How to Change the Tab Settings on Firefox

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: March 26, 2018 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to edit your Firefox browser's tab settings. You can do this both on the desktop version of Firefox and in the Firefox mobile app.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

On Desktop

1
Open Firefox. Its app icon resembles an orange fox on a blue globe.
2
Click ☰. It's in the upper-right corner of the Firefox window. Doing so prompts a pop-out menu.

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3
Click Options. You'll find this near the bottom of the pop-out menu. The Options page will open.
- On Mac, click "Preferences" instead.
4
Click the General tab. It's on the left side of the window. You can adjust some basic tab options from here.
5
Select a startup tab option. Near the top of the page, check the box next to one of the following options:
- Show your home page - This option opens your Firefox home page. You can change your home page from within Firefox's settings.
- Show a blank page - This option opens a blank tab whenever you open Firefox.
- Show your windows and tabs from last time - This option displays any tabs and windows that you left open the last time you closed Firefox.
6
Scroll down to the "Tabs" heading. It's near the middle of the page.
7
Select tab options. Below the "Tabs" heading, check the box to the left of each option that you want to enable. You can also uncheck options which you wish to disable here.
- Depending on your computer type (Windows or Mac), the options that you see below the "Tabs" heading will vary.
8
Exit the Options page. Your preferences will be saved and applied to your tabs' behavior going forward.
- Some preferences may not take effect until you close and re-open Firefox.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

On iPhone

1
Open Firefox. Tap the Firefox app icon, which resembles an orange fox on a blue background.
2
Tap ☰. It's in the bottom-right corner of the screen. A pop-up menu will appear.
3
Tap Settings. You'll find this option in the pop-up menu.
4
Tap New Tab. It's near the top of the "GENERAL" section of options.
5
Turn off any additional content that you don't want. Below the "ADDITIONAL CONTENT" heading in the middle of the page, tap the colored switch to the right of each item that you don't want to see on new tabs.
- If you want to enable an additional content type, tap the white switch to the right of its heading.
6
Tap the current "NEW TAB" option. You'll find this option at the top of the screen; by default, this option is Show your Top Sites.
7
Select a tab option. Tap one of the following options to apply it to new tabs in the future:
- Show a Blank Page - Displays a blank page when you open a new tab.
- Show your Top Sites - Displays a list of your most frequently visited sites when you open a new tab.
- Show your Bookmarks - Displays a list of your bookmarked pages when you open a new tab.
- Show your History - Displays a list of your recently opened pages.
- Show your Homepage - Displays your Firefox home page. You can change the home page from within Firefox settings.
8
Return to the Firefox main page. Tap the "Back" button in the upper-left corner of the screen twice, then tap Done. Your new tab settings will be applied.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

On Android

1
Open Firefox. Tap the Firefox app icon, which resembles an orange fox on a blue background.
2
Tap ⋮. It's in the top-right corner of the screen. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu.
3
Tap Settings. You'll find this option at the bottom of the drop-down menu. The Settings page will open.
4
Tap General. It's near the top of the Settings page.
5
Enable or disable tab options. Tap the white switch to the right of one of the following options to enable it (or tap the blue switch to disable it):
- Tab queue - When enabled, this option saves copied links until you open Firefox.
- Custom Tabs - When enabled, this option opens a new tab for specific apps that try to use Firefox.
6
Return to the main Settings page. Tap the "Back" button to do so.
7
Tap Advanced. You'll find this near the bottom of the page.
8
Tap Restore tabs. It's near the top of the "Advanced" page.
9
Enable or disable restoring tabs. The "Restore tabs" feature will re-open any tabs that you left open the last time you closed Firefox:
- Tap Always restore to enable restoring tabs.
- Tap Don't restore after quitting Firefox to disable restoring tabs.
10
Return to the Firefox main page. Tap the "Back" button twice to do so. Your new tab settings will be applied going forward.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I change the tabs' color?

Community Answer

Unfortunately, you cannot. Most browsers do not support that kind of function.
Question

How do I turn off tabs that are on all the time at the top of my desktop?

Joseph S (tntexplodes101)

Community Answer

That would be known as a pinned tab. To fix that, right click on a tab and select the third option from the top, which should say "unpin tab".