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How to change default title ofblank tab (about:blank)

  • 3 replies
  • 3 have this problem
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  • Last reply by FredMcD

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Monday morning I opened a new (blank) tab, cut and pasted a web address into the browser search bar and let it load so I could bookmark the site. Ever since, the blank tab loads wth the title of that website (freelancer.com) as the title of the tab. It reads "New Tab" briefly, then Freelancer.com title "Freelancer.com | Online Jobs | Freelance Employment | Outsourcing Services | Programmers | Web Design | Freelancers" is in the title bar of the browser and partly visible in the width of the tab.

I updated add-ons tonight to see if it would fix it but it didn't make a difference.

I update add-ons manually and checked the recent update log—nothing was updated prior to or after this problem occured.

I've gone into about: config, prefs.js and user.js looking for any freelancer.com strings. None exist. browser.newtab.url is set to "about:blank".

Tabs Mix Plus settings are as they should be.

I right-clicked the new tab to view source and it opens and empty tab with "about:blank" in the address bar.

Is there somewhere this setting is locked so I can clear it and fix it. The blank tab is working as it shold but seeing "Freelancer.com" on the blank tab's tab and the long title in the browser title bar is really annoying.

Monday morning I opened a new (blank) tab, cut and pasted a web address into the browser search bar and let it load so I could bookmark the site. Ever since, the blank tab loads wth the title of that website (freelancer.com) as the title of the tab. It reads "New Tab" briefly, then Freelancer.com title "Freelancer.com | Online Jobs | Freelance Employment | Outsourcing Services | Programmers | Web Design | Freelancers" is in the title bar of the browser and partly visible in the width of the tab. I updated add-ons tonight to see if it would fix it but it didn't make a difference. I update add-ons manually and checked the recent update log—nothing was updated prior to or after this problem occured. I've gone into about: config, prefs.js and user.js looking for any freelancer.com strings. None exist. browser.newtab.url is set to "about:blank". Tabs Mix Plus settings are as they should be. I right-clicked the new tab to view source and it opens and empty tab with "about:blank" in the address bar. Is there somewhere this setting is locked so I can clear it and fix it. The blank tab is working as it shold but seeing "Freelancer.com" on the blank tab's tab and the long title in the browser title bar is really annoying.

Chosen solution

That was very good work. Well Done. Please flag your last post as Solved Problem so others will know.


Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes). If the problem goes away, that tells us one thing. If it does not, that tells us something else.

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac=Options)
key, and then starting Firefox. Is the problem still there?

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Thanks for you reply. I solved the problem, although I have no idea how it become one in the first place.

The problem didn't appear in Safe Mode, meaning I faced the prospect of mining through over a hundred add-ons to narrow down the problem, even though I haven't added any recently, didn't update them until after this problem occurred, and only open the affected browser occassionally to bookmark websites. I use another Fx profile for day-to-day browsing.

When I reopened the profile in normal mode I saw the problem still existed. I then opened the Bookmarks window. I was going to delete the freelancer.com bookmarks to see if it would help.

Searching for Freelancer.com in the bookmarks window not only showed the proper website bookmarks, but four "about:blank" bookmarks with the title I mentioned in the first post. Strangely enough, the favicons (only for the about:blank bookmarks) were from yet another website, fiverr.com, that I bookmarked around the same time.

I deleted the about:blank bookmarks and created a new tab, which came up normal.

The problem is solved, but it's strange that (1) those bookmarks were created at all (I drag and drop tabs to the Bookmarks folder),and (2) the identity of a new tab would default to that of a bookmark.

Thanks again for yiur help since I always try to avoid Safe Mode thinking it might break my customizations.

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Chosen Solution

That was very good work. Well Done. Please flag your last post as Solved Problem so others will know.


Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes). If the problem goes away, that tells us one thing. If it does not, that tells us something else.