Changing Your Browser’s Homepage
One of the most frequent questions I get when setting up a computer for somebody is how to change the home page. Usually it starts on something silly like MSN or the website of the manufacturer, and so you want to change it. Here's how.
This tip was tested on Firefox and Chrome; it is probably mostly applicable to Internet Explorer as well, but the exact steps will be different.
The Quick Method
This works on both Firefox and Chrome.
- Browse to the website you want to make your home page.
- Look to the left of the web address. Depending on whether the site is secure or not, there will be either a little icon or a company name of some sort.
- Drag this icon or name onto the home button (it looks like a home, and is on the toolbar, often next to the back and forward buttons). Firefox will ask you for confirmation, while Chrome will just go ahead and make the change.
For some strange reason, Chrome doesn't display the home button by default, but adding it is no problem: click the wrench in the upper-right-hand corner, then Preferences, then check "Show Home Button."
The More Involved Method
If you want some more options, like having multiple tabs as your home page, you need to head over to your browser's options dialog box. This will usually be in Tools -> Options or Edit -> Preferences, though many recent browsers have one or two big buttons instead of multiple menus, so click the button and then Options or Preferences.
To set multiple tabs in Firefox, browse to all the pages you want, then open the options and select Use Current Pages. In Chrome, under the "On Startup" section in Preferences, select "Open the Following Pages," then type or paste the addresses you want.
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Soren "scorchgeek" Bjornstad
If you have found an error or notable omission in this tip, please leave a comment or email me: webmaster@thetechnicalgeekery.com.
Copyright 2012 Soren Bjornstad.
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