Open multiple links in Chrome at once as new tabs

Question

I'm trying to open multiple links at once in Google Chrome in new tabs but it fails.

Problems:

Blocked by popup
Open in new windows instead of tab after the user allowed the popup

With this, I can open multiple links at once in Firefox:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html ng-app="plunker">

<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>AngularJS Plunker</title>
    <script>document.write('<base href="' + document.location + '" >');</script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
    <script data-require="angular.js@1.2.x" src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.17/angular.min.js" data-semver="1.2.17"></script>
    <script src="app.js"></script>
</head>

<body ng-controller="MainCtrl">
    <button ng-click="openLinks()">Open</button>
</body>

</html>

Also, I came across someone who found a workaround.

I tried using setInterval to try to open the links individually but it didn't work.

This seems a little iffy, you're trying to bypass popup blocks even though they were made for this specific reason, to block popups... :L — , Jun 23 '14 at 11:00
I'm not doing some fishy stuff.. look at the extension, how the developer bypassed it? hmm — user3522457, Jun 23 '14 at 14:13
Do you want to do that [independently of browser settings](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4907843/open-a-url-in-a-new-tab-using-javascript)? I don't think that that's possible. — Patrick Collins, Jun 26 '14 at 00:53

score 44 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 26 '14 at 16:37

44

You can do this in vanilla JavaScript:

<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function open_win() {
    window.open("http://www.java2s.com/")
    window.open("http://www.java2s.com/")
}
</script>
</head>

<body>
<form>
<input type=button value="Open Windows" onclick="open_win()">
</form>
</body>

</html>

Here is a more Chrome-specific implementation (if popup blockers are giving you difficulty):

var linkArray = []; // your links
for (var i = 0; i < linkArray.length; i++) {
    // will open each link in the current window
    chrome.tabs.create({
        url: linkArray[i]
    });
}

Here is some documentation: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/tabs

answered Jun 26 '14 at 16:37

Andrew

995
6
10

"vanilla JavaScript" works nicely in your example. but a page with multiple open_win functions (and corresponding buttons) does not open multiple tabs for each button: – Arthur Nov 17 '15 at 19:05
18

the "vanilla JavaScript" is no longer working in chrome (January 2018), it's opening a single tab, not two.. – Kaddath Jan 08 '18 at 13:00
5

As of July 2018 I believe the best solution is something like this: `window.open("https://www.ecosia.org", "_new"); window.open("https://www.duckduckgo.com", "secondWindow");` The trick is to make sure that the second window has a name other than `_new` otherwise the browser will try to stick the link into the same window overriding the first `window.open`. I have tried this in Chrome and IE and it works for me. – tfantina Jul 13 '18 at 14:39
2

As of Nov 2019, tfantina's code only opens one tab on mobile Safari (iOS 13.2). Works fine on Mac Safari (13.0.3) though. – Ethan Allen Nov 17 '19 at 02:53
dude, your second solution was awesome. – Revisto May 20 '21 at 15:59

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:31

7

The reason that the browser extension can do it is because Chrome extensions have access to a special Chrome API, which lets you use:

chrome.windows.create({tabid: n})

where createData has a tabid value greater than any current tab (and you can find the greatest current tabid using chrome.windows.getAll()).

However, in terms of doing it on your page (or anywhere that's not a Chrome extension), that's not possible, since whether or not a new window opens in a new tab is determined entirely by the user's settings.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:31

Community

1
1

answered Jun 26 '14 at 00:58

Patrick Collins

10,306
5
30
69

2

This is correct. Browser extensions can do a lot more than a webpage can. Despite both using javascript, they are very, very different things. – Maverick Jun 26 '14 at 01:10

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 29 '20 at 17:46

3

The best way to open multiple tabs or windows is by using setTimeout() of 500ms.

window.open("https://facebook.com", "one", windowFeatures);
setTimeout(function(){
  window.open("https://facebook.com", "two", windowFeatures);
}, 500);

edited Jan 29 '20 at 17:46

Flimm

136,138
45
251
267

answered Sep 30 '19 at 08:36

Muhammad Qamar

39
3

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 23 '22 at 06:02

3

Worth mentioning that you need to actually have popups allowed in your browser settings. Don't rely on browser alert asking you if you want to allow the popup to open.

answered Feb 23 '22 at 06:02

Juraj Bublinec

410
4
11

1

Save the day, thank you ! – fabienbranchel Jul 15 '22 at 12:14

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 10 '18 at 08:40

The following code will open multiple popUp on the button click.

