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The ability to start up Firefox with a blank page AND still have a custom URL for the home page is no longer in about:preferences in Firefox 62

  • 14 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 586 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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i used to be able to get(as chosen)a blank page when launching FF, but still have my custom URL as a home page. what's happening now is it's either i chose 'blank page' and my home page setting(url)disappear for when i want to use it,or i have to chose my custom URL at"choose what you see when you open your home page new windows and new tabs"and have it load each time i launch FF.

i used to be able to get(as chosen)a blank page when launching FF, but still have my custom URL as a home page. what's happening now is it's either i chose 'blank page' and my home page setting(url)disappear for when i want to use it,or i have to chose my custom URL at"choose what you see when you open your home page new windows and new tabs"and have it load each time i launch FF.

Modified by Roland Tanglao

Chosen solution

Hi nickfree, Firefox still can do that, but it's not available on the Options page for some reason. Here's how you modify it "under the hood":

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

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

(3) Double-click the browser.startup.page preference to display a dialog where you can enter the desired value:

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

Then click OK to save the change.

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All Replies (14)

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Chosen Solution

Hi nickfree, Firefox still can do that, but it's not available on the Options page for some reason. Here's how you modify it "under the hood":

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

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

(3) Double-click the browser.startup.page preference to display a dialog where you can enter the desired value:

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

Then click OK to save the change.

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i wonder why they removed this option, do you have any idea if it was intended or if they'll bring this back in the next update? i kind of want to know before i check your solution and go "under the hood".

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I don't know why this changed, but there is an overall trend toward simplification, so once something is removed from the Options page, it seldom returns.

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it worked,Thanks a lot! this trend toward simplification you mentioned made me think of the latest Skype for windows platform. it's a shame,i like having the ability to configure stuff to my liking.

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Well, I'm sure Skype has an about:config page somewhere. ;-)

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Hi nickfree and jscher2000

Not sure why you don't see it but the home page blank option is still there as per FFus3r's earlier reply, what am I missing?

Check it out at:

about:preferences#home or Firefox Menu -> Options -> Home

and please see the screenshot, i am running windows 10, firefox 62.0.2. There is a blank page option for both new Windows and tabs https://www.flickr.com/photos/roland/44941917211/

Cheers!

...Roland

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i have the same options as you; but what if i want to get a blank page upon FF launch and still have my custom URL shown when pressing the home button..?

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guys,jscher2000 seemed to have understand my issue so maybe he can explain it to you in a more technical way.

after the tweak he suggested; on the "new windows and tabs" i now have both fields marked as 'blank page' but when clicking on the home button i still get the URL i put there before i went to about:config. before that(at "new windows and tabs/homepage and new windows") i could either choose 'blank page' and then for some reason my custom URL for the 'Home button' disappeared and when clicking on it i got a blank page,or i could choose my URL in there but then when launching FF this page would load which is useless for me and slow down the start-up. so now i have both my home button working and a blank page at start up. (i hope this was clear)

i think this appeared after the latest update. I've been using FF for years and as far as i can remember i had it set this way,so either i'm missing something or FF removed an option there.

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OK,i looked a round on old screen captures in google and what's missing now is: "when FF starts:show...."(choose from the list)

also you had below that another place where you could set your home page.(custom URL)

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also, i'm surprised not many seem to have noticed this, i did some google search before posting here and now after finding what went missing and couldn't find a thread about it.

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Maybe not a lot of people were handling it that way. I'm attaching a comparative screenshot for reference.

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The only startup choice available in "Options/Preferences -> General" is "Restore Previous Session". The other choices have been removed and other ȟoices are in the Home tab


  • Bug 1448971 - Replace "when Firefox starts" section in about:preferences#general with checkbox
  • Bug 1472599 - Can not set homepage to Custom URLs when browser.startup.page = 0

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https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html
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