Mozilla appears to have closed a workflow gap that’s annoyed Windows users for years: external links opening in a Firefox window on a different virtual desktop, pulling you out of your current workspace. The fix—reported as part of the recent rapid-release updates—changes the browser’s launch behavior on Windows so that links opened by other apps will use a Firefox window on the current virtual desktop (or open a new one there) instead of switching you to whatever Firefox window happened to be most recently used. This change is small on its surface but meaningful for anyone who uses Windows’ built‑in virtual desktops to keep tasks separated and focused.
Virtual desktops are now a standard productivity tool in Windows and nearly every modern desktop environment. They let users partition work into separate workspaces (e.g., "email and chat", "coding", "research"), and rely on predictable window focus and launch behaviors. For years, Firefox sometimes violated that expectation: clicking a link in another application could cause Windows to switch desktops so the URL would open in a Firefox window located on a different workspace. The behavior made quick link-clicking disruptive and forced users to jump between desktops to continue their work. Community reports and bug reports trace complaints at least as far back as the Firefox 58 era, and many follow-up threads and bug-tracker entries show this was a recurring cross‑platform pain point for power users. (connect.mozilla.org)
Mozilla’s release cadence has produced frequent desktop updates over the past year, and the project has been actively landing fixes that target small UX regressions as well as security and performance improvements. Community-tracking pages and recent release threads show a steady stream of incremental quality-of-life fixes in the 140–142 timeframe, which is the same general release window where reporters say the virtual-desktop behavior was corrected.
Background / Overview
Virtual desktops are now a standard productivity tool in Windows and nearly every modern desktop environment. They let users partition work into separate workspaces (e.g., "email and chat", "coding", "research"), and rely on predictable window focus and launch behaviors. For years, Firefox sometimes violated that expectation: clicking a link in another application could cause Windows to switch desktops so the URL would open in a Firefox window located on a different workspace. The behavior made quick link-clicking disruptive and forced users to jump between desktops to continue their work. Community reports and bug reports trace complaints at least as far back as the Firefox 58 era, and many follow-up threads and bug-tracker entries show this was a recurring cross‑platform pain point for power users. (connect.mozilla.org)Mozilla’s release cadence has produced frequent desktop updates over the past year, and the project has been actively landing fixes that target small UX regressions as well as security and performance improvements. Community-tracking pages and recent release threads show a steady stream of incremental quality-of-life fixes in the 140–142 timeframe, which is the same general release window where reporters say the virtual-desktop behavior was corrected.
What changed — the reported fix in plain terms
- Previously: Clicking a link from another application could cause Windows to switch to a different virtual desktop where an existing Firefox window lived; the link would open there rather than in a window on the desktop you were using.
- Now (reported): When a link is opened from another app on Windows, Firefox will prefer a window on the current virtual desktop, or create a new window on that desktop if no Firefox window exists there. This prevents being yanked out of your current workspace.
Why this was hard: Windows APIs, focus rules and privacy/design intent
Fixing this behavior is not just a “move one line of code” job. The technical constraints that made the problem stubborn include:- Windows intentionally limits applications’ control over virtual desktop state. Microsoft’s design favors giving users, not programs, the power to manage desktops; programs are not meant to enumerate or manipulate desktop assignments freely. That reduces the signal available to applications about which desktop the user expects them to use. Several design discussions across desktop ecosystems make the same point: compositors and OS window managers are the canonical owners of workspace state, and exposing that information to every app can create user‑intent ambiguity. (connect.mozilla.org)
- Activation and focus rules are constrained. On Windows, the OS enforces foreground activation policies (SetForegroundWindow and related APIs) to prevent apps from stealing focus. When an external app asks the default browser to open a URL, the browser usually chooses an existing window and asks the OS to activate it. If that window lives on a different desktop, Windows will switch to that desktop—unless the browser implements logic to avoid activation and instead create or choose a window that lives on the visible desktop. That selection logic has to be careful to obey Windows’ security and UX rules, or else users and Microsoft policy will treat it as problematic behavior.
- Multiple profiles, multiple instances and cross-profile rules. On desktop Firefox, multiple profiles or different Firefox instances running with no-remote flags complicate which process should handle an incoming open-url request. Historically, the “first launched” instance or the last-used window was sometimes chosen unpredictably. Solving the virtual desktop case requires making consistent decisions across those configurations. Bug reports and discussion threads document many permutations of this problem. (discuss.kde.org)
Evidence and verification: what’s confirmed and what remains unverified
- Confirmed: Multiple independent reports describe the old problem, dating back years, and identify it as a cross‑platform/user‑intent difficulty, with formal bug reports filed in Mozilla’s trackers and many community threads asking for a fix. The Bugzilla history includes related tickets documenting how Firefox chose a target window for external links and the undesired focus behavior.
- Confirmed (journalism): At least one Windows-focused outlet documented the change and attributed the behavioral fix to a specific Firefox build in the 140–144 series. That article also lists several other recent Firefox adjustments (downloads handling for private browsing, Google Lens integration, resilience after Windows upgrades).
- Not fully verified: I could not find a direct, unambiguous, single-line statement in Mozilla’s public release notes or the official “Firefox Releases” page explicitly matching the exact phrasing quoted in press coverage (the wording that “On Windows, when opening a link from another application, Firefox will only use a window on the current virtual desktop, or open a new window if needed.”). Mozilla’s central release pages and MDN show the release cadence and many fixes, but the specific sentence above appears in reporting rather than (so far) in the primary release text I could locate. Readers should treat the version number attribution with cautious confidence and check the Firefox “About” page or official release notes in their environment for the explicit uplift details before relying on the version number for rollout decisions. (developer.mozilla.org, takios.de, support.mozilla.org, bugzilla.mozilla.org, gitlab.freedesktop.org, windowsreport.com, windowsreport.com, mozilla.org)
Quick checklist for readers who want to test or adopt the change
- Confirm the Firefox build on a test machine via Help > About Firefox; ensure you are on the channel (Stable/Beta/ESR) you intend to use.
- Reproduce the old behavior in a controlled setup (two virtual desktops, Firefox window on Desktop A, open a link from app on Desktop B) to confirm whether your environment still switches desktops.
- If the new behavior is present in your test build, run a short pilot with standard workflows (mail client links, document links, chat app links) to validate there are no regressions.
- If you still see unwanted switching, use the about:config workarounds cautiously and report your findings to Mozilla’s bug tracker with reproducible steps. Community threads include helpful tactical settings to try while fixes mature. (reddit.com)
Mozilla’s rapid-release process means the browser receives many small but impactful fixes quickly. This virtual desktop behavior change—if you see it in your installed build—will make virtual‑desktop workflows feel much more natural and less interruptive. Users and administrators should validate exact builds and test their workflows, and keep an eye on Bugzilla/release notes for formal confirmation and any follow‑up patches. (bugzilla.mozilla.org)
Source: Windows Report Firefox Fixes an 8-Year-Old Windows Bug That Broke Virtual Desktop Use
