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Want blank page upon opening new window, BUT want to slect a home page (NOT blank)

  • 8 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by Richard

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Recently got new computer running Win 10. I find that Firefox seems to offer ONLY the option of blank page upon opening new window AND blank page for home page. I want to have blank page with new window, but a selected home page when clicking on the home icon. How do I do this. (I used to have things this way on my old Win 7 machine).

Recently got new computer running Win 10. I find that Firefox seems to offer ONLY the option of blank page upon opening new window AND blank page for home page. I want to have blank page with new window, but a selected home page when clicking on the home icon. How do I do this. (I used to have things this way on my old Win 7 machine).

Chosen solution

Let me see if I get this right now :

You want a blank page at startup, which is not your home page.

Would you do this please :

Type in the address bar about:config and press Enter (promise to be careful, if asked)

Type in the search bar and look for the preference :

browser.startup.page

And change the value :

0 => blank page 1 => your home page(s) {default} 2 => the last page viewed in Firefox 3 => previous session windows and tabs

After you've changed the value, close and restart Firefox.

You already know how to set the Home page .....

As for opening a blank window - like I mentioned earlier, when you have set the New Tab page to be a blank page, and you want it to open in a new window : all you have to do is press the Shift key when you open a new tab;
it will open a new window.

If I still haven't got this right, you have my full permission to call me "Stupid" ....

Read this answer in context 👍 2

All Replies (8)

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Hello Richard,

You can set your homepage (the page that opens at startup) to any page you like :

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-to-set-the-home-page

To have a new tab open a blank page; would you please take a look at this article :

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/hide-or-display-content-new-tab

But if you want a completely blank page, you could also give this add-on a try :

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/blank-new-tab-page/

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Thank you McCoy for your very prompt response.

None of these options seems to do what I want.

I want a blank page for new tab, AND a blank page for new window, BUT when I click on the home (little house) icon, I want my selected home page to appear (NOT a blank).

I know this was possible with Firefox when (several months ago) I ran Firefox on my Win 7 machine.

Thanks for your suggestions.

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If you want a new tab to open in a new window; all you have to do is hold the Shift key instead of the Ctrl key.

In the first part of my post I showed you how to set your home page to anything you like.

Your home page will open at startup and when you click the Home Icon ....

I thought that is what you want, but if I am totally misconstruing your question, then I hope that someone else will come up with the answer you're looking for .....

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Thanks again McCoy. I understand how to set the home page. I have succeeded in doing that. I THINK I understand how to set things so that a new TAB comes up blank (that is not my concern here). What I want is to have a NEW WINDOW come up blank, so that when I start Firefox upon booting up the computer a blank window comes up and THEN I can simply click on the home icon and see my home page (and go from there). I know I used to have things set up that way on my old computer.

Sorry for the frustration -- I do appreciate your efforts.

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Chosen Solution

Let me see if I get this right now :

You want a blank page at startup, which is not your home page.

Would you do this please :

Type in the address bar about:config and press Enter (promise to be careful, if asked)

Type in the search bar and look for the preference :

browser.startup.page

And change the value :

0 => blank page 1 => your home page(s) {default} 2 => the last page viewed in Firefox 3 => previous session windows and tabs

After you've changed the value, close and restart Firefox.

You already know how to set the Home page .....

As for opening a blank window - like I mentioned earlier, when you have set the New Tab page to be a blank page, and you want it to open in a new window : all you have to do is press the Shift key when you open a new tab;
it will open a new window.

If I still haven't got this right, you have my full permission to call me "Stupid" ....

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McCoy thanks for your replay on 9/16/19, 8:03 AM. The steps you provided work. This used to be an option in Firefox - to have a blank startup page, separate from the HomePage Icon in the Firefox browser. Richard was having trouble, not from going to Windows 10, but because Firefox changed.

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dog_walkin said

McCoy thanks for your replay on 9/16/19, 8:03 AM. The steps you provided work.

I'm glad it worked for you - thanks for letting us know !

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Sorry for my delay. I've been working through some serious damage resulting from a power surge resulting (I think) from a nearby lightning strike to a power line. Had to replace motherboard. Lots of other issues, as well (e.g., board in garage door opener, boards in standby generator, ET AL.)

Thanks for your help and patience. Finally got to where I wanted to be with the home page.

Also, thanks to dog_walkin for what I think are correct comments.