How to Change the Homepage in Microsoft Edge

Customising Your Edge Experience

When you open Microsoft Edge on a new Windows computer, it defaults to a very busy “Start” page. This page is typically crowded with the Microsoft Bing search bar, a selection of frequently visited websites, daily weather updates, and an endless scrolling feed of MSN news articles and advertisements.

For many users, this wall of information is incredibly distracting when all they want to do is start working. Fortunately, Microsoft Edge allows you to completely bypass this default screen. You can configure the browser to automatically load a specific website (such as a clean Google search page, a company intranet, or your email inbox) the moment you open it.

Alternatively, if you frequently leave work unfinished at the end of the day, you can instruct Edge to remember your workspace and automatically reload all the tabs you were using during your previous session.

How to Set a Custom Website as Your Edge Homepage

If you want Microsoft Edge to open directly to a specific website every single time you launch the application, follow these steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
2. Look in the extreme top right corner of the window and click the three horizontal dots (…) (the Settings and more button).
3. Scroll down the drop-down menu and click on Settings.
4. A new settings tab will appear. Look at the left-hand navigation sidebar and click on Start, home, and new tabs.
5. Look at the very first section at the top of the page, labelled “When Microsoft Edge starts”.
6. Select the third option: Open these pages.
7. Click on the Add a new page button.
8. A small text box will pop up. Type or carefully paste the exact web address of your desired homepage (e.g., https://www.google.com).
9. Click the blue Add button.

You do not need to click a save button. To test it, completely close all open Edge windows, and then reopen the browser. Your chosen website should load instantly, completely bypassing the MSN news feed.

How to Open Multiple Homepages Simultaneously

If your daily workflow requires checking multiple sources immediately—perhaps a dashboard, a calendar, and a financial news site—you can force Edge to open all of them at once in separate tabs.

1. Navigate back to Settings > Start, home, and new tabs.
2. Ensure Open these pages is still 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 essential website and click Add.
5. Repeat this process for every website you need to start your day.

Now, launching Edge will instantly spawn a row of tabs, loading all your essential pages simultaneously.

How to Restore Your Previous Session

If you are a heavy researcher who often leaves twenty tabs open when shutting down the computer, a static homepage is not useful. You need Edge to remember what you were doing.

1. Open Settings and click on Start, home, and new tabs in the left sidebar.
2. Under the “When Microsoft Edge starts” section, select the middle option: Open tabs from the previous session.

With this enabled, closing Edge does not destroy your work. The next time you open the browser, those exact same twenty tabs will automatically reload, allowing you to pick up exactly where you left off.

Understanding the “Home Button”

It is crucial to understand that setting what Edge does “on startup” is different from configuring the actual “Home button” (the small house icon on the toolbar).

If you also want that house icon to take you to a specific website when you click it during a browsing session:

1. Stay on the Start, home, and new tabs settings page.
2. Scroll down slightly to the “Home button” section.
3. Ensure the toggle switch next to Show Home button on the toolbar is turned on.
4. Directly below that toggle, select the blank text box option (rather than the New tab page option).
5. Type your desired web address into the box and click the Save button next to it.