightly and relaunch it in Nightly Firefox Labs on February 25th, so if you used notes in these channels, you would need to update to the latest Nightly, then navigate to Firefox Settings > Firefox Labs (about:preferences#experimental), and turn the Tab notes on. Once you do it, your notes will reappear intact. 

[PaulB223]

better than this feature in my opinion would be the ability to highlight text (natively) in a given webpage in firefox

[giovannibgr]

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Some of you have suggested changing the current model (tab notes are associated with URLs) and associating tab notes with tabs instead, so we're curious to gather more feedback on this at scale.  

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A few comments up there oppose to this choice, but I'd like to ditto on it. The real value of this feature is to be able to persist a note so that you can close a tab and when you reopen it, the note reappears.

Maybe what the users above want is an option whether the note is bound to domain-level or to full URL; there could even be an 'expert' option to bind it to a URL RegEx. This makes sense for different use cases, and it is implemented in one or two Note extensions out there. Keeping the note just on tab level, where the user has opened www.google.com and the next day goes to www.yahoo.com (a blast from the past) is pointless to me.

I see another issue though - from the Tab Notes description:

> Your notes are yours. They remain private and accessible only to you. Firefox stores them locally in your browser and doesn’t send them to Mozilla.

It would be really helpful if the notes were part of the profile info that is synchronized to the cloud so that we could see the same notes on all logged-in browsers. It should be possible to opt out, of course, as all the other syncable items (history, passwords), but for people who believe in Mozilla Firefox sync's privacy, it's a must have.

[Tog_]

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@@asafk wrote:

Some of you have suggested changing the current model (tab notes are associated with URLs) and associating tab notes with tabs instead, so we're curious to gather more feedback on this at scale.  

When the note is associated with the url and you have several tabs open then once the note disappears from view because you followed a link it would be easy to forget it was there and accidentally close that tab without being aware you have done so until some time later. Is there a facility to list available notes?

[Ryo-ryomac]

Initially, in my Firefox 149 environment, hovering over the "Tab Note" icon displayed to the right of the tab didn't show the registered content of the "Tab Note." Only the web page title was displayed.

I've found the cause.

Since around Firefox 131, I had disabled the display of web page image thumbnails in tabs by setting "browser.tabs.hoverPreview.enabled : false" in "about:config". 

Setting this to "true" allowed me to see the Tab Note.

Incidentally, in the initial state of a new Firefox 149 profile, this setting item itself is already unregistered.

Currently, the setting to disable the display of image thumbnails on a webpage is called 『browser.tabs.hoverPreview.showThumbnails』 .

If there were a mechanism to announce these setting changes (a mechanism to properly disable them), I think fewer people would be confused like me when updating from an older profile.

[milutin_miki]

It's nice to have the note icon on the tab next to the X (shows that there's a note connected to it), but I'd appreciate if the note is available to read in the pop-up that shows when hovering over the tab, since the note icon is so small and I'm already used to pop-ups having some useful info. And the note should be more easily editable, maybe by clicking on it, instead of only having to right click on the tab as an option, which already has a lot of options in it and slows work down.

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@asafko wrote:

Some of you have suggested changing the current model (tab notes are associated with URLs) and associating tab notes with tabs instead, so we're curious to gather more feedback on this at scale.  

Yes, please. As soon as I open one page signed in with multiple accounts (like Google Workspace or OneDrive), note is visible on all of them, while it's more likely it's only relevant to one of the tabs. Even if I'm on the same account, maybe just one tab is related to it, for example a specific email I've opened or a file/folder/form on a could storage platform.

[emvaized]

This feature is nice, but I would much rather just have an ability to rename tabs ‒ because it's basically the same, but your notes are always at a glance rather than hidden behind a "note" icon.

[akissz]

I don't know why you write it will be available in 149. I was using the notes feature years ago in labs. It might of been a different name (it was notes something) and malfunctioned a lot back then so I stopped using it. The new version is interesting. The delete and edit features are not good. The hover works but then nothing is there for editing, there should be something to allow edit from the hover. So you don't need to right click to go into the menu. Also on the hover display the width is oddly wide, it needs a auto width or something for short notes. It seems to be working well per the tab rule and not only the url rule, I agree making it stick to tab and not just url is best especially if its a super long weird url.

Adding to my reply. The add note button on the tab hover needs a option to have the button on the bottom or the top of the thumbnail. The default top is very annoying but might get used to it. Having the button on the bottom would be nice too.

[poetzscd]

Love Tab Notes! A usability note (pun intended?): it would be an easier workflow and more intuitive if I could simply drop into the text after hovering over the sticky note and edit the note there. I found the Update Note menu entry after right-clicking on the tab. It's just not immediately obvious.

