Hacker News New Tab
A Chrome extension that automatically opens all external content links on Hacker News in new tabs, making it easier to browse multiple articles without losing your place in the discussion.
Why it's notable
Unlike the dozens of other extensions that already exist for this purpose, this version has been recently created and is updated for Chrome Manifest v3
What it does
This extension modifies the behavior of links on Hacker News (news.ycombinator.com) by:
- Opening all external content links in new tabs
- Preserving Hacker News navigation links (like comments, replies, votes) in the same tab
- Adding
rel="noopener noreferrer"for security
The extension specifically excludes internal HN links such as:
- Reply links
- Vote buttons
- Login/logout pages
- User profile links
Installation
Method 1: Load as Unpacked Extension (Developer Mode)
-
Download the extension
- Get the zip or the tar.gz from the Release page and decompress the folder. These archives are just the files in this repo, you could also
git cloneif you like.
- Get the zip or the tar.gz from the Release page and decompress the folder. These archives are just the files in this repo, you could also
-
Enable Developer Mode in Chrome:
- Open Chrome and navigate to
chrome://extensions/ - Toggle the "Developer mode" switch in the top right corner
- Open Chrome and navigate to
-
Load the Extension:
- Click the "Load unpacked" button
- Navigate to and select the folder containing this extension
- The extension will appear in your extensions list
-
Verify Installation:
- Visit Hacker News
- Click on any article link - it should open in a new tab
- Comment links should still open in the same tab
Usage
Once installed, the extension works automatically on all Hacker News pages. No configuration is needed.
Files
manifest.json- Extension configuration and permissionscontent.js- Main script that modifies link behavior
Permissions
This extension requires no special permissions and only runs on Hacker News pages.