What Chrome calls your default page, and where to find it
Chrome has two separate settings that control what you see when you open the browser. The home page is what appears when you click the house icon in the toolbar. The startup page is what loads when you first launch Chrome. You can set each one independently, and they do not have to be the same.
Both settings live in the same place: the Settings menu. Open Chrome, click the three vertical dots in the top right corner, then select Settings. On the left sidebar, click On startup to change what appears when you launch the browser, or click Home to change what the home button does.
The reason Chrome separates these is practical. You might want Chrome to open to your email inbox when you start the browser, but have the home button take you to a search page. Or you might want the startup page to restore your previous tabs instead of loading anything new. The choice is yours.
Key Takeaways
- Chrome's home page (what the house button does) and startup page (what loads when you launch the browser) are controlled in separate settings.
- You can set either page to a specific URL, a search engine, or your open tabs from your last session.
- The home button does not appear in the toolbar by default — you must enable it in Settings under Appearance.
- If you set a startup page but then restore tabs from your last session, Chrome will load both the startup page and your previous tabs.
Setting your home page to a specific website
To make the home button take you to a particular website, open Settings and click Home on the left. Select the radio button next to Open a specific page or set of pages. Then click Add a new page and type the URL you want — for example, google.com or mail.google.com.
You can add multiple pages. If you do, clicking the home button will open all of them in separate tabs. To remove a page from the list, hover over it and click the X that appears. To change the order, click and drag a page up or down in the list.
If the home button is not visible in your toolbar, you need to enable it first. Go to Settings, click Appearance on the left, then toggle Show home button to on. A dropdown menu will appear below it — select Open the home page so the button actually does something when you click it.
Setting your startup page to a specific website
Open Settings and click On startup on the left. You will see three options. Select Open a specific page or set of pages, then click Add a new page and enter the URL you want Chrome to load when it launches.
Like the home page setting, you can add multiple startup pages. Chrome will open each one in its own tab. This is useful if you always start your day by checking the same few websites — you can have them all load automatically instead of opening them one by one.
Keep in mind that if you also have Continue where you left off enabled in the same menu, Chrome will load both your startup pages and the tabs you had open last time. This can result in many tabs opening at once, which some people find helpful and others find overwhelming. Test it and adjust based on what works for your routine.
Using your open tabs as your startup page
Instead of loading a fixed website, you can tell Chrome to reopen whatever tabs you had open the last time you closed the browser. Go to Settings, click On startup, and select Continue where you left off.
This is useful if you work with the same set of websites throughout the day. Close Chrome at the end of your session, and the next time you open it, all your tabs will be waiting. If you close a tab by accident before shutting down Chrome, it will still be there when you reopen the browser.
The downside is that if you have many tabs open, Chrome will take longer to start up because it has to reload all of them. If startup speed matters to you, a fixed home page is faster.
Restoring a closed tab or window
If you close a tab or window by accident, you do not need to change your startup settings to get it back. Press Ctrl+Shift+T on Windows or Linux, or Command+Shift+T on Mac. Chrome will reopen the most recently closed tab. Press the same keys again to reopen the next most recent tab, and so on.
To reopen a closed window instead of a single tab, press Ctrl+Shift+N on Windows or Linux, or Command+Shift+N on Mac. This opens a new window, but if you want to restore a specific closed window, right-click the Chrome icon in your taskbar (Windows) or dock (Mac) and look for recently closed windows in the menu.
Why your home page might not be loading
If you set a home page but clicking the home button does not take you there, the most common reason is that the home button is not enabled. Check Settings under Appearance and make sure Show home button is toggled on. Also verify that the dropdown below it is set to Open the home page rather than Open the new tab page.
If the button is enabled but still not working, the URL you entered might be invalid. Go back to Settings, click Home, and check that the address is correct. Common mistakes include forgetting https:// at the beginning or mistyping the domain name. You can also test the URL by typing it directly into the address bar to confirm it works.
If you are using a work or school Chrome account, your organization may have set policies that override your personal home page settings. Contact your IT department if you suspect this is the case.
Syncing your settings across devices
If you sign into Chrome with a Google account, your home page and startup page settings will sync to any other device where you sign in with the same account. This means if you set your home page on your laptop, it will automatically appear on your phone or tablet too.
To check if syncing is on, open Settings and look at the top of the page. You should see your Google account name and a message saying Sync is on. If you see Sync is off, click it and sign in to enable syncing. You can also choose which types of data to sync by clicking Manage what you sync — make sure Settings is checked if you want your home and startup pages to carry over.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I set a different home page for incognito mode?
No. Chrome uses the same home page and startup settings for both regular and incognito windows. However, incognito mode does not restore your previous tabs — it always opens to a blank page regardless of your startup settings. This is by design, since incognito mode does not save your browsing history.
What is the difference between the home page and the new tab page?
The home page is what loads when you click the home button. The new tab page is what appears when you open a new tab (usually by pressing Ctrl+T or Command+T). They are separate pages with different settings. You can customize the new tab page by clicking the three dots in the bottom right corner of a new tab, but that does not affect your home page.
Will changing my home page affect my search engine?
No. Your home page and your default search engine are independent settings. You can set your home page to any website and use a different search engine for searches in the address bar. To change your search engine, go to Settings, click Search engine on the left, and select from the list.
Can I set my home page to a local file on my computer?
Yes. When you add a page in the home page settings, you can paste a file path instead of a URL. On Windows, use the format file:///C:/Users/YourName/Documents/mypage.html. On Mac, use file:///Users/YourName/Documents/mypage.html. This is useful if you have a custom HTML file you want to load as your home page.
Why does my startup page load slowly?
If you set multiple startup pages or enabled Continue where you left off, Chrome has to load many tabs at once, which takes time. To speed things up, reduce the number of startup pages or switch to Open the new tab page in the startup settings. You can always open your regular pages manually after Chrome finishes loading.