Firefox Android: Add option to close current tab when hitting "Back" and returning to homepage

[kym_hill]

On the Android App, hitting the "back" button will eventually return you to the homepage. However, it leaves the current tab open.  It would be nice if there was an option to have the current tab close when "Back" returns you to the homepage.  I find that 90% of the time I dont want the tab anymore and have to manually close it.   This could be implemented as checkbox option in the "Customise Homepage" settings.

Another option would be to simply reuse the last tab when opening something from the homepage screen.

Either option would solve the tab accumulation problem.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[akshay]

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@kym_hill wrote:

Another option would be to simply reuse the last tab when opening something from the homepage screen.

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Isn't this already available in homepage settings? (opening screen set to last tab).

[kym_hill]

(Opening screen set to last Tab) doesn't open new urls in the last Tab.
It is the Tab that is opend when you start the App.
I already have that option set.

Thanks for the comment

[kym_hill]

@akshaywrote:

Isn't this already available in homepage settings? (opening screen set to last tab).

Unfortunatly No.
The "opening screen set to last Tab" option, uses the last Tab as the opening screen when you start the browser.   It doesn't reuse the last Tab when you open new pages. ☹️

[renyuneyun]

Is this same as https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/on-android-the-back-button-should-close-the-tab/idi-p/3542?

(I'd love too see this as well.)

[Kerim]

I agree.

[mihaid85]

Back button behavior on Android – please add option to close tab

Hi Mozilla team,

I love Firefox, but the behavior of the Android version feels unintuitive. When I press the back button, I expect the current tab to close if there's no browsing history — like in Chrome, Brave, or other mobile browsers.

Instead, Firefox either stays on the page or goes to the start screen, which adds extra steps and slows down usage. It would be great to have a setting like: “Close tab when pressing back with no page history.”

This would make Firefox much more efficient and mobile-friendly. Please consider adding this option.

Thanks for your work!

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[jeffdfhgk]

It worked like this by default for a short while, then went back to leaving the tabs open on the latest update (141.0). I enjoyed it while it lasted.

[Myriaderoc]

I also want the behavior the OP is requesting. Looks like it became the default in Firefox Android 140 and probably 139. I stopped having to manually close tabs that weren't closed by hitting back. Great!

However, 141 has reverted the change. Now I have orphan tabs clogging up my tabs list. When I hit back all the way through the history stack back to the home screen, then I do not want that tab sticking around on the last visited website!

[Biermeester]

FF used to close the last tab by default a long time ago, and I was really annoyed when they changed that behavior on Android. Then, recently I noticed the old behavior was back and I was sooo happy. Just as annoyed I am now, that it's gone again.

People, please just make it a setting we can change!

[Jon]

(Note: similar ideas have been merged into this thread)