Firefox 85 gets option to control Home and New Tab page extensions

[harlan4096]

When you install extensions in Firefox currently that change the layout of the New Tab page or Home, you will notice that the layout of the last installed extension is picked automatically by Firefox.Most users won't install two extensions dedicated to changing the New Tab page or Home, but it may happen that users want to install one that is dedicated to the task, and another that is providing different functionality but also an option to replace the New Tab page and Home design.

Another use case comes into play when users install an extension that changes the layout and provides other functionality. If the user is only interested in the "other", it is currently not possible to change the homepage or new tab page layout to Firefox's default options.

Firefox 84 and earlier display an option to disable the extension that captured the New Tab page or homepage layout. There is no option to switch to the default without disabling the extension; this changes with Firefox 85 as options are introduced to switch to any available layout.

The web browser displays all available layouts for the homepage, windows, and new tabs in the Settings so that users may switch to any layout provided by an installed extension.

To do that, users may load about:preferences#home directly in the Firefox address bar or select Menu > Settings > Home to get started.

The option is located under New Windows and Tabs. Just activate the menu next to "homepage and new windows" or "new tabs" and make your selection. The new layout is activate immediately, a restart is not required. Not that you need to reload new tab pages that are open before you make the change.

Firefox 85 will introduce several new and interesting features; among them network partitioning to improve privacy, non-contiguous printing support, and an option to disable its tab-to-search functionality.

Now You: do you use a new tab page extension?
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