[august0490]

Hi, the notes feature is fine, but the popup menu when you hover the tab title is really annoying. I have clicked "Add note" accidentally a lot of times. Please, allow us to disabled that menu item (it's not necessary if are able to use by context menu). 

Thanks

[benburrill]

Something I've always wanted is notes for bookmarks.  Since tab notes are associated with the URL, tab notes almost work as bookmark notes, but you need to actually open the bookmark to see the note.  I'd like to see the tab note when mousing over a bookmark that has a tab note associated with its URL.

[jorgjuar]

I'd like the notes to respect the format in which they're written. For example, if I add the following note:

Test 1
Test 2
Test 3

When I hover over the tab, the note is displayed as:

Test 1 Test 2 Test 3

Since I'm mostly using the notes as some sort of item list, displaying them as one line is not useful.

[giovannibgr]

+1 on this.

In general, at least some basic Markdown would be very nice to have.

[dannn404]

Tab Notes vs. Site Notes

Some of you have suggested changing the current model (tab notes are associated with URLs) and associating tab notes with tabs instead, so we're curious to gather more feedback on this at scale.

Basically: I agree with this. I'm not opposed to the idea of "site/URL notes", but frankly, I was excited to test this because I thought they were truly tab notes.

It's mentioned that this to help users keep track of what they're doing. Personally, that follows a tab/tab group/window, often across URLs. So a note for URL just isn't as useful to me. However, I can immediately think of things to use with "true" tab notes. For example, I open a log for work where the tab doesn't include the hostname and current user, and having that info on the tab would help on Day 1. Having that tied to the URL is actually counter-productive in this case.

Re. line breaks

I'll admit, it was one of the first things I tested. I could see enter being the best key for Save, and adding opt+enter as an alternate hotkey for newline would be nice (it's used in Google Sheets for example, within a cell).

Various Usability Notes

1. The behavior around viewing the note, and how that works with tab-hover needs work. I see how it's difficult so it doesn't interfere with currently expected behavior with tab-hover near the address bar. But I agree with the sentiment of others that ideally, new features should augment existing UI elements instead of being a new separate thing.
2. I think that, no matter where you settle with (1):
   • (I saw this is planned for 151) Clicking the note should get into edit mode. These are meant to be quick, especially if we're going with "true tab notes". Going through context menu trees is not quick.
     • On that topic: I don't think the Update Note menu item needs a sub-menu. One place to delete or edit, discussed more below.
   • In edit mode, if I clear out the text and press enter or click Save (though currently Save is disabled in this scenario) that effectively means "Delete the note".
   • A Delete button should exist in edit mode. Make it a small trash can, add a confirmation, I'm ambivalent about that - but I think I speak for many when I says that it's an expected action in an edit context.

I'll leave it there for now - happy to get on a call or similar to discuss further if you want.

Edit: For those frustrated about the addition of a feature they don't want. I imagine a Settings option to turn it off should be enough. I like Obsidian's approach of "Core Plugins" - one place to just turn on/off standalone features.

[diwigo]

I would like to know, if also a full text search for notes is planned? Or is it already possible and I didn't get it?

[gharp]

@diwigo searching across notes is one of the capabilities we will consider after the feature has been in Labs for a few months.

[alecpng]

I like this feature but right now it is a bit annoying to use. I think that the note should appear on hoover over the tab by default rather than the little notepad icon. That icon is a small target.

[croc02]

What would be great is to be able to search tab notes in bookmarks !

[RahimSoft]

This is a genuinely useful direction especially for people who do research-heavy browsing or manage multiple workflows at once. The local-first approach also makes sense from a privacy standpoint, but the lack of sync will probably limit real adoption for users who switch devices frequently.

On persistence, tying notes strictly to URLs feels fragile. Modern sites constantly mutate URLs (filters, pagination, tracking params), so unless you normalize or anchor notes at a page/entity level, users will lose trust fast. If a note disappears even once, most people won’t rely on it again. You might want to explore hybrid logic URL + page signature to improve stability.

The tab-vs-URL model debate is interesting. URL-based is better for long-term recall, but tab-based could be stronger for session workflows. Maybe both modes should exist instead of forcing one mental model.

Also, consider real-world usage: people won’t just write reminders they’ll paste snippets, links, even mini checklists. That opens up use cases similar to lightweight research capture. I’ve seen similar behavior when working with resources like premium nutrition supplements where users often want to quickly save context or notes tied to specific pages.

Biggest risk here isn’t functionality it’s trust. If notes don’t reliably “stick,” the feature dies no matter how polished the UI is.

