Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How can I make about:newtab my default page for new tabs?

more options

I've already changed the settings in the about:config to be directed to about:newtab, but the new tab keeps on chnging to the yahoo search. Is this a very annoying way to make us switch to yahoo? Please give us our right to customize our browser as we want it.

I've already changed the settings in the about:config to be directed to about:newtab, but the new tab keeps on chnging to the yahoo search. Is this a very annoying way to make us switch to yahoo? Please give us our right to customize our browser as we want it.

All Replies (6)

more options

Hi

This should be fairly straightforward to do.

I recommend that you follow the details in this article, but use about:newtab as your choice of homepage.

I hope this helps, but if not, please come back here and we can look into a different solution for you.

more options

You can look at the browser.newtab.url pref on the about:config page and set that pref to the URL of your preferred new tab page. You can use these special pages or set the pref to the URL of your preferred new tab page.

  • the default new tab page with the tiles is about:newtab
  • the default home page is about:home
  • for a blank page you can use about:blank

The browser.newtabpage.enabled pref should be set to true to use the page set via browser.newtab.url as the new tab page.

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.

more options

I've tried this method, but setting the browser.newtab.url to default or about:newtab didn't help. It keeps changing to the yahoo search page.

more options

Check the addons and plugins you have installed, your browser has been hijacked by an installation of unwanted software. Also check your intalled programs and remove unwanted or unneeded software. You probably need to start a fresh Firefox, go in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile folder> or in plain english go to C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming USER is your windows username, rename the folder from MOZILLA to BACKUP and start firefox, if the newtab becomes yahoo then you need to unistall the malware in your computer. Once done delete the new MOZILLA folder and rename BACKUP back to MOZILLA.

Modified by Raik

more options

jhunyeom,

Firefox 41 was released earlier today. Use Help > About Firefox to trigger an update. That should fix that problem - the browser.newtab.url pref is removed from Firefox 41 so that malware can't change it.

more options

Along the lines suggested earlier, the "Jungle Net" extension is regarded as an adware generator and may well have other unwanted side effects. Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning up bad add-ons, hijackers, and ad injectors. I know it seems long, but it's not that bad.

(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Be suspicious of everything you do not recognize/remember, as malware often uses important or innocent sounding names to discourage you from removing it. Take out as much trash as possible here.

(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
  • in the Windows "Run" dialog, type or paste
    firefox.exe "about:addons"

In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".

In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions. Bear in mind that all extensions are optional, none come with Firefox, and you can learn more about them by checking their reviews on the Add-ons site.

Often a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.

Any improvement?

(3) You can search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.

Success?