J. P. Gilliver wrote:

Is there an easy way to change what URL appears for either the home page
or the new tab function?

Ideally - I think - I'd like to specify a URL for what appears when I
click the home page icon, and have new tabs open blank. But any way to
change either of them would be welcome. (Preferably not involving an extension - there are nearly always multiple ones to do any one thing,
and I hate having to choose which one - but I'll go that way if I must.)

The best(closest) to your intent/desire:

Edge Settings/Start-Home-New Tab Page
- On Startup => Select 'Open Custom sites'
- Sites => Click Add site, add your preferred Home Page url
- Home Button => Toggle on Show Home button on the toolbar
then Set Custom site(enter same url entered above in 'Add site'
- New Tab Page => toggle off CoPilot and Preload your new tab page[1]

[1] Preload - this is a preference item(if loading on startup is
desired, then leave it toggled 'On'

Close Edge Settings windows
Close Edge
Open Edge (your preferred home page will load)
Open a New Tab(click on + sign, top of window next to Home Page Tab)
In new tab window:
Click on Gear(upper right)for 'Page Settings'
Configure Quick Links &search as follows
Quick Links => 1 row
Show sponsored links => Toggle Off
Open in a new tab => Toggle Off
Show Content => Toggle Off
Show widgets => Toggle Off
Show Feed => Toggle Off
Background => Toggle Off


One the new tab page, directly under the 'search bar' use the '...' next
to any shortcut to remove that shortcut




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Keywords: VanguardLH,VLH

"J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

Is there an easy way to change what URL appears for either the home page
or the new tab function?

Ideally - I think - I'd like to specify a URL for what appears when I
click the home page icon, and have new tabs open blank. But any way to
change either of them would be welcome. (Preferably not involving an extension - there are nearly always multiple ones to do any one thing,
and I hate having to choose which one - but I'll go that way if I must.)

Not sure what you expect when you hit the Home toolbar button versus the
home page you configure in the settings. The Home button takes you to
the home page, and you can configure what is the home page in settings.
To clarify, you want to specify a landing page for the home page
settings in the web browser, but have the Home toolbar button point
somewhere else?

While you can specify about:blank for the home page (the one Edge loads
when it starts), the "cleanest" you can get for new tabs is to customize
the page to remove all the fluff, but you won't get rid of the Bing
search bar in the middle of a new-tab page. Unless you use an
extension. I've tried several blank-new-tab extensions, but they have
all failed by having Edge populate the address bar with the internal URL
to the extension's settings page. The setting page doesn't appear, so I
still get a blank tab, but the address bar is not blank and instead
shows a URL to the setting page. Doesn't happen all the time, and
appears a bug in Edge. The extensions work to show a blank document
window, but sometimes the address bar is not also blank. So far, the
only one I've tried without the above erratic anomaly is New Tab
Redirect. Instead of defining its own internal web doc to display
(blank) which could sometimes result in a non-blank address bar, this
extension redirects to an internal web doc bundled with the web browser,
like about:blank (or any of the about: or edge: internal docs), or to
whatever URL you want to point.

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/new-tab-redirect/icpgjfneehieebagbmdbhnlpiopdcmna

Alas, it isn't perfect, either. It doesn't follow the light/dark theme
of the web browser. With this extension, you alway get a light (white)
themed new-tab page. I prefer a dark blank page (about:blank). I
prefer not to have a flashlight glaring in my eyes. Some blank-new-tab extensions will make the background for about:blank match your choice of system, light, dark in the web browser. I have this extension control
what web doc is loaded in a new tab, and I configured the home page (on startup) to open a new tab page, so the initial home page (and the one
loaded by the Home toolbar button which I don't bother to show) and new
tabs are all blank. In your case, you'd use the extention to load
about:blank for new tabs, and configure the home page setting to
whatever you want to load when you start Edge, or with the Home toolbar
button.

If you resist using extensions, and want to use only settings within
Edge to get blank new-tabs, you'll be disappointed. Microsoft is
adamant on pushing their Bing search engine.

