Friday, March 29, 2024

How to set Google as your homepage in the most popular browsers

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Are you getting tired of turning your browser away from whatever your homepage is to visit the Google homepage? Would you like to automatically open to Google’s home page every time you used your browser? There is a way! Check below for your preferred browser and instructions on how to switch your homepage to Google from now on.

How to set Google as the homepage in any browser

Microsoft Edge

If your idea of a homepage is more along the lines of, “Whatever page that opens when I start Edge,” then here’s the quickest way to set that up.

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Step 1: Open an Edge Window and select More actions (the dots in the upper right of the screen) and then Settings.

Step 2: Within the Settings page, select On startup from the left-hand side menu. Then select Open a specific page or pages.

Step 3: Once you do that, another sub-menu will pop up underneath that option. In this menu, select Add a new page and then enter google.com into the dialog box that pops up. Then select Add.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome should, under normal circumstances, automatically take you to a window with the search bar and several of your favorite websites, so many Chrome users may not even have to worry about this step. But if you want to set a more official home screen or double-check that everything is still working, here’s what to do.

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Step 1: Select the more options icon (three vertical dots) in the top right corner of the screen in your browser window. Then select Settings.

Step 2: Select Appearance. From the Appearance menu, select the toggle button next to the Show home button option.

Step 3: Enter google.com in the space provided when prompted to type in your chosen homepage’s URL.

Note: This option may not work if you are using Chrome on a tablet or phone, where settings options are a little more limited.

Safari

Here’s how to set Google as your homepage in Safari, according to Google’s support site:

Step 1: Open up Safari, select Safari in the upper left corner of the screen, and then select Preferences. From here, select General.

Step 2: Look for the heading that says Homepage with a space next to it. Then type in google.com.

Firefox

No worries here, Firefox offers the easiest option by far. Open up Firefox, and go to the Google home website with the search bar you know and love. Then:

Step 1: Click/Select the tab itself (the bumper where the title of the page usually is) and hold down. Then drag that tab right, over to the homepage button that Firefox uses in the taskbar – it looks like a little house and it’s hard to miss.

Step 2: This will bring up a quick notification asking you if you really want to set this as your home page. Select Yes, and you’re done.

Step 3: If you want to delete and replace current home page options more directly, click the three-line menu button and go to Options. From here, select the Home tab and look for the New Windows and Tabs section and select the Restore Defaults button which should be nearby and which will clear any past choices.

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Advanced option: Set a series of tabs to open

The Google homepage is nice, but a little limited in its usefulness. Chances are good that you already know several webpages you want to visit when you open your browser. There are a variety of options you can use to set several of those pages to open when you first start the browser, saving you a lot of time.

We encourage you to set these pages if it’s a daily routine for you – you just need to find the right option. Google Chrome offers you a way to continue where you left off, Firefox lets you set multiple pages as your home page, and Mac computers allow you to automatically open websites when you first log onto your computer, and so on. This may prove a more useful solution than visiting the Google search bar over and over

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