How to Customize Your New Tab Page

You can customize your new tab page in every major browser without installing anything. Chrome, Edge and Firefox all put a small customization button right on the page, and each lets you change the background, choose which shortcuts appear and hide the extras you don't want. This guide covers the options in each browser, then what to do when you want a custom new tab page that goes further.

Customize the new tab page in Chrome

Chrome's options are in the Customize Chrome side panel. You need to be signed in to a Google Account with Google as your default search engine to see it.

1. 1
   Open a new tab and click Customize Chrome in the lower-right corner.
2. 2
   Under Appearance, choose Change theme to pick a background from the gallery, or Upload an image to use your own. Turn on Refresh daily inside a collection for a new background every day.
3. 3
   Pick a browser color, and choose Light, Dark or Device mode.
4. 4
   Under Shortcuts, choose My shortcuts to curate the tiles yourself, or Most visited sites to let Chrome fill them. Turn off Show shortcuts to hide them.
5. 5
   Under Cards, switch off any cards you don't want to see.

To edit a tile, point at it, click the three-dot More button and choose Edit shortcut or Remove. To undo everything, click Reset to Default Chrome at the bottom of the panel. The full walkthrough, including startup and home page settings, is in How to change the new tab page in Chrome.

Customize the new tab page in Edge

Edge has more layout options than Chrome, mostly to control how much of the Microsoft news feed you see.

1. 1
   Open a new tab and click the gear icon in the upper-right corner to open Page settings.
2. 2
   Choose a layout. Focused keeps things minimal, Inspirational adds a daily background image, and Custom lets you set each option yourself.
3. 3
   In Custom, turn the background on or off, show or hide quick links, and switch the content feed off or down to headings only.

If your new tab says Ready when you are with a Type a link or ask anything box, Edge is showing its Copilot new tab page instead of the news layout. The gear icon still opens the page settings, and Settings › Start, home, and new tab page › Copilot new tab page switches it off.

The labels move around between Edge versions (the feed switch has been called "Show feed" and "Show content"), so look for the closest match. More detail is in How to change the new tab page in Microsoft Edge.

Customize the new tab page in Firefox

Firefox's new tab page is called Firefox Home, and it has a customization panel of its own.

1. 1
   Open a new tab and click the pencil button in the bottom-right corner of the page.
2. 2
   Turn sections on or off: shortcuts, recommended stories, widgets such as clocks, a focus timer and a checklist, weather and sponsored items (available sections depend on your version and region).
3. 3
   Pick a wallpaper from the built-in collections, or upload your own image.
4. 4
   To pin a site in a shortcut slot, point at the tile, click its menu and choose Pin. Use Edit to change the address or title.

The same switches, plus the option to show a blank page instead, are in Settings › Home. See How to change the new tab page in Firefox.

What the built-in options can't do

Built-in customization is a good start, but it stops at the same places in every browser:

• A small number of shortcuts. You get one short row or grid of tiles. There's no way to add folders or a second page.
• No groups. Work sites, home sites and side projects all share the same handful of tiles.
• No custom address. None of the three browsers has a setting to open a website of your choice on every new tab. Here's what works instead.
• Search comes first. The page is built around the search box. Widgets like a clock, to-do list or notes aren't part of it.
• Every browser is different. Your Chrome tiles don't appear in Firefox, and Edge's settings don't carry over to Chrome.

A custom new tab page with an extension

When you want a custom new tab page rather than a tweaked one, install a new tab extension. One extension can replace the new tab page completely, and the browser will ask you to confirm the change the first time.

Speed Dial 2 is built for people whose new tab is a launchpad for the sites they use every day:

• Visual bookmarks in groups. Add as many sites as you like and sort them into groups such as Work, Personal and Projects.
• Your layout. Choose from 3 to 20 columns, the spacing, rounded corners, titles and the order of tiles.
• Your look. Light, dark or automatic themes, your own colors and a choice of backgrounds.
• Search that understands you. Press / and type "saved this week" or a site you half remember.
• Widgets. A clock with greeting, tasks and notes next to your bookmarks, plus Focus Mode to block distracting sites.
• Same page everywhere. It works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Brave. With Speed Dial 2 Pro ($12 a year) your bookmarks and settings sync between them, with daily backups, weather and calendar widgets, and many more backgrounds and fonts.

Customize far beyond the defaults

Visual bookmarks in groups, your layout, your colors and handy widgets on every new tab. Free for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Brave.

Get Speed Dial 2  –  it's free

Pro Tip: Already have a page of shortcuts you like? Speed Dial 2's first-run setup suggests your most-visited sites to add, so you don't start from an empty page.