Set default browser window

Question

I have a multi monitor set up on a MacBook.

My typical setup is:

Monitor 1:

• Slack
• Browser window open to email

Monitor 2:

• IDE
• Terminal

Monitor 3:

• Browser

Now thing is - when I run commands in terminal or click links in the IDE that will open a browser tab, I want them to open in my Monitor 3 browser instance. However they usually open in my Monitor 1 instance.

Also, ideally,when I open new tabs in my Monitor 1 brower instance, I would like those to open in the other browser instance, though I'd understand if that's not possible.

Is it possible to tell either my browser or OS which window is my 'main' one?

Answer 1

New tabs will, in theory, open in the 'last window opened'.. though in practise if you constantly use the same setup over & over, through reboots with 'restore apps after reboot' etc, then you'll find it will settle to one window, repeatably, but not really one you can dictate.
I've never figured out a way to 'enforce' this over time.
It picks the one it likes & sticks to it.
New, empty, windows will be used once, but will revert to the 'favourite' once a tab exists.

Try setting up just one window in each monitor, add a tab or two so they're not empty, see which wants to be the parent process for new tabs, & move it accordingly. Try a relaunch or reboot to make sure it sticks.