Setting the default (start, home) page in web browsers

Options and Settings in the Browser

We have several situations that we can address:

• Browser Start (Browser Start)
• Opening a New Window (New Window)
• Opening a New Tab (New Tab)
• Using the Home Button (Home)

Behavior When Starting the Browser

We can set what should happen when the browser starts:

• Restore Previous Session (tabs and windows from the last browser closure)
• Open Specified Addresses (pages)
• Open the Tab Page (or a blank tab)

Microsoft Edge (Chromium)

Configuration is done in

• Settings - Start, home, and new tabs - When Edge starts

Options are

• Open the new tab page
• Open tabs from the previous session
• Open these pages

Google Chrome

Configuration is done in

• Settings - On startup

Options are

• Open the new tab page
• Continue where you left off
• Open a specific page or set of pages

Mozilla Firefox

Configuration is done in two places

• Settings - General - Startup
• Settings - Home - New Windows and Tabs

Options are set a bit differently than the previous ones. We can enable restoring the previous session.

• Open previous windows and tabs

Then we set the behavior for the home page (Home button) and new window

• Firefox Home
• Custom URLs
• Blank Page

And for the new tab

• Firefox Home
• Blank Page

Home Button

All browsers support the Home button (house icon), which is located to the left of the address bar. We can set which addresses will open when this button is clicked.

Microsoft Edge (Chromium)

• Settings - Start, home, and new tabs - Home button

Google Chrome

• Settings - Appearance - Show home button

Mozilla Firefox

• Settings - Home - New Windows and Tabs

New Tab Behavior

In all browsers, we can set how the new tab page looks. In Firefox, we can directly choose to open a blank page. There is a configurable page available that can contain various information. Edge has the most options, which can display weather, news, etc. By default, there is a search box and quick links.

Microsoft Edge (Chromium)

• Settings - Start, home, and new tabs - New tab page
• custom settings are directly on the new tab (New Tab) - gear icon

Google Chrome

• settings are directly on the new tab (New Tab) - Customize Chrome

Mozilla Firefox

• Settings - Home - Firefox Home Content

Central Management via Group Policies

Using Group Policy, we can configure all the above settings. I primarily tested enforced settings. For configuration, it is necessary to have the appropriate ADMX templates available (preferably in the Central Store), ideally in the latest version.

For Edge and Chrome, we can either enforce the settings, so the user cannot change them, or only set the default value, which the user can override. This is a different folder in Group Policy (Default Settings (users can override)).

Firefox allows some settings to be modified by the user.

Microsoft Edge

• ADMX templates - Configure Microsoft Edge policy settings on Windows devices (more info How to create and manage the Central Store for Group Policy Administrative Templates in Windows)
• documentation Microsoft Edge - Policies

For Edge, we can set addresses (or other variants) that will open at browser startup. We can allow users to add their own addresses. We can also set a specific address to open when a new tab is opened. Of course, setting addresses for the Home button is also possible.

Policies for Microsoft Edge from version 77

Path to settings with two variants (enforced vs. preset)

/Policies/Administrative Templates/

• Microsoft Edge
• Microsoft Edge - Default Settings (users can override)

/Startup, home page and new tab page

Items with interesting settings

• Action to take on startup - what opens at browser startup (specified addresses, new tab, previous session)
• Sites to open when the browser starts - addresses of pages to open (when the corresponding action is set)

Policies for Legacy Microsoft Edge

/Policies/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Microsoft Edge/

Old settings for Internet Explorer

/Policies/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Internet Explorer/

User Configuration/Preferences/Control Panel Settings/Internet Settings

Google Chrome

• ADMX templates - Set Chrome Browser policies on managed PCs

For Chrome, we can set almost the same as for Edge. Addresses (or other variants) that open at browser startup, but users cannot be allowed to add their own addresses. We can set a specific address to open when a new tab is opened and a list of addresses for the Home button. Additionally, we can set that defined addresses open at startup plus restore the previous session (it behaves so that multiple browser windows open).

Path to settings with two variants (enforced vs. preset)

/Policies/Administrative Templates/Google/

• Google Chrome
• Google Chrome - Default Settings (users can override)

/Startup, home page and new tab page

Items with interesting settings

• Action on startup - what opens at browser startup (specified addresses, specified addresses + previous session, new tab page, previous session)
• URLs to open on startup - addresses of pages to open (when the corresponding action is set)
• Show Home button on toolbar - show the Home button on the toolbar
• Configure the homepage URL - which addresses the Home button opens
• Configure the new tab page URL - the address that opens on the new tab

Mozilla Firefox

• ADMX templates - Customizing Firefox Using Group Policy (Windows)

For Firefox, we can set less. Addresses (or other variants) that open at browser startup. These are the same as the addresses for the Home button or new window. It is not possible to set an address when opening a new tab.

Note: After starting the browser, it is possible to manually open the previous session in the History - Restore previous session menu.

Path to settings

/Policies/Administrative Templates/Mozilla/Firefox/Home Page

Items with interesting settings

• Start Page - what opens at browser startup (homepage - specified addresses, blank page, previous session)
• URL for Home page - the address of the page to open (when the corresponding action is set), we can disable user changes (Don’t allow the homepage to be changed.)
• Additional Homepages - if we want to open more than one tab, we enter additional addresses
• Show Home button on toolbar - show the Home button on the toolbar

User settings are stored elsewhere than policy settings (apparently this is the case in all browsers, after canceling the policy, the settings that the user had previously return). If the user has allowed homepage changes, and already has an address set, the policy setting is not visible. In other words, user settings take precedence.

The second special thing is setting the action that will be performed at browser startup (Start Page), if we want to open specified addresses (homepage). We can set the Homepage option, which may not work (does not override the user's setting to open the previous session). Or Homepage (Locked), which is often our goal. In this case, the Open previous windows and tabs option is turned off and cannot be changed.

Note: In Firefox, we can see which policies have been applied by opening the about:policies page.