How-To

How to Customize the New Tab Page in Chrome

By Lori Kaufman

Updated January 10, 2024

By default, the New Tab page in Chrome is Google Search and shortcuts to your most visited websites. To change the New Tab page, follow the steps below.

By default, the New Tab page in Chrome is Google Search and shortcuts to your most visited websites. If you don’t like the default New Tab page, you can customize it to fit your needs.

We’ll show you many ways to customize the New Tab page, like changing the background and the shortcuts, removing items, and changing the default search engine.

How to Open a New Tab in Chrome

There are three ways to open a new tab in Chrome:

1. Press Ctrl + T.
2. Click the plus icon to the right of the open tabs on the tab bar.
   
3. Select New Tab from the Chrome menu.
   

How to Rearrange the Shortcuts on the New Tab Page in Chrome

The New Tab page in Chrome displays shortcuts to your most visited websites. If you don’t like their display order, you can rearrange them.

To rearrange the shortcuts on the New Tab page:

1. Open a new tab.
2. Click and hold the shortcut you want to move and drag it to where you want it.
   

How to Remove Shortcuts from the New Tab Page in Chrome

If you don’t want specific shortcuts on the New Tab page, you can easily remove them.

To remove a shortcut from the New Tab page:

1. Open a new tab, and hover over the shortcut you want to delete.
2. Click the X in the upper-right corner of the shortcut.
   
3. A message displays in the lower-left corner of the screen for several seconds, saying the shortcut was removed. You can undo the removal by clicking Undo before the message goes away. You can also click Restore All to restore all the shortcuts Chrome displayed.
   

How to Remove Suggestion Cards from the New Tab Page

The default New Tab page displays suggestion cards for recipes and a set for shopping carts on websites where you’ve added items to a cart.

If you don’t want these suggestion cards, you can remove them.

To remove a suggestion card from the New Tab page:

1. Open a new tab, hover over a suggestion card, and click the More actions
   
2. Select Hide these recipe ideas from the popup menu.
   
3. A message displays in the lower-left corner of the screen for several seconds saying Recipe ideas hidden. You can undo the action by clicking Undo before the message goes away.
   
4. Selecting Customize Cards from the More actions menu on a card opens the Cards tab on the Customize this page Click the Recipe ideas slider button to turn off the Recipe cards. You can also turn off the Your carts cards.
   

How to Add Custom Shortcuts to the New Tab Page in Chrome

By default, the shortcuts on the New Tab page are your most visited sites and change as you visit sites. You can also choose to create your own shortcuts that stick around.

To enable custom shortcuts on the New Tab page:

1. Open a new tab and click Customize Chrome in the lower right corner.
   
2. Click Shortcuts on the left.
3. Next, click My shortcuts.
4. Then, click Done.
   
5. Click Add shortcut to add a new custom shortcut on the New Tab page.
   
6. On the Add shortcut dialog, enter a Name for the shortcut and the URL.
7. Click Done.
   
8. The shortcut displays on the New Tab page. A message displays in the lower-left corner of the screen for several seconds, telling you that the shortcut was added.
9. You can undo this action by clicking Undo before the message goes away. You can also click Restore default shortcuts to restore all the original default shortcuts Chrome displays.
   

How to Edit a Custom Shortcut on the New Tab Page in Chrome

You can edit custom shortcuts after creating them. For example, maybe you want to change the URL of your Amazon shortcut to a specific location on Amazon?

To edit a custom shortcut:

1. Open a new tab, hover over the shortcut you want to remove, and click More actions.
   
2. Click Edit shortcut.
   
3. On the Edit shortcut dialog, change the URL to what you want. You can also change the Name.
4. Click Done.
   
5. A message displays in the lower-left corner of the screen for several seconds, telling you that the shortcut was edited. You can undo this change by clicking Undo before the message goes away. You can also click Restore default shortcuts to restore all the original default shortcuts Chrome displays.
   

How to Remove a Custom Shortcut from the New Tab Page in Chrome

If you don’t want a custom shortcut, you can easily remove it from the New Tab page.

To remove a custom shortcut:

1. Open a new tab, hover over the shortcut you want to remove, and click More actions.
   
2. Click Remove.
   
3. A message displays in the lower-left corner of the screen for several seconds telling you that the shortcut was removed. You can undo this action by clicking Undo before the message goes away. You can also click Restore default shortcuts to restore all the original default shortcuts Chrome displays.
   

How to Change the New Tab Page Background in Chrome

There are three ways to customize the background on the new tab page: using Chrome’s Stock Photo, using your own custom photo, and having the background photo change daily.

How to Use a Stock Photo as the New Tab Page Background in Chrome

To use one of Chrome’s stock photos as the New Tab page background:

1. Open a new tab and click Customize Chrome in the lower-right corner.
   
2. The Background screen displays by default. Collections of photos are available through tiles.
3. Click the collection you want.
   
4. Select an image you like to choose it.
5. Click Done.
   
6. The photo is applied as a background on the New Tab page. The name of the background’s creator and the photo’s source is displayed in the lower-left corner of the New Tab page with a link.
   
