About:blank page is completely missing after sync
Hi there, I recently started to use Firefox sync, and now the about:blank page that loads when I start up Firefox is blank. No tiles, no settings cog to click on. If I hit the + for new tab, then the new tab page loads OK. But on the initial launch, there is nothing. All Firefox does is pop up the master password prompt, which I assume is to log the Sync in.
Anyone else getting this weird behavior? Thanks --Todd
All Replies (6)
about:blank is intended to be blank ! And I am not sure it is specifically listed any longer.
The default home page is about:homepage The new tab page that gets tiles and has a cog is about:newtab Most of these pages are listed in about:about
If you set Firefox to open with one or more homepages have a look at
- How to set the home page
- Startup, home page, tabs, and download settings
- Home page with pipe character opens extra tabs when Firefox starts
Also see
I have more information: I tried starting with add ons disabled: The browser starts normally. I tried disabling all extensions by clicking disable on them all and restarting: The problem persists. I tried refreshing Firefox and restarting: The problem persists.
John99 said
about:blank is intended to be blank ! And I am not sure it is specifically listed any longer. The default home page is about:homepage The new tab page that gets tiles and has a cog is about:newtab Most of these pages are listed in about:about If you set Firefox to open with one or more homepages have a look at Also see
Evidently I don't understand this behavior then, which has changed only since I set up Sync: I set my startup option to "Show a blank page". Previously, this setting caused Firefox to launch with the new tab page with the tiles. Now it really does launch Firefox with a blank page. How do I set it back to launch with the new tab?
Hi again greatfox, Your add-ons are not listed. You metion starting with add-ons disabled and it starts normally so I am not sure if some add-on may be involved.
Regardless of that if you set the homepage to about:newtab and set firefox to start with your homepage that should work.
Check what happens when you click on the homepage icon {the house icon) that should open the one or more tabs you have set as the homepage. After the change that should be the newtab page,
Also check what happens if you key directly in to the addressbar about:newtab then press Enter.
Note also the newtab page may be customised, including setting it to show a blank page - but it still should have a cog. The cog only disappears if about:blank is used.
- See Customize your Firefox New Tab page
- New Tab page in Firefox
- Customize your New Tab page to hide or display content
Note the page used as the newtab page used to be something you could easily select, now if you want it to be anything other than a blank page you will need to use an add-on. This change was because malware and adware were making changes. Firefox extensions are still allowed to make changes and so it could be some add-on you have installed that is controlling what you see.
Well if this is normal behavior now, I will just use one of the workarounds you mentioned to restore the previous settings.
Thanks for your help
Let us know how you get on. I am not sure if it is an add-on issue or not.