I'm in a bit of a predicament here. I've got a dual boot setup with Windows 11 and Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and both systems suddenly decided to start acting weird. Whenever I boot into Windows 11, my usual browser just goes wild, opening new windows on its own without me clicking anything. Then, on Ubuntu, I can open everything fine until I launch a browser. As soon as I do (whether it's Chrome, Brave, or Firefox), it starts generating endless tabs uncontrollably. The odd part is that if I create a standalone app for a website, it seems to work normally, but that's not a viable fix for me. I've checked for stuck keys, tried restarting both systems, switched browsers, and even disabled all extensions. I'm starting to wonder if something's wrong with my keyboard or if there's some hardware issue going on. If anyone has experienced this or has any ideas on what might be causing these endless tabs across both platforms, I'd really appreciate some help!
5 Answers
If your laptop has a touchscreen, try disabling it. Sometimes ghost touches can cause unexpected behavior in browsers.
You could try using a keyboard tester website on another device with your keyboard to see if it registers any phantom key presses.
You should test it using a Linux live USB. That way, you can see if the issue is related to your installed software or the hardware itself.
This sounds like it could be a malfunctioning key on your internal keyboard that’s triggering browser shortcuts. A broken key could be the culprit, causing it to act like it's being pressed.
That makes sense. I think it’s worth checking if I can customize or disable any keyboard shortcuts in Ubuntu.
Exactly! It might help you regain control over your browsing.
Have you tried using a different keyboard and mouse? Sometimes just swapping them out can resolve strange behavior with browsers. It might help narrow down if it’s a hardware issue.
Yeah, I did try that but the problem persists.
Nope, I don't have a touchscreen on my laptop.