How to Adjust Your Startup Settings in Firefox

Among free open source web browsers, Mozilla Firefox is the leader of the pack. And for good reason - its robust functionality, reliability, and user-friendly interface is enough to give software giants Microsoft (Internet Explorer) and Apple (Safari) a run for their money. But did you know that you can adjust what displays when you start Firefox? In this article, you'll discover some tips that may save you vast amounts of time and energy.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A computer with an internet connection

1. 

   Open Firefox on your computer.

2. 

   From the top menu, select Firefox > Preferences. The Preferences window displays.

3. 

   In the top menu bar, click Main.

4. 

   In the Startup section, click the drop-down list to view your selections. They are:
   
   Show my home page: When Firefox starts, it displays your specified home page.
   
   Show a blank page: When Firefox starts, all you'll see is a big white blank page.
   
   Show my windows and tabs from last time: When Firefox starts, it remembers all open tabs and windows from your previous session. This feature saves inordinate amounts of time if you work in several tabs simultaneously every day.

5. 

   Scenario 1: You work in several tabs every day and you want Firefox to remember them when you restart first thing in the morning. From the drop-down list, select Show my windows and tabs from last time. Now when you start Firefox, it displays all tabs from your last session.

6. 

   Scenario 2: Your first task of the morning is checking your web-based e-mail such as Yahoo! Mail or Gmail, and you'd like Firefox to start on that page when launched. From the drop-down list, select Show my home page. In the Home Page field just below, type the web address of the page you'd like Firefox to start on.

7. 

   Note that you can also click the Use Current Pages button to set your home page to the page you're currently viewing; click Use Bookmark to select one of your bookmarks to display when Firefox starts; or click Restore to Default to return to original Firefox settings.

Tips & Warnings

• Assigning Firefox to open a blank page at startup is boring and unproductive.
• Assigning Firefox to open a home page such as your web-based e-mail saves you time.
• Assigning Firefox to open all your tabs and windows from your last session is a huge time-saver when you're working in several windows every day. This way, you don't have to manually create new tabs and type in website addresses every morning.

Resources

• Mozilla.com

[starlet67]

on 1/18/2009 Good step by step instructions! 5*

[GreenMomma]

on 1/12/2009 Thanks, I'm still getting use to the differences between firefox and ie!!!!

[Mitestarossa]

on 1/12/2009 Great information.

[alishacra]

on 1/8/2009 Thanks for the information and screen shots!