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How do I change the home page for my web browser?

The term "home page" can have two meanings. The first and most common meaning is a web page that you created yourself to display information about you.

The second type of home page, addressed in this document, is the page that automatically opens when you start your browser or click the home button.

Follow the appropriate instructions below to change the web page that automatically opens each time you open your browser.

 

Firefox for Windows

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options... , and then click General.

  2. You can set your home page using any of the following methods:

    • In the "Location(s):" field, type the URL you want to display when you start your browser, for instance: http://www.uwosh.edu/
    • If you would like to make the page you are viewing your home page, click Use Current Page.
    • Click Use Bookmark... and then select a site from the list of bookmarks that appears.
    • If you would like your browser to open to a blank page, click Use Blank Page.

  3. Click OK to save the settings.

Firefox for Mac OS X

  1. From the Firefox menu, select Preferences... , and then click General.

  2. You can set your home page using any of the following methods:

    • In the "Location(s):" field, type the URL you want to display when you start your browser, for instance: http://www.uwosh.edu/
    • If you would like to make the page you are viewing your home page, click Use Current Page.
    • Click Use Bookmark... and then select a site from the list of bookmarks that appears.
    • If you would like your browser to open to a blank page, click Use Blank Page.

  3. Close the menu to save the settings.

Netscape 8

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options. In the Options window that opens, click General.

  2. In Netscape 8.1, a new window will open. In Netscape 8.0, you will simply see the settings in the right side of the Options window. In both cases, under Home Page, you can set your home page using any of the following methods:

    • In the "Location(s):" box, type the URL you want, for example: http://www.uwosh.edu/
    • If you would like to make the page you are viewing your home page, click Use Current Page.
    • If you have an HTML file on a drive accessible to your computer, you can click Browse, Choose, Choose File... , or the Choose Local File... button to navigate to and choose that file. This is the appropriate option if you want to set your Bookmarks file to be your home page.
    • If you would like your browser to open to a blank page, click Use Blank Page.

  3. Click OK.

Netscape 7 and earlier

  1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences... . (In MAC OS X, from the Netscape menu, select Preferences... .)

  2. The Preferences dialog box will open. The Navigator window should open by default, but if it doesn't, click Navigator in the left column of the Preferences dialog box.

  3. You can set your home page using any of the following methods:

    • In the "Location" box, type the URL you want, for instance: http://www.uwosh.edu/
    • If you would like to make the page you are viewing your home page, click Use Current Page.
    • If you have an HTML file on a drive accessible to your computer, you can click Browse, Choose, Choose File... , or the Choose Local File... button to navigate to and choose that file. This is the appropriate option if you want to set your Bookmarks file to be your home page.
    • If you would like your browser to open to a blank page, click Use Blank Page.

  4. Click OK.

Internet Explorer 7

In Internet Explorer 7.0, you can set either a single home page or several of them, which will open in tabs. To set a single home page:

  1. Go to the page you'd like to set as your home page.

  2. Click the down arrow to the right of the Home icon and select Add or Change Home Page... .

  3. Select Use this webpage as your only home page and click Yes.

To create a set of home pages to be displayed in tabs:

  1. Open each page in a separate tab.

  2. Click the down arrow to the right of the Home icon and select Add or Change Home Page... .

  3. Select Use the current tab set as your home page and click Yes.

Alternatively, add each web page individually to your home page tabs by selecting Add this webpage to your home page tabs.

Internet Explorer 6 and earlier

  1. In Windows, from the Tools menu, select Internet Options... . In Mac OS X, from the Explorer menu, select Preferences... . In Mac OS, from the Edit menu, select Preferences, and then under the "Web Browser" category, click Browser Display.

  2. You can set your home page using any of the following methods:

    • Under "Home Page", type the URL you want to display when you start your browser, for instance: http://www.uwosh.edu/
    • In Windows, if you would like to make the page you are viewing your home page, click Use Current Page.
    • If you would like Internet Explorer to open to a blank page, click Use Blank.

  3. Click OK.

Note: Microsoft is no longer developing or distributing Internet Explorer for the Macintosh. ACS strongly recommends that you use a different browser, such as Safari or Firefox.

Safari

  1. From the Safari menu, select Preferences... .

  2. You can set your home page using any of the following methods:

    • In the "Home page" field, type the URL you want to display when you start your browser, for instance: http://www.uwosh.edu/
    • If you would like to make the page you are viewing your home page, click Set to Current Page.

      Using the pull-down menu next to "New windows opens with:", select the page that appears when you open a new browser window (but not when you click the Home button). The options are Home Page, Empty Page, Same Page, or Bookmarks.

  3. Click OK.
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