<html>
<head>
<title></title>
<script type="text/javascript">
  function open_win() {
 window.open("url","windowName","windowFeatures")
 window.open("url","DifferentWindowName","windowFeatures")// different name for each popup
}
</script>
</head>

<body>
<form>
<input type=button value="Open Windows" onclick="open_win()">
</form>
</body>

you need to make sure that each window name is different, otherwise the last popup will overwrite it's previous popup. As a result you will end up with a single popup.

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 16 '19 at 14:44

1

User will have to allow popups but I ended up doing this:

function openMultipleTabs(urlsArray){

    urlsArray.forEach(function(url){
        let link     = document.createElement('a');
        link.href    = url;
        link.target  = '_blank';
        link.click();
    });

}

answered Sep 16 '19 at 14:44

Ale W

29
6

4

This only opens it in one tab for me. – Flimm Jan 29 '20 at 17:43

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 05 '21 at 09:59

I have a simple solution playing with setTimeout, check below

function openMultipleTabs(urlsArray: string[]) {
  urlsArray.forEach((url: string, key: number) => {
    if (key === 0) {
      window.open(url, `_blank_first_${key.toString()}`);
    } else {
      setTimeout(function () {
        console.log("resolved", key);
        window.open(url, `_blank_${key.toString()}`);
      }, 1500 * key);
    }
  });
}

score -1 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 26 '14 at 01:02

Looks like extension uses below code to open those tabs.

function openTab(urls, delay, window_id, tab_position, close_time) {
    var obj = {
            windowId: window_id,
            url: urls.shift().url,
            selected: false
    }

    if(tab_position != null) {
        obj.index = tab_position
        tab_position++;
    }

    chrome.tabs.create(obj, function(tab) {
        if(close_time > 0) {
            window.setTimeout(function() {
                chrome.tabs.remove(tab.id);
            }, close_time*1000);
        }
    });

    if(urls.length > 0) {
        window.setTimeout(function() {openTab(urls, delay, window_id, tab_position, close_time)}, delay*1000);
    }

}

If you want to take a look at the code of the extension for reference you will find the extensions in (for Windows) C:\Documents and Settings\*UserName*\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions

While it may be interesting to look at the code of a browser extension, this code WILL NOT WORK on a website. — Maverick, Jun 26 '14 at 01:08
`chrome.tabs.create` is part of the Chrome API that I discussed in my answer -- it's not going to work on a webpage. — Patrick Collins, Jun 26 '14 at 02:20
I know it won't work in a webpage since it uses chrome api. That was for answering his question about how extension developer achieved it. — nyzm, Jun 26 '14 at 02:28

score -1 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 29 '20 at 08:49

-1

Since modern browsers (and even old ones with blockers), will absolutely not allow this (one user action, one new tab). My solution was:

    openInfoLinks = () => {
        const urlsArray = [
            `https://...`,
            `https://...`,
            `https://...`,
        ]
        window.open(
            urlsArray[this.linkCounter],
            `_blank_${someIdentifier}_${this.linkCounter}`
        );
        this.linkCounter++;
        setTimeout(() => {
            this.linkCounter = 0;
        }, 500);
    }

The user can open the links in quick succession with ctrl+click-ing the button N times.

answered Sep 29 '20 at 08:49

Don Kartacs

396
3
8

Could you give a test reference where such a solution works ? Tnx in advance – Serge May 02 '21 at 03:38
sure, https://codesandbox.io/s/young-architecture-7nzot?file=/src/App.js – Don Kartacs May 05 '21 at 07:15

Open multiple links in Chrome at once as new tabs

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