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Ask HN: Why do new browser tabs not include the original tab's history?

6 points by svrocks ↗ HN
Why do tabbed browsers not copy over your browsing history when you click on a link to open in a new tab? I often open up a lot of links in new tabs and then am frustrated when I am unable to go back from the newly opened tab.

5 comments

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tobylane
I've only ever wanted to do this once, I just went back a few times in the original tab and opened a second tab then.
waqf
Chrome has almost this, it's called "Duplicate Tab". It does what you'd hope: gets you a new tab which is a copy of the old one including its history.

I agree, it would be better if you could combine that with "Open link in new tab", since that's how I always use it.

rileywatkins
Because of this "duplicate tab" functionality, you can click the link to open in the current tab, then middle-mouse click the back button to open the previous page in a new tab (complete with the full history). You end up with your new page and the previous page open in separate tabs with the same history. (Still, not as clean as it could be.)
pkamb
Requested and summarily executed by the Chrome team: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1639

The lack of this feature is WHY shitty experiences like the "digg bar" exist. When you open up a ton of tabs via middle click it's too hard to figure out how you got there, especially if you're returning hours later.