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The new tab control button is a very big privacy problem !

  • 6 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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How to get rid of this boring " new tab control" button ?!

I only need google on new tabs, no more . I dont want to install a ton of add ons just to delete a button !

How to get rid of this boring " new tab control" button ?! I only need google on new tabs, no more . I dont want to install a ton of add ons just to delete a button !

All Replies (6)

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And also : why is it now impossible to have a new tab opening on a url ? The only possible choice is blank.

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The preference - browser.newtab.url - which allowed the user to set their own URL for the new tab page was removed in Firefox 41, due to that preference getting 'hacked' by Malware. Currently the only way to restore that preference is with an extension; at least 4 extensions that I am aware of allow the user to set the new tab URL.

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The browser.newtab.url pref is no longer supported in Firefox 41 and later, so you can no longer use this to set the new tab page.

You can look at this extension to set the new tab page:

You can set the new tab URL setting via the Options/Preferences of the extension on the about:addons page.

You can look at this extension if you use the home page as the new tab page.

Classic Theme Restorer includes this feature as well. In current CTR versions (1.3.9+) you find "New tab page url" in the Tabs (1) section.

You can use these special pages for the new tab page or use the URL of a web page. the default new tab page with the tiles is about:newtab

  • the default home page is about:home
  • for a blank page you can use about:blank
  • for Super Start you can use about:superstart
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OK I installed "new tab homepage"

But I insist the privacy issue remains .

now it's easy to know your most visited sites, just tap "about:newtab" and clik on the button... And it's boring to install ton of addons only to have a normal behaviour that older versions had ! Thanks

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There is also a Most Visited smart folder on the Bookmarks Toolbar that shows such pages.

You can pin pages to tiles on the about:newtab page to prevent tiles from showing specific pages.

You can change the order of the boxes on the about:newtab page and drag an item to a different tile to pin it to that position or you can remove a website by clicking the close X to block that URL. You can drag a bookmark or history item from the sidebar and drop it in a tile on the about:newtab page to pin this item and have your own favorites sites present.

Changes made manually on the about:newtab page are stored in prefs that you can find on the about:config page.

  • browser.newtabpage.pinned stores websites that you have pinned to a tile.
  • browser.newtabpage.blocked stores websites that you have removed by clicking the X button in a tile.