Firefox Community Forum

Hi Mozilla team,

After a recent Firefox update, my Home/New Tab page changed dramatically and became hard to use. The issue is not just that the layout looks different — the new page is functionally worse for me because the shortcuts are oversized, they obscure the search bar area, and the trending/recommended stories are difficult to read.

I tried the usual fixes:

   I changed the New Tab/Home settings.

   I tried the about:config change to restore the older layout.

   The page returned to normal once, but only for one instance; after that, it went back to the problematic layout again.

So I think there are two problems:

   The redesigned Home/New Tab layout is too cluttered and interferes with basic use.

   My preference change is not sticking, because the page resets after a restart or later reopening.

What I need help with is:

   Why the Home/New Tab page is reverting after I change it.

   Whether this is caused by a Firefox study/experiment, session restore, a profile issue, or an extension.

   How to make the older compact layout stay permanently.

   My Firefox version is 153.0 (aarch 64).

   The problem happens after every restart of Firefox.

  Troubleshoot Mode changed nothing.

   The browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.nova.enabled setting was reset to false and that has held.

   I'm on macOS

   Using Sync across devices.

In addition I cannot find session restore - I was going to try unchecking it to see if that helps

I have two Mac systems, a 2018 Intel Mac Mini, and an M1 2020 MacBook Pro, both running Sonoma 14.7.6. On the Mac Mini, Firefox opens to the familar "Recommended Stories". On the MacBook Pro Firefox opens to a long list of items I'm not the least bit interested in. How do I get the MacBook Pro back to nothing but the "Recommended Stories"? I don't want/need NHL, NFL, NBA,Television, MLB, Pro Soccer, Education, Food, Health, Parenting, etc., etc., etc.

Dear Firefox:

My Firefox New Tab Page will not load properly in normal mode but it will load in troubleshoot mode. The new tab is the normal typical Firefox start page. It has multiple sections with links to many sites. These "links" just flicker. They do not fully load.

When I turn on troubleshoot mode, everything loads fine.

Thanks

Dean

As of today, the wallpaper I'd set for my homepage/new tabs pages is gone and there's no way to choose a different one. Is this just me or or are other people having this problem?

I read the FAQ about this feature. I read this about whether the stories are personalized to me:

... When personalization does occur, recommendations rely on a process of story sorting and filtering that happens locally in your personal copy of Firefox.

But there is no place that tells me how to turn this off if I don't want the stories personalized to me, and I do not want them personalized. The algorithms make assumptions about what I want to read and learn. But I want to be free to encounter and learn things that I might not otherwise come across.

How can I avoid being pigeonholed and limited in this way?

I am trying to set up a new computer. I have customized the homepage and new windows to a preferred page, however I cannot customize the new tab settings. The only options for a new tab are either Firefox homepage or blank page. I am trying to find a way to have my preferred homepage open when I open a new tab.

When I downloaded Firefox, I was able to add sites in a start page. There were sponsored sites like Amazon, Wikipedia, Reddit. I deleted those and added my own. Can you tell me where to find that page?

In the settings, I selected a custom url for the homepage. The only other choice was the Firefox default page (which doesn't have the sites that I selected)

Thanks.

Why are there ZERO conservative viewpoints or resources in the homepage feed? Your content is narrow-minded and shows only one perspective on today's topics and headlines. Perhaps people would be more inclined to support the work if it were more balanced and expressed the views of the other 50% of America.

I do not care to see the "widgits" on my desktop opening page. It appeared a few days ago. I do not want to be obligated to its appearance there. A User of FoxFire should be given the opportunity to elect to have it or not. I do not remember reading that it was going to appear. I was concerned when it first appeared. Does it have to be there??? [edited email from community support forum]