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Keywords: VanguardLH,VLH

"J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/new-tab-redirect/icpgjfneehieebagbmdbhnlpiopdcmna

I've installed that one (the above link). Now, when I click the new
tab button, _sometimes_ I get a blank page, at other times I get a
_nearly_ blank page with a bar across the top that says New Tab
Redirect! on the left and Chrome Web Store on the right (and a tiny
icon bottom right). [I haven't worked out what decides what I'll
get.] In both cases, the cursor is in a - blank - address bar. It's _marginally_ preferable to the Microsoft and bing search bar, but
that's countered by the knowledge that I have to have an extension
just to do that.>

Never seen that result. In the options for the New Tab Redirect
extension (extension://icpgjfneehieebagbmdbhnlpiopdcmna/options.html),
what do you have it redirect to?

For me, I have "Redirect URL" set to about:blank. I leave the other 2 checkboxes unselected. Then click Save.

Under edge://settings/startHomeNTP, the "New tab page" setting shows
"New Tab Redirect is controll the new tab page." You want the extension controlling the web doc loaded when a new tab is loaded. For the "Home
button" setting there, I have "New tab page" selected, so the extension
gets used to load the specified URL for a new tab. For the "On startup" option, I have "Ope the new tab page".

It is possible other tab-related extensions could interfere or conflict
with other tab-related extensions, so try just one enabled at a time.

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"J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

And I had to click on a hamburger to get that. Whoever invented - and persuaded the world to use - the idea of three lines to mean a menu,
I'd cheerfully ...

Have to ask. Cheerfully what? Make them sit on a broomstick, and spin? Hieroglyphics is a crappy language hence the need for info popup tips.

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On 8/1/25 3:03 PM, J. P. Gilliver wrote:

Whoever invented - and persuaded the world to use - the
idea of three lines to mean a menu, I'd cheerfully ...

It resembles a menu with line items on it. A list?
I kinda like the little gear. Or a set of tools like a screwdriver and wrench maybe.

Pick one. https://postimg.cc/GTtgvsXr
I make the hamburger menu a bit more pronounced, but that's me. https://postimg.cc/RWwdJzcg bright bold yellow stripes.


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Alan K.

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"J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

Never seen that result. In the options for the New Tab Redirect
extension (extension://icpgjfneehieebagbmdbhnlpiopdcmna/options.html),
what do you have it redirect to?

I hadn't fed it anything, because I couldn't _find_ where to put that!
Now you've given me that "URL", I can see it is showing - in grey text,
as if it's a prompt that will disappear if type anything (yes, I think
it is, as I've just tried to copy it, and can't) "Default New Tab
Redirect 'Apps' Page". (Without the double quotes.)

The URL I gave was a short way to get to the options page for the
extension without having to describe how to navigate to there. Every
extension that has an options page has a URL to it.

extension://icpgjfneehieebagbmdbhnlpiopdcmna/options.html
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^
| | |
You're specifying The extension's ID The web page
a URL to the included with
extension the extension

Not all extensions have options, so they don't provide a web doc for
that. Each extension has its own identifier, and under where it gets
stored when installed.

You can see the same URL in Manage Extensions (edge://extensions/),
click the Details link for an extension, and click on the "Extension
options" link. For more details on the extensions, you can go to edge://extensions-internals/. In this case for the XML listing, search
on "redirect" to see that extension's ID, and install path.

If you go to the install path in File Explorer (you'll have to change \\
to \, because the slash is escaped in the XML file), you'll see the
options page, if the extension has options. In this case, it is the options.html file, but could be any filename.

With me, there is no greyed text in this extension's options page. In
the "Redirect URL" field, you enter a string for what page you want this extension to open for a new tab. You could type in about:blank. You
can also click on one of the provided URLs to have it populate the input
field, so you could click on "Blank Page" to get about:blank put in the "Redirect URL" field. You could type "https://www.intel.com" if that's
what you want new tabs to load.

I have "Open tabs from the previous session", which is what I want.

It is possible other tab-related extensions could interfere or conflict
with other tab-related extensions, so try just one enabled at a time.

