When you open a New Tab in Mozilla Firefox, you are greeted with a clean search bar and your most visited shortcuts. However, if you scroll down, you will also see a section titled “Recommended by Pocket.” Pocket is a read-it-later service owned by Mozilla, and this section automatically pulls in trending news articles, blog posts, and curated stories from around the web. While some users enjoy the content discovery, others find these constant news headlines distracting when they are trying to focus on work. If you prefer a minimalist, distraction-free New Tab experience, you can turn off the Pocket recommendations entirely.
How to Turn Off Pocket Recommendations
You can disable the article feed directly from the New Tab page settings.
- Open the Mozilla Firefox browser.
- Click the + button at the top of the browser to open a New Tab.
- Look in the top-right corner of the New Tab screen (just below the main toolbar) and click the small gear icon (Personalise New Tab).
- A settings panel will slide out from the right side.
- Locate the section titled Recommended by Pocket.
- Click the toggle switch next to it to move it to the Off position (the toggle will turn grey).
The news articles and story cards will instantly disappear from the page. Your New Tab screen will now be completely clean, showing only your search bar and your personal website shortcuts, allowing you to browse without being distracted by trending headlines.