How to Change the Homepage in Google Chrome

Taking Control of Your Browser Startup

By default, when you launch Google Chrome, you are greeted by the standard “New Tab” page. This screen features the classic Google search bar right in the middle, surrounded by a grid of shortcuts to websites you visit most frequently. For many users, this default experience is perfectly sufficient.

However, if you use Chrome for work or prefer a more customised workflow, you might find this default page inefficient. You can force Chrome to open a specific website—like your company’s internal dashboard, a news site, or your webmail—the moment you click the browser icon. Alternatively, you can instruct Chrome to remember exactly which tabs you had open when you last closed the program, allowing you to seamlessly pick up where you left off.

Changing these startup settings in Chrome only takes a few seconds and requires navigating through the main Settings menu.

How to Set a Custom Website as Your Homepage

If you want Chrome to load a specific website (such as BBC News or Gmail) every single time you start a new browsing session, follow these steps:

1. Open the Google Chrome browser.
2. Look in the extreme top right corner of the window for the three vertical dots (the “Customise and control” button). Click it.
3. From the drop-down menu, click on Settings.
4. A new settings tab will appear. Look at the left-hand navigation sidebar and click on On startup.
5. You will see three distinct options in the middle of the screen. Select the third option: Open a specific page or set of pages.
6. Click on Add a new page.
7. A small text box will pop up. Type or paste the exact URL of the website you want to use (e.g., https://www.bbc.co.uk/news).
8. Click the blue Add button.

You can test this immediately. Close all your Chrome windows completely, and then reopen the browser. Your chosen website should load instantly.

How to Open Multiple Homepages Automatically

If your daily workflow requires checking several different websites first thing in the morning—perhaps a calendar, an inbox, and a project management tool—you can configure Chrome to open all of them simultaneously in separate tabs.

1. Go back to Settings > On startup.
2. Ensure Open a specific page or set of pages is selected.
3. You will see the website you previously added. Directly below it, click Add a new page again.
4. Type the URL of your second website and click Add.
5. Repeat this process for as many websites as you need.

Now, when you launch Chrome, it will automatically generate a row of tabs, loading all your essential sites at once.

How to Restore Your Previous Session

If you do deep research and frequently leave dozens of tabs open when you shut down your computer for the evening, a static homepage is not very helpful. Instead, you can tell Chrome to remember your exact workspace.

1. Open Settings and click on On startup in the left sidebar.
2. Select the middle option: Continue where you left off.

With this setting enabled, if you close Chrome with six tabs open, those exact same six tabs will automatically reload the next time you launch the browser, preserving all your current reading material.

Understanding the “Home Button” Difference

It is important to understand that in Google Chrome, your “Startup page” (what opens when you launch the browser) and your “Home button” (what happens when you click the little house icon on the toolbar) are controlled by two entirely different settings.

If you also want to change what happens when you click the Home button:

1. Go to Settings and click on Appearance in the left sidebar.
2. Ensure the toggle switch next to Show Home button is turned on.
3. Right beneath that toggle, you can select whether clicking the Home button opens a “New Tab page” or a custom web address. Type your desired URL into the text box provided.