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Modifying Startup Behavior and Home Pages for macOS

Change the home page for any browser on Mac

By Scott Orgera Scott Orgera Writer Scott Orgera is a former Lifewire writer covering tech since 2007. He has 25+ years' experience as a programmer and QA leader, and holds several Microsoft certifications including MCSE, MCP+I, and MOUS. He is also A+ certified. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 2, 2020 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email

In This Article

Expand Jump to a Section Change Safari Home Page and Startup Behavior Change Google Chrome Startup Behavior Change the Firefox Home Page Change Opera's Home Page on Mac Most web browsers for Mac allow you to choose any website as your home page. Here's how to change the home page and startup behavior for several popular browsers on macOS. Instructions in this article apply to Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera for macOS 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14 (Mojave), and 10.13 (High Sierra).

How to Change Safari Home Page and Startup Behavior

The default browser for macOS lets you choose from several options to specify what happens each time you open a new tab or window. Go to Safari > Preferences. Alternatively, use the Safari keyboard shortcut Command+, (comma) to access the Preferences menu. Go to the General tab. Select the New windows open with drop-down menu and choose one of the following: Favorites: Display your favorite websites, each represented by a thumbnail icon and title, as well as the Safari Favorites sidebar. Homepage: Open the URL that's currently set as your home page. Empty Page: Open a blank page. Same Page: Open a duplicate of the active web page. Tabs for Favorites: Launch an individual tab for each of your saved Favorites. Choose tabs folder: Open a Finder window and choose a folder or a collection of Favorites to open when the Tabs for Favorites option is active. In the Homepage field, enter the URL you want to open when you launch Safari or select Set to Current Page.

How to Change Google Chrome Startup Behavior

To change your home page settings in Chrome for macOS: Select the three dots in the upper-right corner of Chrome. Choose Settings. In the Appearance section, turn on the Show home button toggle switch. Choose New Tab page or Open this page to assign a custom URL.

How to Change the Firefox Home Page

If you want, you can automatically launch several of your favorite sites when you open Firefox: Select the hamburger menu in the upper-right corner of Firefox. You can also bring up the Preferences menu by entering about:preferences in the address bar. Choose Preferences. Select Home on the left side of the Preferences page. Select the Homepage and new windows drop-down menu and choose Custom URLs. Enter the URL for your desired home page. Since changes are automatically saved, you can close the Firefox settings. To customize the default Firefox home page, scroll down to the Firefox Home Content section.

How to Change Opera' s Home Page on Mac

There are several choices available when it comes to Opera's startup behavior: Select Opera in the browser menu and choose Preferences. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Command+, (comma) to access the Opera Preferences menu. Select Basic. Choose one of the following options under On startup: Begin fresh with start page: Open the Opera start page, which contains links to Bookmarks, news, and browsing history.Retain tabs from previous session: Open all pages that were active at the close of your previous session.Open a specific page or set of pages: Open one or more pages that you define. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Set the Home Page to Your Favorite Website How to Clear Cookies for a Specific Site How to Change Home Page and Startup Behavior in Windows How to Turn on Incognito Mode in Your Browser How to Manage Tabbed Browsing in Safari for macOS How to Change the Internet Explorer Home Page Home Pages: What Are They? How to Make Google Your Default Search Engine How to Remove Safe Finder From Mac How to Clear Your Search Bar History How to Change Your Homepage in Safari The Top 10 Personalized Start Pages for Your Web Browser How to Activate the iPhone Debug Console or Web Inspector Search History: How to View or Delete It Allow or Deny Access to Your Physical Location Settings How to Close All Tabs on Your Computer or Android Browsers Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies