How to Change the New Tab Page in Firefox

Changing the new tab page in Firefox takes two places: the customize panel on the page itself, and the Home section of Firefox settings. Between them you can decide which shortcuts appear, hide stories and sponsored tiles, pick a wallpaper, or switch to a blank page. What you can't do is type in a custom URL for new tabs. This guide covers all of it, including the about:config preferences people search for.

Customize the Firefox new tab page

1. 1
   Open a new tab with Ctrl+T (Cmd+T on a Mac).
2. 2
   Click the pencil button (Customize) in the bottom-right corner of the page.
3. 3
   Choose a wallpaper (solid colors, abstract designs or photographs; recent versions also let you upload your own image).
4. 4
   Switch sections on or off: Shortcuts, Sponsored shortcuts, recommended Stories, Sponsored stories, Weather, Widgets and other options your version offers.
5. 5
   Close the panel. Every new tab now uses these settings.

To manage the shortcut tiles themselves:

• Add a shortcut: hover over an empty tile and click the plus, or use the … menu on a tile and choose to add or edit.
• Pin a shortcut: open the tile's … menu and choose Pin. Pinned sites stay put instead of being replaced by sites you visit more often.
• Remove a shortcut: choose Dismiss from the tile's menu. Firefox remembers dismissed sites and won't suggest them again.
• Show more rows: in Settings › Home, set the number of shortcut rows under the Shortcuts option.

Recent versions also add a Widgets section below the shortcuts, with world clocks, a focus timer and a checklist, plus a weather card in the top-right corner. Use the arrow next to Widgets to collapse the section, or the … menu on its right for more options.

Pro Tip: Turn off Sponsored shortcuts and Sponsored stories first. It removes the tiles you didn't choose and makes room for your own pinned sites.

Firefox new tab settings in Settings › Home

1. 1
   Click the menu button (three lines) and choose Settings, or type about:preferences#home in the address bar.
2. 2
   Select Home in the sidebar.
3. 3
   Under New Windows and Tabs, use Homepage and new windows to choose Firefox Home, a blank page or Custom URLs.
4. 4
   Use New tabs to choose between Firefox Home (Default) and Blank Page.
5. 5
   Under Firefox Home Content, choose which sections appear on the page and how many rows of shortcuts to show.

Notice the difference between the two drop-downs: the homepage accepts any URL, new tabs do not. If you want to know which one you actually need, read new tab page vs home page vs startup pages.

Can you set a custom URL for new tabs in Firefox?

Not anymore. Older Firefox versions had a browser.newtab.url preference in about:config that opened any page on a new tab. Mozilla removed it in Firefox 41 back in 2015, partly because unwanted software kept changing it behind people's backs. Since then, the only ways to put a custom page on new tabs are:

• An extension from addons.mozilla.org that sets a URL for new tabs, or one that replaces the page entirely.
• An enterprise policy on managed computers, set by an administrator.

Our guide to setting any website as your new tab page explains what to look for in an extension before you install it.

about:config preferences for the Firefox new tab page

Most people never need about:config, but two preferences come up often:

• browser.newtabpage.pinned stores the shortcuts you pinned, as a list. If pinned shortcuts disappear or you can't unpin one, resetting this preference clears all pins so you can start over. Write your pins down first.
• browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.showSponsoredTopSites controls sponsored shortcuts. It's the same switch as the Sponsored shortcuts option in settings, so use the settings page if you can.

Note: Changing about:config can break things. Type about:config in the address bar, accept the warning, search for the preference, and use the reset arrow to undo a change. Preference names can change between Firefox versions.

What the Firefox new tab page can't do

Firefox Home is simple and quick, but it has limits if you want it to hold all your sites:

• Shortcuts are small icons in a few rows, with no folders or groups.
• Widgets are a fixed set (clocks, a focus timer, a checklist and weather), and they sit below the shortcuts rather than next to your sites.
• There's no way to keep separate sets of links for work and home.
• Your shortcuts stay inside Firefox, so Chrome or Edge on another computer won't have them.

A Firefox new tab page that holds all your sites

Speed Dial 2 replaces Firefox Home with visual bookmarks in groups, search, widgets and your own background. Free on addons.mozilla.org, and it works the same in Chrome and Edge.

Get Speed Dial 2  –  it's free

Use Speed Dial 2 as your Firefox new tab page

Speed Dial 2 is available for Firefox from addons.mozilla.org. Once installed, every new tab shows:

• Visual bookmarks organized in groups, as many as you like.
• Search across all your bookmarks, including phrases like "saved this week".
• Widgets: clock, tasks and notes for free; weather, calendar and countdown with Pro.
• Focus Mode to block distracting websites.
• Sync with Chrome and Edge on your other computers (Pro, $12/year).

When the extension takes over new tabs, Firefox shows a notice saying an extension changed your new tab page. Keep the change. On Firefox, Speed Dial 2 asks for one extra permission to capture website thumbnails; the Speed Dial 2 for Firefox guide explains it. If you also want Speed Dial 2 when Firefox starts, see set Speed Dial 2 as your start page in Firefox.

Reset the Firefox new tab page

1. 1
   Go to about:addons and turn off any extension that controls new tabs. Settings › Home also tells you when an extension controls this setting.
2. 2
   In Settings › Home, set New tabs back to Firefox Home (Default) and use Restore Defaults if your version shows it.
3. 3
   If the page still looks wrong, use Refresh Firefox from about:support. It removes extensions and resets settings but keeps bookmarks, history, passwords and open tabs.