I only have three extensions altogether: Unhook (the YouTube tweaker),
Google Docs Offline (which apparently "comes pre-installed on your
device" - it's turned off anyway), and New Tab Redirect.

I thought you were asking about Microsoft Edge as per your Subject?
That does not come bundled with Google Docs. Chrome does.

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6388102
"If you are using Microsoft Edge, you will be redirected to the Chrome
Web Store to download the Google Docs Offline extension."

You still see a "nearly blank page that says New Tab Redirect! on the
left and Chrome Web Store on the right"? What do you see when you enter about:blank in the address bar? There is no HTML page in the install
path for New Tab Redirect extension with that content. Are you sure about:blank is specified in the "Redirect URL" option for this
extension? If so, disable the other extensions, purge locally cached
data from the web browser, reload the web browser, and open a new tab.

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J. P. Gilliver wrote:

But I still have
the word Microsoft (after a logo), and a search bar. I suppose it's just
an aesthetic matter: at least when I click new tab the cursor is in the address bar which is blank. But I'd prefer the page content to be blank too.

That's the most one can achieve using Edge's own 'Settings'.

Other's have chimed in on alternative approaches(Extensions, about:blank)

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J. P. Gilliver wrote:

On 2025/8/2 14:58:31, ...winston wrote:

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

But I still have
the word Microsoft (after a logo), and a search bar. I suppose it's just >>> an aesthetic matter: at least when I click new tab the cursor is in the
address bar which is blank. But I'd prefer the page content to be blank too.

That's the most one can achieve using Edge's own 'Settings'.

Yes, it seems so.

Other's have chimed in on alternative approaches(Extensions, about:blank)

From what I gather, you can't even use about:blank _without_ an
extension - there's nowhere in settings to actually insert it (or any
other URL) for New Tab, as opposed to Home.

My preference is similar to yours with one exception.
- Using Edge' Settings(as I noted earlier) is sufficient.

For the new tab page(after toggling off all Edge settings), I only leave
one shortcut - Google.
Google is my default search engine configured elsewhere[1], thus
available in via search string in the address bar or via the Google
shortcut on the new tab page. On the new tab page, I just ignore the
Microsoft logo and Bing search option.

[1]Privacy, search, and services
- Search and connected experiences/Address bar and search
=> 'Search engine used in the address bar' is Google(Default)

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Keywords: VanguardLH,VLH

"J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

Are you sure about:blank is specified in the "Redirect URL" option for this >> extension? If so, disable the other extensions, purge locally cached
data from the web browser, reload the web browser, and open a new tab.

No, I have _nothing_ in the "Redirect URL" box in the settings for that extension. what do _you_ get, on clicking the new tab button, if you
empty that box? (Or maybe you can't empty it once you've put something
in it? I've not _tried_ to put anything in it.)

I've never left that field empty in the extension. The point is to have
it *redirect* to the URL. I don't know where it goes if you don't
specify a target URL. Without a target, how would it know what to load?

I'd have to ask the author what happens when no target is specified for
the URL to which the extension is supposed to redirect. According to
the extension page, contact the author at james.schubert@gmail.com.
I'll let you do that since it doesn't make sense to me to not specify
the target of a redirect. Note: the screenshots at the extension page
in the Chrome store do not match the current version. The layout was
changed to make it better understood, and more help pages were added,
included a Contact page for the Github site, and author's e-mail.

You can either enter about:blank yourself into the config field (and
then be sure to hit Save), or you can click on "Blank page" (in the list
of predefined URLs) which does an auto-save on click.

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"J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

"J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

Are you sure about:blank is specified in the "Redirect URL" option for this
extension? If so, disable the other extensions, purge locally cached
data from the web browser, reload the web browser, and open a new tab.

No, I have _nothing_ in the "Redirect URL" box in the settings for that
extension. what do _you_ get, on clicking the new tab button, if you
empty that box? (Or maybe you can't empty it once you've put something
in it? I've not _tried_ to put anything in it.)