7. To return to the default background, click the Customize Chrome icon in the lower-right corner.
   
8. Select Classic Chrome under Customize this page on the Background screen, where you previously selected a collection.

How to Use Your Photo as the New Tab Page Background in Chrome

To use one of your photos as the New Tab page background:

1. Open a new tab and click Customize Chrome in the lower-right corner.
   
2. The Background screen displays by default.
3. Click Upload from device.
   
4. On the Open dialog, navigate to and select the photo file you want to use.
5. Click Open.
   
6. The photo is applied as a background on the New Tab page.
   
7. To return to the default background, click the Customize Chrome icon in the lower-right corner.
8. Select Classic Chrome under Customize this page on the Background screen, where you previously clicked Upload from device.

How to Automatically Change the New Tab Page Background Daily

If you get bored with having the same image displayed on the New Tab page all the time, you can have the image change each day.

To change the background image on the New Tab page daily:

1. Open a new tab and click Customize Chrome in the lower-right corner.
   
2. The Background screen should display by default. If not, click Background on the left.
   Collections of photos are available through tiles. Chrome can automatically apply a new photo from any one of these collections each day on your new tab page.
3. Click a tile to select that collection.
   
4. The screen shows all the photos in the collection. Click the Refresh daily slider button to enable the option.
5. Click Done.
   The New Tab page will show a different photo from the selected collection daily.
6. To display the same photo all the time, turn off the Refresh daily option and select an image to use as the background.
7. To return to the default background, click the Customize Chrome icon in the lower-right corner.
8. Select Classic Chrome under Customize this page on the Background

How to Have the New Tab Page Open to a Blank Page in Chrome

You can display a blank page on the New Tab page for a more minimalist approach. You need to install an extension to display a blank New Tab page. We’re going to install the Blank New Tab Page extension.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click here to go to the page for the Blank New Tab Page extension.
2. Press Add to Chrome.
   
3. Click Add extension on the popup that displays.
   
4. On the confirmation dialog, click Keep it.
   
5. The next time you open a new tab, Chrome displays a blank page.
   
6. To go back to the default New Tab page, disable the extension. To do this, click the Chrome menu.
7. Move your mouse over More tools.
8. Select Extensions.
   
9. On the Extensions page, find the Blank New Tab Page extension and click the slider button so it turns light gray.
   
10. The default Classic Chrome background becomes the New Tab page again.

How to Set the New Tab Page to Display When You Open Chrome

By default, your Home page and New Tab pages are different. But you can set the Home page to be the same as the New Tab Page.

To set the New Tab Page as your Homepage:

1. Click the Chrome menu button.
2. Press Settings.
   
3. Click On startup in the left pane.
4. Click Open the New Tab page under On startup on the right.
   

How to Have the Home Button Open the New Tab Page

You can also open the New Tab page by clicking the Home button.

To open the New Tab page when you click the Home button:

1. Click the Chrome menu button.
2. Press Settings.
   
3. Click Appearance on the left.
4. If the Home button does not currently display on the toolbar, click the slider button to the right of Show home button so it turns blue.
5. Click the New Tab page
   
6. Now when you click the Home button, the New Tab page opens.
   

How to Change the Default Search Engine on the New Tab Page

If you use a search engine other than Google, you can have that search engine open when you open a new tab.

To change your default search engine for the New Tab page:

1. Click the Chrome menu button.
2. Press Settings.
   
3. Click Search engine on the left.
4. Then, click Manage search engines and site search on the right.
   
5. On the Search engines screen, click the triple-dot menu button next to the search engine you want to use.
6. Then, click Make default.
   
7. When you open a new tab, the search engine you chose as the default displays. Any new tabs you have open without navigating to another site change to display the selected search engine.
8. You can also set up a custom search engine if you want the default search engine to be your favorite site.

How to Use a Custom URL for the New Tab Page in Chrome

This also allows you to use your homepage as the new tab page if you have a custom URL for your home page. Or, you can use any URL as your New Tab page.

To use a custom URL for the New Tab page:

1. Click here to go to the page for the New Tab Redirect extension.
2. Click Add to Chrome.
   
3. Press Add extension on the popup that displays.
   
4. Click Set Options on the Welcome page that displays.
   
5. On the New Tab Redirect Options page, enter the URL for the URL you want to use as your New Tab page in the Redirect URL box.
6. Click Save.
   
7. On the confirmation dialog that displays, click Keep it to finish setting up your custom URL.
   
8. To return to the standard New Tab page, click the Chrome menu button.
9. Hover your mouse over More tools.
10. Select Extensions from the submenu.
    
11. Find the New Tab Redirect extension and click the slider button so it turns gray.
12. If you no longer want the extension, click Remove to remove it from Chrome.
    
13. Once you’ve disabled or removed the extension, the classic Google New Tab page becomes the default New Tab page again.

Customize Chrome to Suit You

You can also set up keyboard shortcuts to quickly access your favorite websites. Other great Chrome tips include making Chrome faster and setting Chrome up to remember your open tabs when you exit.