Here's how you can change your new tab page:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste newtab and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.newtab.url preference and enter your preferred page:

• Page thumbnails (default) => about:newtab
• Blank tab => about:blank
• Built-in Firefox home page => about:home
• Any other page => full URL to the page

Press Ctrl+t to open a new tab and verify that it worked. Fixed?

If problems persist, some potential diagnoses and remedies:

If Firefox won't let you edit this setting: you may have something called SearchProtect on your system. This needs to be removed from the Windows Control Panel.

If Firefox lets you save your change but ignores it: one of your extensions may be overriding it. You can review, disable, and/or remove extensions on the add-ons page. Either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Extensions. Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right and disable (or remove) anything unknown.

If the change works during your session, but at the next startup is back to the unwanted page: you might have a user.js file in your personal Firefox settings folder (your Firefox profile folder). This article describes how to track down and remove the file: How to fix preferences that won't save.

Any luck?

Circling back to what you clicked on Yahoo, since web pages cannot directly change your settings, is it possible that you installed a Yahoo add-on? You can review and disable, and often remove extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Extensions. Then cast a critical eye on the list on the right. All extensions are optional, none are included with Firefox so, if in doubt, disable.

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.

I am a real basic user who can get lost in the weeds very easily. So, I did check add-ons and extensions and there was nothing there that seemed out of line.

This url, https://www.yahoo.com/?fr=befhp&type=ffhp-3.18-1506, seems to be the culprit. It is what loads when I click to open a new tab. If we can delete or disable this specific url I think we might solve the problem. Thanks again.

Do any of your add-ons match that number, for example, version 3.18, or seem associated with "hp" in some manner? You can copy/paste a list of your extensions into a reply by selecting the Extensions list part of the following page with the mouse and then using Ctrl+c or right-click>Copy. Either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
• (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

When you paste it, it's a little messy, but we're used to it.

edlenk62 said

When I click on the plus icon to open a new tab it displays my homepage again. It used to display a page of recent or frequently used websites in a screen grab format showing the main page of the website which I could then click on and that website would load. Recently Yahoo had a overlay on its startup screen which asked if I wanted it to be my default search engine. Without thinking I clicked on it and that seemed to change the way my homepages loaded on startup and how clicking on a new tab no longer produced the results that I seek as described above. I have since corrected the homepage issue so that it now loads properly when Firefox starts up. Please help. I would simply like to return to what I had when I clicked on opening a new tab. If anyone needs more information or clarification I will gladly provide it. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. I had an add-on which contained the 3.18 unrelated to the yahoo url I sent you, but I deleted the add-on and the problem is gone. What is often the case for me at least, is that something is done by me or recommended to me by other more expert users and mysteriously the problem is resolved. I don't know what caused the problem but the solution worked so thanks agin for your guidance.

Some "free" software is available at no charge because they make money on referrals, either to advertisers or to search engines. So I think whatever you removed was in that category. Hopefully there aren't any others lingering!