Firefox opening a site you never picked? It is usually the homepage, the startup option, an extension, or leftover profile data. Work through them one at a time.
Change the homepage first, then the startup dropdown. If the page still appears, check your add-ons and reset Firefox after reading what the reset removes.
In this guide, I have covered:
Contents
Why Firefox opens a website you never chose
You launch Firefox and a page you never picked loads by itself. Three things usually explain it: that address is set as your homepage, it is selected in the startup options, or an extension is quietly rewriting one of those settings.
Work through the settings in order. Change one thing at a time, quit Firefox completely, and reopen it to see whether the page is gone.
Replace the unwanted Firefox homepage
The homepage field comes first because the same address also feeds the home button and every new window. Clear out the unwanted one and put a page you actually want there.
- Visit the New Tab Override page on Mozilla Add-ons and click .
- Grant the permission Firefox asks for during installation.
- Type about:addons into the address bar and press , then find New Tab Override in the list.
- Click next to the extension and pick your preferred behavior: a blank page, your homepage, or any custom URL.
- Open a new tab to confirm Firefox no longer loads Firefox Home.
Restart Firefox after saving. You’ll know it worked when the home button and a freshly opened window both load the page you chose, not the old address.
Change what Firefox opens at startup
Still seeing the page? The startup dropdown is a separate control from the homepage field, and it decides what loads the moment Firefox launches.
- Click the
menu and select Settings. - Select General in the Settings sidebar.
- Scroll to the Homepage and new windows section.
- Open the When you open Firefox, open dropdown.
- Select Homepage, Blank page, or another option that does not point to the unwanted address.
Quit every Firefox window, then start the browser again. The unwanted URL should be gone unless something else is restoring it.
The homepage and the startup page are separate settings. Changing the homepage URL does not necessarily change what Firefox opens when the application starts.
Check for an extension changing the startup page
If the page returns after you fix both settings, an add-on is the likely cause. Some of them set a homepage or startup page without asking, and the change never shows up where you would expect it.
- Click the menu and select Add-ons and themes.
- Review the enabled extensions for anything you do not recognize or no longer need.
- Disable one suspicious extension at a time using its enable control.
- Close Firefox completely and reopen it.
- Remove the extension if the unwanted URL no longer appears.
Not sure whether the culprit is an extension or the profile itself? Open a private window in Firefox and load your home page there. If the old address still appears in that window, the homepage setting itself is still in place.
Reset Firefox if the unwanted page remains
Nothing in Settings explains it and the page still loads? Imported preferences, enterprise policies, or profile data you cannot identify individually may be holding the old configuration.
The guide to reset Mozilla Firefox settings on your computer walks through the reset. Read it before you start so you know exactly what will be removed.
After the reset, open Firefox and set both the homepage field and the startup option again. Then restart the browser to check the result.
Confirm the unwanted URL has been removed
A fix only counts if it survives a full restart. Close every Firefox window, check that Firefox is not still running in the background, then launch it again.
Check these after reopening Firefox:
- The unwanted website does not load on its own.
- The homepage shows the page you selected.
- The startup option still points where you set it.
- No enabled extension restores the unwanted address.
If none of that matches what you see, the official Mozilla Support discussion about removing an unwanted startup page is worth reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I stop Firefox from opening a website at startup?
Open Firefox Settings and select General. Under Homepage and new windows, set the homepage field and the startup dropdown to the page you want, then restart Firefox.
Why does the unwanted homepage keep coming back?
An enabled extension may be changing the homepage or startup page. Disable or remove recently added or unfamiliar extensions, then check the Firefox settings again.
Does changing the Firefox homepage also change the startup page?
No. The homepage and the startup option are separate controls. Set the homepage first, then confirm the When you open Firefox, open dropdown uses the option you want.
Will resetting Firefox delete my bookmarks and passwords?
Some reset methods can remove browser data. Read the reset instructions before you proceed and back up anything you cannot replace.
How can I test whether an extension is causing the redirect?
Disable extensions one at a time and restart Firefox after each change. The extension responsible for the unwanted startup URL is the one whose removal stops that address from reopening.
