I-Firefox Community Forum

I have been an avid (make that RABID) Firefox user and advocate for more than a decade. I recently had to wipe my hard drive and am still going through the painful process of putting things back the way I like them.

Firefox is (was?) my preferred and default browser. I use other browsers only when forced to for work or when Firefox doesn't function with certain apps.

Now, the new version of Firefox does not allow me to set my own home page. I have a choice of Firefox or blank for new tabs. Yes, I can click on the Home icon to get to my preferred home page... but that's another step. Why?

It's only one day in, but honestly, I'm seriously thinking about moving to another browser that doesn't require me to MANUALLY click a home icon to get where I want. WTF?

Whatever you say, you've made it super difficult for this loyal user.

(

When I click on the search box in the middle of the New Tab page and start typing, the focus automatically jumps to the Address Bar (Awesomebar). I want the typing to stay within the central search field.

In about:config, I have set browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar to false. However, this did not fix the problem — the input is still being redirected to the top address bar.

hi

the element i really like / liked about Pocket were the curated stories that firefox publishes on its new tab page.

yes i used the "save to pocket" option but one can easily enough just visit the article and bookmark in the normal way.

NOTE: i think i wasn't appreciating the offline easy-to-read aspect to pocket (because i'd just read the article online and/or save to pocket) but it's too late now!

I've seen articles on multiple websites and reddit about pocket alternatives but people seem to only talk about pocket in terms of the capacity to save-to-read-later, tagging, book marking management, etc.

Btw, i've read the mozilla pocket FAQ support page (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pocket-recommendations-firefox-new-tab). It was updated mid march 2025 (when mozilla surely knew they were shutting down pocket) and ironically it recommends for more articles to visit pocket.

1) this FAQ really needs to be updated to reflect pocket ceasing

2) it could reflect what is happening with the "thought-provoking stories" feature within firefox browser

My questions:

1) will the "thought provoking stories" feature aka curated articles of interest continue in firefox in any capacity after pocket ceases?

i don't know given i believe they're sourced from pocket.

EDIT: i've just discovered about "pocket hits" (or "ten tabs" as reportedly it's being renamed to) email newsletter. I knew nothing about this. Might the content / curated articles replace those from pocket on the new tab page?

2) if not, can people suggest alternatives to pocket's curated articles (i'm less fussed about saving the articles because i've seen many recommendations on that)?

thanks,

Gary

Hello,

After today's FF update my new tab has the FF logo obscuring the image. I've tried removing it in about:config by setting this preference to false: browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.logowordmark.alwaysVisible But it didn't work.

I don't want the logo and also don't want the search bar. I want just the image.

When that didn't work, I tried going to Settings->Home->New Windows and Tabs I was able to set Homepage and New Windows to a Custom URL, but not New Tabs.

What's up with this??

I read somewhere to try using a custom css and set the attribute of .logo-and-wordmark to none. I don't know how to do that.

Is there a workaround that doesn't involve creating a custom css? If not, I'd like some advice on how to create a css.

Many Thanks! - Andre'a

After upgrading to 149.0.2 (64-bit), when starting FF or opening an new tab, the preferred URL is not loaded. It is configured in Settings/Home/New Windows and Tabs All previuos FF versions were OK with the same URl (https://search.yahoo.com/web/advanced)

Since dawn of times I'm using Firefox with a search box in the center of my Home page for new tabs and windows. It is the most important tool in my life as a web content manager. A few years ago my searches suddenly started to jump to the URL bar as soon as I started typing. An URL bar is - as the says - for URL's and it sits way at the top of my 27" and 32" screens, where my focus is not.

Luckily, this forum saved me with the about:config setting browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar > false to save my life.

A few months ago this was broken by 148.something. After about a month in hell that was repaired with a dot release. And now (151.0.3, Windows 11) it's broken again:

In normal mode it still works as expected, but the search box is not in the center anymore, it has been moved up to about 300 px from the top. Fixed, independent from window size !?! If you make the window small it moves out sight eventually.