[meridius]

This is what I'd expect:

• newlines displayed when entering/editing the note should also display on hover
• editing the note is very cumbersome - I'd expect at least one of the simpler paths
  • left click on hover to directly edit
  • right click on hover to directly edit
  • right click on tab to let me select "Update note" to directly edit (the "Update note" context item should not have a submenu)
• the "Update note" context item should always have an icon ... like many of other context items - there is just too much text and I have a hard time to find the action I'm looking for
  • it could maybe be configurable, which context menu actions should have an icon
• having some overview of the tab notes would be great
  • I'm using the notes when shopping online to note price per product, delivery date, etc. on different websites. Being able to see the summary of those would really help me to quickly decide, where should I buy the product.

[myspace]

A couple things after using the feature for a little bit (sorry if these have already been suggested)...

• It would be nice for tab notes to show up in Firefox View, maybe even a section with all tabs that have notes
• I'd like to apply a note to a tab group, but I don't think I can do that. Or I don't know how to. 

Thanks!

[Name1]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but there's a bug where if you position your cursor between the tab and tab preview, the tab preview flashes quickly.

[yoyo]

Are you talking about the bug that I recorded on this video/gif?

 

[alozta1]

A few ideas from my side:

• Notes can be marked with a color in tab for better visiblity.
• Notes can be directly updated once notes popup is clicked. Currently I can do it with three clicks via right click tab -> update note -> edit note.
• Notes can be visible on hover tab instead of on hover small note icon. Or at least can be optional.
• Notes can be synced between devices. So when you pick a tab from "tabs from other devices" you can retrieve whole context instead of url. Actually tab grouping also lacks of this feature, it would be great if tabs are synced with their tab group context.
• Notes can be pinned so they are always visible as long as you are in that tab.
• Notes from closed tabs can be accessed for N more days in sidebar, then auto-deleted. It is likely notes contain crucial information which need to be looked up again after tab is closed. Currently only possible if you re-open closed tab.

Overall, it's a great feature to store context for whatever you are doing and great replacement of text editor. Firefox just needs to assure users it's a reliable to use otherwise many people will not use in my opinion.

[S_Tx]

I just discovered Tab Notes, and the first thing I'm thinking about is: where do I find my notes so I can easily jump back to a tab based on a note I wrote? Is it already available, and I didn't find it?

[kyjweber]

When directions for new features say "Open Settings" Firefox should explain that "Preferences" are Settings. Took me forever to figure that out. No help from HELP

[completyouprofi]

How do I remove or edit notes from tabs? I tried clicking on the notes, but I can't do anything with them. Do I have to close the tab to remove it? If yes, then I would say it would be very useful if I could edit/remove them easily.

[yoyo]

Right click on the tab > Update Note > Edit Note or Delete Note

See the attached screenshot for a visual help.

 

[secondim]

I didn't see this mentioned anywhere, I appreciate the Notes being URL specific, but wouldn't it make sense to also save them in bookmarks in an additional field, making it searchable the same way as bookmarks? Also offering an Option for "save note along the bookmark" when bookmarking?

[Mohammed0106]

There is a bug in this feature: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2030552 

[sara]

Thanks for this greatly missed feature!!!
I love it. When making comparisons between many sites and I already found a favorite it is great to make a quick note. I love it even more when the note disappears by switching to another url - it is exactly how it should be.
Maybe some time later it will be possible to give a color to a specific tab which is independent of the urls its hosting... 😉

[yoyo]

Hi,

There is a confusion between tab notes (visible on a given tab, so that even if we click on a link, we still have access to the notes) and url notes (visible on every tab that's loaded to a given URI). What is implemented right now is URI notes, not tab notes.

Both of the features would be useful. However, I'm not sure if we need that implemented in Firefox, I believe some extensions already exist and make a better job.

Indeed, there are some big problems: 

• how can we see all written notes, without going to the specific url ? We should be able to do this, because the purpose of notes is that they're searchable even after closing a tab/an URL. An about:notes browser page could solve that issue.

• That raises a big privacy/safety issue at the same time: one could save some sensitive information into a note, and then forget about the note. There should be some mechanisms of self-destruction after some time, encryption for users who have a master password (for the password manager), and above all a dashboard to manage all of the notes!

All of that can and is already managed by good quality working extensions. Again, I'm not sure if that's a feature we need here in Firefox. The good thing though, is that it's better implemented in the UI (access to the tab, etc.). However, as it is for now, is no satisfying option...

