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When I open a new tab, I want my recently used programs to show

  • 15 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by katkasa

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I don't know what I have done, but I lost my "recently used" page. I am an old lady and frequently things change and I don't know what I have done... And, I don't know how to describe my problem... So, I don't know if I have stated my problem right... Is it "recently used" or "most frequently used"???

I don't know what I have done, but I lost my "recently used" page. I am an old lady and frequently things change and I don't know what I have done... And, I don't know how to describe my problem... So, I don't know if I have stated my problem right... Is it "recently used" or "most frequently used"???

Chosen solution

Would you take a look at this article, please   ?
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/about-tiles-new-tab
Here you'll see that page that shows the tiles to your most used tabs and   in the upper right corner you'll see that cog wheel   .....

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All Replies (15)

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Hi, it's most likely that you have inadvertently set the New Tab page to blank - Customize your New Tab page to hide or display content


If that isn't it, try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes).

If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:

  • Click the menu button New Fx Menu, click Help Help-29 and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.

If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:

  • On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
  • On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
  • On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
    (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)

When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".

SafeMode-Fx35

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, theme, or hardware acceleration. Please follow the steps in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.

To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem. Thank you!

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Dear lady, I noticed you started a new question,   but you really need to continue this here. (it's all very daunting stuff,   isn't it   ?)
You say that you don't see a cog wheel :
When you click on the   '+'   to open a new tab   -   in the upper right corner,   under the closing 'X' there is the 3-bar menu   (those three horizontal lines),   and under those three horizontal lines you should see a little cog wheel   ........

Modified by Happy112

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That is "options" and I don't see anything under tabs that fixes my problem...

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katkasa said

That is "options" and I don't see anything under tabs that fixes my problem...

Ah,   I see what you did :   you clicked on the 3-bar menu   (those three horizontal lines)   and you saw a cog wheel there   ('Options'). When you click on the cog wheel   under   those three horizontal lines   you'll get a little dropdown : 'New Tab Controls'  ......

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I answered that awhile ago. I have no cogwheel under the three bar symbol. It is a single line toolbar, then my actual window begins.

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katkasa said

I answered that awhile ago. I have no cogwheel under the three bar symbol. It is a single line toolbar, then my actual window begins.

When you click on the   '+'   to open a new tab, you don't see a cog wheel under the 3-bar menu. Does this mean that you don't have a page with tab-tiles   ? That's the only explanation I can think of right now  ...... I sure hope that somebody else will come to your rescue   !

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What is a "page with tab-tiles"? Isn't that what I've been trying to get to? Yes, I do hope someone will come to my rescue!!! Thanks, anyway. Do I have some weird version of Firefox???

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Chosen Solution

Would you take a look at this article, please   ?
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/about-tiles-new-tab
Here you'll see that page that shows the tiles to your most used tabs and   in the upper right corner you'll see that cog wheel   .....

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Hi, one of your add-ons may be causing this. Did you try Safe Mode as I suggested before, which will temporarily turn them off to test?

If you did, and that didn't help -

  • Do you see a blank page when you click on the '+' for a new tab? If so, see my earlier post and look for the cog wheel in the top right corner.
  • Does a web page open that you don't recognize? If so, look in the address bar and copy/paste any address that's there into a reply.
  • Does nothing happen at all when you click on the '+' for a new tab? If so, we will try Refresh, but very occasionally it doesn't work as it should, and bookmarks etc can get lost. So to back them up for extra safety: Open bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Import and Backup > Export Bookmarks to HTML, and save them to somewhere convenient on your computer. Now try the Refresh feature, which can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your bookmarks, history, passwords, cookies, and other essential information.

Note: When you use this feature, you will lose any extensions, toolbar customizations, and some preferences. See the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article for more information. You might want to make a note of your add-ons first, so you can put them back afterwards in the Add-ons Manager (Ctrl+Shift+A) > Extensions.

To Refresh Firefox:

  1. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using one of these methods:
    • Click the menu button New Fx Menu, click help Help-29 and select Troubleshooting Information. A new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.
    • If you're unable to access the Help menu, type about:support in your address bar to bring up the Troubleshooting Information page.
  2. At the top right corner of the page, you should see a button that says "Refresh Firefox" ("Reset Firefox" in older Firefox versions). Click on it.
  3. Firefox will close. After the refresh process is completed, Firefox will show a window with the information that is imported.
  4. Click Finish and Firefox will reopen.

Did this fix the problem? Please report back to us!

Thank you.

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It appears that a shut down fixed the problem... I had seen the page you recommend before and it did not help because I was not getting a cogwheel under the 3 line symbol. Now, not only do I have the cogwheel, but it is on my most visited sites page which is back!!! Did my problem just happen yesterday - yes... I shut down my computer every night... So, then the only question left is why did it happen??? Thanks, everyone who tried to help. Now, can anyone tell me HOW I seem to have two versions of WORDS on my android and how to switch between them???...

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katkasa said

Now, can anyone tell me HOW I seem to have two versions of WORDS on my android and how to switch between them???...

First of all :   I'm so glad that you finally got your page back   ! 'Guess your computer just needed a good night's sleep   ......

As for the two versions of   'Words': This is a completely different topic and it might be a good idea to post a new question about this. That way others   (who may have the same problem)   might benefit from it. So, would you   ?

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Actually, I was just kidding, sorta... But, you think this is OK for this forum?

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katkasa said

Actually, I was just kidding, sorta...

Funny girl   (loved the movie   ..... )

But, you think this is OK for this forum?

It's not a Firefox-related issue,   and it would be better if you posted it here :
www.answers.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/forum/windows_10
But if you're not comfortable doing that :   hey, we're here to help, and there are bound to be some people here who might be able to solve that problem as well   (I hope).

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Note that this new tab page has this URL (address): about:newtab You can also consider to set the about:newtab page as you home page, so you can click the Home button on the Navigation Toolbar to open this page in a current tab or middle-click the Home button to open this page in a new tab.

Note that the cogwheel button we talked about to enable/disable the new tab page is in top right corner in the browsing (web page) area and not the cogwheel button on the Navigation Toolbar, so do not get confused.

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To cor-el, I will keep this info in mind if the problem happens again. Thanks.

To Happy112 - Thanks, I will post it here. It is not a Windows issue. Its on my android phone. I have contacted Zynga/Words and got nowhere and found no forum to post to... At any rate, thanks anyway.