On Windows 11, when I open links to website from cursor, it opens them in new window. Every other application opens links in new tab. Generally it seems to spawn new process of Firefox and opens links there.
On Linux cursor opens the same link in the new tab.
Steps to Reproduce
With Firefox and Windows 11, open link to PR from a popup when hovering over line of code. Opens new Firefox window.
Expected Behavior
Should open new tab just like every other application.
Hey, thanks for the report. This isn’t actually a Cursor bug, it’s a known Firefox issue on Windows. Cursor, like any Electron app such as VS Code and Discord, delegates opening links to the OS, and Windows then passes the URL to Firefox.
As a workaround, you can also try explicitly setting the browser in Cursor settings: Settings > search workbench.externalBrowser > set it to firefox or the full path to the executable. This uses a different link opening mechanism and may bypass the issue even on an older Firefox version.
I just updated to Firefox 148.0.2 and the issue is still here. On the other hand other apps like Discord work correctly - links open in new tabs. I feel the issue is limited to Cursor.
Hmm, it’s a bummer that updating Firefox didn’t help. The Discord example is a good clue, so it’s probably not only a Firefox issue.
A couple of quick questions to help debug:
Did you try the workaround using the workbench.externalBrowser setting? Open Settings with Ctrl+,, search for workbench.externalBrowser, and set it to firefox or the full path to the exe, like C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe. This switches how links get opened and can fix the issue.
Can you check if the same thing happens in regular VS Code? If links open fine in tabs there, it’s likely Cursor-specific. If VS Code also opens a new window, then it’s probably an Electron or VS Code bug.
Let me know how it goes, that’ll help figure out which side the problem is on.