What a homepage is and why you might change it

Your homepage is the page your browser opens to when you start it or click the home button. By default, most browsers open to their own search page — Google Chrome opens to Google, Microsoft Edge opens to Microsoft's homepage, Firefox opens to a blank page or Mozilla's site. You can change this to any website you want: your email, a news site, a blank page, or a custom page you build yourself.

People change their homepage for different reasons. Some want to land on email or a work dashboard every time they open the browser. Others prefer a blank page to load faster. Some want a news site or weather page. The choice is yours, and changing it takes less than a minute in any browser.

Key Takeaways

  • Your homepage is the page that opens when you start your browser or click the home button, and you can set it to any website you want.
  • Chrome, Edge, and Firefox all let you set a homepage in their settings menu, usually under "Home" or "Startup" options.
  • You can set a homepage to a single website, multiple tabs, or a blank page depending on what you prefer.
  • If you cannot find the home button on your toolbar, you may need to enable it in the browser's toolbar settings.

How to set a homepage in Google Chrome

Open Chrome and click the three-line menu icon in the top right corner. Select Settings from the dropdown. On the left side, click Appearance. You will see a toggle for "Show home button" — turn it on if it is not already on.

Below that toggle, you will see a section that says "Home button opens". Choose A specific page or set of pages. Click Add a new page and type the web address (URL) of the site you want. If you want multiple pages to open as tabs when you click home, add them one at a time. Click Done when you are finished.

How to set a homepage in Microsoft Edge

Open Edge and click the three-dot menu in the top right. Select Settings. On the left, click Appearance. Look for the section labeled "Customize toolbar" and make sure the home button toggle is turned on.

Next, click Home on the left sidebar (not Appearance — a separate option). Under "Show the home button", select A specific page. In the text box below, type the web address of the page you want to open. Edge will save this automatically.

How to set a homepage in Firefox

Open Firefox and click the three-line menu icon in the top right. Select Settings. On the left, click Home. Under "Homepage and new windows", you will see a dropdown menu. Select Custom URLs.

In the text box that appears, type the web address of the site you want. If you want multiple pages to open as separate tabs, separate each URL with a line break (press Enter between each one). Firefox saves your changes as you type, so you do not need to click a save button.

What to do if you do not see a home button

Some people have the home button hidden from their toolbar. If you do not see a button that looks like a house icon, you need to turn it on first. In Chrome, Edge, or Firefox, right-click on the toolbar (the area at the top where buttons live) and look for an option like "Customize toolbar" or "Customize". This opens a panel where you can drag the home button back onto your toolbar.

Once the home button is visible, you can then set where it goes using the steps above. If you still cannot find it, try searching the browser's help documentation for "show home button" — the exact steps vary slightly between versions.

Setting a blank page or new tab page as your homepage

If you want your browser to open to a blank page instead of a website, most browsers have a built-in option for this. In Chrome, under Appearance, choose "Open the New Tab page" instead of "A specific page or set of pages". In Edge, under Home settings, select "A blank page". In Firefox, under Homepage and new windows, select "Blank page".

A blank page loads faster than a website because there is nothing to download. Some people prefer this if they want a clean start each time they open the browser.

Changing your homepage if malware or unwanted software changed it

Sometimes unwanted software or browser extensions change your homepage without permission and set it to an ad site or search engine you did not choose. If your homepage suddenly changed and you did not do it, check your installed extensions first. In Chrome, click the puzzle piece icon in the top right and look for extensions you do not recognize — click the trash icon to remove them. Do the same in Edge and Firefox.

After removing suspicious extensions, go back to your homepage settings and set it to what you want. If your homepage keeps changing back on its own, you may have malware. Run a full scan with Windows Defender (built into Windows) or a reputable antivirus program. If the problem continues after that, consider resetting your browser to its default state — this removes all extensions and resets all settings to factory defaults. In Chrome, go to Settings > Advanced > Reset and clean up > Restore settings to their original defaults.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set different homepages for different profiles in my browser?

Yes. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox all let you create multiple user profiles, and each profile can have its own homepage. In Chrome, click your profile icon in the top right and select "Manage your Google Account" or create a new profile. Each profile stores its own settings separately, so you can set a work homepage in one profile and a personal one in another.

What is the difference between homepage and new tab page?

Your homepage is what opens when you click the home button or start the browser. Your new tab page is what opens when you press Ctrl+T (or Cmd+T on Mac) to open a new tab. They are separate settings. You can set them to different pages, or set one and leave the other as default.

Will changing my homepage affect my search engine?

No. Your homepage and your default search engine are two separate things. You can set your homepage to any website and keep your search engine as Google, Bing, or whatever you prefer. The search engine is what handles searches from the address bar; the homepage is just the page that opens when you click home.

Can I set a local file on my computer as my homepage?

Yes, but it is not common. You can type a file path like file:///C:/Users/YourName/Documents/mypage.html into the homepage field, and your browser will open that file. This works if you have created an HTML file on your computer, but most people find it easier to just use a website.