I've never left that field empty in the extension. The point is to have

Try it, just for fun! It won't break anything. (That's assuming it will
_let_ you "Save" with nothing in that box. Since I've never _tried_ to,
I don't know.) You can always put it back to about:blank afterwards, or whatever you prefer.)

When I clear the Redirect URL field, it gets populated with "Default:
New Tab Redirect 'Apps' Page" which is grey text (not black) on white.
Because I manually entered a change in the field, I have to click Save
to save my change. Yep, I get the following web doc loaded by the
extension:

https://imgur.com/EGzuJVU

Well, the extension didn't know where to go, and defaulted to loading
that internal web doc (but I didn't see it in the extension install
folder).

That internal web doc says it doesn't have permissions to look at apps.
I didn't bother to grant it permission since I never intend on using it
this way. Maybe what it wants to load is:

edge://apps/

I don't install any such apps into Edge. These aren't web apps. These
are "apps" which are shortcuts you add to your desktop that will open
the web site, but in a minimal instance of Edge. I think that means you
won't get the chrome (small 'c') around the document window: no address
bar, menu bar, or other window elements around the document window. For
a demo, see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgnjCNOtiLk

You could create a URL shortcut on your desktop, but it'll open the web
browser with its full chrome. The "app" opens the web browser with
almost no chrome, plus you can pin it to the Start Menu or Taskbar.

I don't recall the field was ever empty (with the greyed text saying you
get some "apps" internal web doc) on an install. For me, it was
about:blank from the start. Could be I looked in the extension's
options, and about:blank was so very obvious the choice to get blank new
tabs. You were told to specify about:blank to get blank new tabs, but
guess you wanted to play with the extension. However, the author
already contemplated such breakage, and still tried to specify an
internal web page to load.

If you don't want to specify about:blank in the extension, why are you
still using the extension? Your specified objective was to load blank
new tabs, not to load non-blank new tabs.

it *redirect* to the URL. I don't know where it goes if you don't
specify a target URL. Without a target, how would it know what to load?

Seems a bit silly to have to specify a redirect to get a blank page!

Where do you think is that web doc? Enter about:about to see all the
various internal web docs you can load *inside* the web browser.
about:blank is just another one of those.

You could have both the home page and this extension load any of the
about: or edge: internal web docs, like:

edge:about
edge:apps
edge:browser-essentials
edge:crashes
edge:downloads
edge:favorites

and so on. Your choice what to load whether it be an internal web doc,
or a URL pointing to an external site.

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J. P. Gilliver wrote:

On 2025/8/2 17:41:35, ...winston wrote:

[]

My preference is similar to yours with one exception.
- Using Edge' Settings(as I noted earlier) is sufficient.

For the new tab page(after toggling off all Edge settings), I only leave
one shortcut - Google.
Google is my default search engine configured elsewhere[1], thus
available in via search string in the address bar or via the Google

I have https://www.google.co.uk/advanced_search set as my leftmost
bookmark, and since this thread started, on my Home button.

Google(or another search service) can be added as the default, as noted,
for the address bar. Likewise, I keep Google(url) on my Edge/Favorites bar.

shortcut on the new tab page. On the new tab page, I just ignore the
Microsoft logo and Bing search option.

*I want my New Tab page to open blank*; I've yet to decide whether I'm
going to leave in the extension VLH (I think) told us about, or remove
it and, as you say, just ignore the logo and bing bar.

* You've already made that clear. Afaik, no other options than those provided(or in use) are available.

Thinking about it, it _is_ just aesthetics: I can't think that I often
_use_ the new tab button. If I follow a link from another web page, I
nearly always right-click and select open in new tab; if it's a link
from an email or post, it - always I think - opens in a new tab anyway.
There _are_ times when a URL is not a link, or I just want to try
(usually just typing <companyname>.com or .co.uk), so I do use it
sometimes, but not often.

Agreed. Besides opening a link or favorite url in a new tab(same or new
window or opening a favorite in the new tab, my other use of the new tab
is very little. Ignoring the logo and search bar, imo, is fine for my
use of Edge.

[1]Privacy, search, and services
- Search and connected experiences/Address bar and search
=> 'Search engine used in the address bar' is Google(Default)

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