In Private Windows it is still in the center vertically, but browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar > false does not seem to work there. As soon as I start typing it jumps to the address bar.

I love you Firefox but what gives you the right to change/mess with my settings on my home page and make it difficult for non technical user to change back to preferred look???????? Why do you do it?

Previous solution: switch browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar to false does not work anymore.

Please help.

Regards, Victor

Where is a link, icon, or ANY WAY to add a shortcut site to my Ubuntu FF **DESKTOP** homescreen?

I already have 4 rows (since 2013 over many Linux laptops. Ubuntu, Mint, popOS, and now Ubuntu 26.04 LTS).

There is room in the fourth row for a few more. BUT I don't see any icon or link or right-click option to add another!

Phrasing the article search various ways gets me a lot of unrelated stuff.

EVERY help article, of which there are few, seems to have a BIG-ASSumption that everyone is using mobile Firefox.

NO! NO three dots. No right click brings up anything. NOTHING in settings. I've been through everything in the 3-bar menu, and there is NOTHING. (I already use it to sync, go to OTHER settings, go to help, etc.)

This is a day after an update, though I don't know how that affects it.

Usually if I forget how I did something, I just explore and find it. BUT --

My way of adding new shortcuts seems to be GONE.

Since version 148.0b2 (64-bit), it's once again not possible to enter search terms in the search box of a new tab; instead, the browser searches in the address bar. I've had all the settings I found in the forums configured correctly for over five years, and they haven't changed. - browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar = False. Despite this, the search still occurs in the address bar. Now I'm back to the awful search in the address bar. How can I fix this? Please fix this bug as soon as possible.

Original: Set der Version 148.0b2 (64-Bit) ist es wieder nicht möglich die Suche im neuen Tap, im Suchfenster einzugeben, sonder es wird wieder im Adressfeld gesucht. Ich habe alle Einstellungen, die ich in den Foren gefunden habe schon über 5 Jahre so eingestelle, sie sind auch nicht geändert. - browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar = False. Trotzdem wird die Suche im Adressfeld geführt.

Jetzt geht es aber wieder mit der Schrecklichen suchen in der Adresszeile los. Wie kann ich dies ändern? Bitte diesen Fehler (Bug) schnellst möglich beheben.

I have selected the 4 rows for shortcuts on my tab and have installed all but the last 3 spaces in the end of the 4th row. There's no option whatsoever to continue to add those remaining 3 spaces. Any suggestions?

I have two windows PCs, both running Firefox 154.0.1 (64-bit) on Windows 11 Pro. One PC has the Daily Crossword widget, the other doesn't? When I go into Manage Widgets, the Daily Crossword option is present on the first PC, but not the other? It's possible that I may have hidden the Daily Crossword widget on the second PC, but if so, how do I unhide it? The PC without the widget is connected directly via a LAN cable to my router, while the other PC is connected to the same router via a Google WiFi mesh.

All of a sudden (after a recent update I suppose) every time I start to type anything in the "search" in the middle of my "home" screen, the curser jumps to the address space in the toolbar. I hate that! I want to continue to use search in the middle of the screen as I have for years since I started using browsers. I've tried looking at the setting for "browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar" and it is set to "false" as was recommended in another post some years ago. What do I have to do to revert back to the way it was before this change was forced on me?

On your homepage there are 24 news articles... is it asking too much to have 12 of them from non-far-left news agencies instead of the 20 far-left and 4 neutral? Or maybe you don't care about the 50+ percent of right leaning customers. Need a Bud-Light lesson?

On the new tab page I have set for 4 rows of shortcuts. In the fourth row I have 3 open spaces for tiles/shortcuts. There is no way to add the tiles whereas there was previously a tile that would show that said "+add shortcut". Given I have room in the row to add 3 shortcuts, how do I add tiles to allow for added shortcuts?