Hi Ivan, those aren't the preferences you want. Please try the steps in the following article:

How to set the home page

Any progress?

Sorry, it occurs to me that you should test whether this is a startup problem or a home page problem by using Ctrl+N to launch a new window or Alt+Home to go Home in the same tab (if Ubuntu has the same keyboard shortcuts as Windows).

You should reset those two prefs and let Firefox set them to the correct value on the next start if this hasn't happened yet.

• browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID (20220623xxxxxx)
• browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone (102.0)

Thanks guys,

jscher2000 : I had seen the article you kindly sent me, that's one of the ways I set my homepage. When I ctrl/n in the same tab, it takes me to duckduckgo, which is where I'd like to start. I don't know what the equivalent to alt/home would be on my keyboard, but when I click the home icon, again, it takes me to duckduckgo. The problem is when I initally start firefox for the first time, double clicking the firefox icon on my desktop, that's when I get google when I don't want it.

cor-el : Original settings were : browser.sta...........override.buildID string 20190620092152 browser.sta...........override.mstone string 67.0.4 When I shut firefox and re-start, it overwrites whatever I had in there (I tried entering what you had suggested) and replaces with the original settings as above. How do I reset to keep the changes please ?

Thanks again,

Ivan

Okay, your home page is working fine, but your startup page is wrong. Question is why...

(1) Hacked shortcut?

Does Linux have the concept of adding command line parameters to a desktop shortcut? For example, on Windows, if you wanted to force a page to load when the shortcut was used, you would set the Target field like this:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -url https://www.example.com/

(2) Old session restored?

If Firefox thinks it crashed during the previous session, it may automatically restore a session history file. In rare cases, users report that Firefox keeps restoring an old session. If you check the History menu, does Restore Previous Session appear? If not, Firefox may have restored an old session.

Hi again all, Spooky. Can't be option 2 as there was no previous session. Brand new laptop, booting from USB never used before, and first time connecting to the internet last night. It went straight to google the very first time I ever started Firefox, and refuses to do any different. So, if it's option 1, something in Linux (or the version I booted from) directing the Firefox browser straight to a site I don't want, I presume that's something that can't be fixed by editing Firefox settings, and I'll need to dig within the OS itself ? I'm experimenting with different setups as an educational experience, so not the end of the world, just another lesson for me to get into. Thanks guys,

FOUND IT !!

Sorry for wasting your time, for any other users having the same problem, it may well be within your Linux desktop settings.

Go to desktop icon for Firefox right click click on "Properties" select third tab (on my system) "Desktop Entry" next to "Command" is a box where you can modify the startup page.

Thanks for you help guys, it turned out not to be a Firefox settings problem exactly but your answer above pointed me in the right direction. Hopefully this post will help others though as it seems to happen to a lot of people.

Have a good day,

Ivan