How to Fix: Change Home Page in Edge (Properly)

Infopackets Tina V. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I just upgraded to Windows 10 and am using Edge as my default web browser -- it's very different than Internet Explorer. Can you tell me: how can I change the start page in Edge? Right now it opens up with a bunch of tiles, asking me "where to" - and I don't like it. I'd much change my home page in Edge to start with Google.com. Any help you can offer would be appreciated! "

My response:

Changing the start or home page in Edge is much different than Internet Explorer, mostly because Microsoft Edge is made for touch-enabled devices. That said, getting the start page in Edge to open up properly is not very intuitive (as I discovered), because you will need to click an extra option just to make sure your settings will stick. If you don't, then you'll end up pulling our your hair like I did, wondering why the home page settings aren't working.

How to Change the Home Page in Edge (Properly)

If you would like Edge to look somewhat similar to Internet Explorer's home page, do the following:

1. Click Start and type in "edge" (no quotes) and wait for the Microsoft Edge icon to appear, then left click it to launch it.
    
2. At the top right of the Edge screen you will see 3 dots just underneath the X (close button). Click the 3 dots (also known as "More") to reveal a menu, then choose the Settings option.
    
3. Under the heading "Open with", choose the radio button option "A specific page or pages", then from the pull down menu, choose "Custom".
    
4. Directly under the Custom pull down menu option, type in the web address you would like your home page to start with. For example, type in "www.google.com" (no quotes) if you want Google to be your home page.
   
   IN NEWER EDITIONS OF WINDOWS 10: click the disk icon next to the field where you input www.google.com as your home page.
   
   IN OLDER EDITIONS OF WINDOWS 10: click the plus sign right next to the web page you just entered in order to "save" the web page name. Otherwise, Edge -will not- remember what you just entered the next time you launch the browser. It took me 5 times of entering my home page, closing Edge, and reloading it and wondering why things weren't being saved before I realized that the plus sign means "save this home page setting". I have to say, having to click the plus sign just to make things stick is not intuitive.
    
5. If you want more than one home page to open up each time you start Edge, enter in another web page in the field directly under the first one you entered, then click the plus sign again. When Edge launches, it will open the second home page in a new, separate tab.
    
6. Under the option "Open new tabs with", choose "a blank page".
    
7. That is all the changes you need to make, however, there is no "OK" or "Save" button (as you would normally expect) to save your changes. At this point you can review all the changes to the settings you made in the previous steps and then close Edge when you're sure that everything looks good.
    
8. Now it's time to test your changes. Re-launch Edge from the start menu and your new home page should now open up with whatever home page(s) you chose in Step 4.

I hope that helps.

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About the author: Dennis Faas is the owner and operator of Infopackets.com. With over 30 years of computing experience, Dennis' areas of expertise are a broad range and include PC hardware, Microsoft Windows, Linux, network administration, and virtualization. Dennis holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science (1999) and has authored 6 books on the topics of MS Windows and PC Security. If you like the advice you received on this page, please up-vote / Like this page and share it with friends. For technical support inquiries, Dennis can be reached via Live chat online this site using the Zopim Chat service (currently located at the bottom left of the screen); optionally, you can contact Dennis through the website contact form.