Now some good feedback as well: the preview of the note when hovering the tab with the mouse is really useful. Maybe a preview could also be displayed under the tab title, as the "Playing audio" or "Playing video" undertitles that already exist.

[tvok]

1) When mousing over and seeing the note summary, you should be able to either a) select and copy text, or b) have one of those "copy all" buttons. Right now it's tedious to copy text out because you have to right click, go to the Update menu item, move to the edit item, and then finally you can copy text.

2) Right now to edit a note you have to go to the Update menu item, move to the edit item. It'd be better if there was a quicker path, like an "edit" option in the first right click menu or perhaps one of those pencil icons. OR, a keystroke shortcut. 

3) It's VERY easy to accidentally delete a note when trying to edit it. There should be some separation between the two functions. Ideas: a) put Edit and Delete in different levels of the right-click menu. b) Ask for confirmation when deleting. c) make deleting a long-click.

4) Because it's VERY easy to accidentally delete a note when trying to edit it, there should be a way to recover/undelete notes (at least the most recent note)

[Scot1]

I wanted to edit a Tab-note: Tryed dubble klicking and rightklick on the note after seeing it through hovering. I only found out that the editing and deletion is done via richtklick on the tab and then getting the option in the long menu. I would find it better if there is judt a small pencil at the end of the note i can klick or just double klicking the note changes in the editing. And in the edit mode the pencil changes to a bin to delete the note. Finding the "update note"-option in the right klick menu of the tab isn't intuitive in my experience.

Also appliing the same note to multiple tabs at the same time, when highlighting them with shift, would be great.

Also i have the problem that multiple tabs where the difference of the domain ist after the 5th slash (example.com/same/same/same/same/different) automaticaly get the same note, but i wanted to go through them and mark specific ones that had something special. 

Besides that they work great and I think are a good addition to the browser.

[Xiuxiueig]

Hi,

Nice feature!! Can you add it to the mobile version? 

[akavel]

Hello! I enabled the Tab Notes when I saw somewhere that they are a new feature, because I suspected they might be useful to me, especially being a user who opens tons of tabs usually.

Just today I found a need to use them for the first time, and I immediately love that I can do that! This first use of mine is during some shopping of used items - I marked some tabs with first impressions and a summary why a this and that item at first glance looks potentially attractive to me compared to the others. I am happy that the tabs are marked with this "note" icon, so I can see them among others.

One feature I am now thinking I could like, is if there was a way to somehow see some kind of a "focused view" only showing the notes and way to review again the particular tabs easily, and/or maybe extract them to a separate document, or something. Very vague, sorry. What I'm trying to say is, that having marked a few items with a note, I'd like now to be able to easily compare just those items that I marked with their notes clearly visible, and some at least partial access to the specific tabs they are on (screenshot? easy jumping? both? something more/else?). I'm not sure as to specifics how it could work best for me, so just saying and sharing.

Thank you for creating this extension!

(Also, I just took a while to find this thread and make an account here specifically to share that I found this useful and to say thank you! The note about this new idea was just an extra that came to my mind while I was in progress of searching your forum, but please know that even without this extra at all it is just already useful to me, and I am sincerely grateful to you dear creators for it!)

[testfac]

I did not read the whole 'notes' information, but I found till now is very nice.
I had a tab open (besides others), saved it as a bookmark. I activated the notes function, added a short note. After a while I accidentaly closed the tab. While the history is too bulky, I opened the bookmark for that closed tab again, and was happy to see that the note was there also. This is a thing that I always needed. Now I'm gonna close Firefox 149.0.2 and open again to check if it persists, hopefully.

[eventolunar]

This feature is very practical and convenient! I think it would be even more useful if we could edit the note's content directly by clicking on the pop-up window.

[yuzhang]

The feedback on notes persistence is crucial for improving user experience. It's important that notes stay connected to the right pages, and addressing issues with disappearing or misplaced notes can enhance functionality. If you're looking for more innovative tools to manage your online notes effectively, check out  brush jjaemu  for a seamless note-taking experience!

[pljones]

OK, pages and pages of replies and I don't see the very first thing I noticed.

If I've got a web page open and want to write a note on it, what do I want to click?  Do I want to have to find the right part of the container for the web page that I'm going to write about, is that what I instinctively think when I write about a web page?  No.  I want to click the web page, as it's a note about the web page.

So why doesn't this appear on right-click?  I mean, Firefox Relay is there _all the time_ even when it's pointless.

[smallfrank]

There should be an option to have the note pop up when you try to close the tab. For example "Note------ Are you sure you want to close this tab?" That way us ADHDers can use notes to remind us what we need to do in a certain tab and prevent us from closing prematurely. This would be SOOOO useful please.