Link Opens a New Tab Instead of Switching to Existing One

Problem

You open a link from the Command Panel or sidebar, but instead of switching to the tab you already have open, a new tab appears, even though the site is already open in your browser.

This usually comes down to one of two things: SupaSidebar isn’t currently watching your tabs, or the URL it saved doesn’t match the URL your browser ended up on. Work through the checks below in order.

First, the quick checks

1. Update to the latest version

Switching to an existing tab relies on tab tracking and URL matching that were stabilized in version 0.19 and later. If you’re on an older build, the feature may not work reliably.

Open the SupaSidebar menu bar icon and choose Check for Updates, then install whatever it offers. The latest version is always recommended.

2. Check browser permissions

To find and switch to an open tab, SupaSidebar needs Automation permission for the browsers you use, and Accessibility permission to bring the right window forward. If either is missing, it falls back to opening a new tab.

• Open System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Automation and make sure SupaSidebar is enabled for your browser.
• Open System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Accessibility and make sure SupaSidebar is enabled.

If you granted a permission while SupaSidebar was running, quit and relaunch it. For stuck toggles or repeated permission prompts, see Reset Permissions.

Check this browser’s tab controls

Open Preferences → Privacy & Browsers and check that Live Tabs is enabled for the browser and Blocking is off. A dash means Live Tabs is not supported for that browser.

The Live Tabs, Recents, and None choices in Browser Activity control the sidebar display. Background tab syncing no longer has a separate toggle. Use the per-browser controls in Privacy & Browsers to choose which browsers contribute tabs.

Use Preferences → Permission Status to check the permissions needed by that browser. Then try finding the tab in the Command Panel’s Live Tabs scope.

Still opening a new tab? It’s probably a redirect

If tab switching is on and a new tab still opens for one specific site, the cause is usually a redirect.

SupaSidebar matches tabs by comparing the exact URL path. Some websites redirect after loading. For example, x.com redirects to x.com/home, and github.com redirects to github.com/dashboard. Since the path you opened (/) differs from the path the browser ended up on (/home), SupaSidebar doesn’t recognize them as the same tab.

Save the link with Smart Save

Use Smart Save (Cmd Shift S) while you’re on the page. This saves the actual URL the browser is showing (for example x.com/home instead of x.com), so tab reuse works correctly the next time you open it.

Use Live Tabs to switch directly

Instead of typing the URL, search for the tab by its title using the Live Tabs scope in the Command Panel:

1. Open the Command Panel (Cmd Ctrl K)
2. Type /tabs then press Return to enter the Live Tabs scope
3. Search by page title (for example “Home / X”)
4. Press Return to switch to that exact tab

This finds the open tab regardless of URL redirects.