[Firefox Tip] Enable Upcoming “New Tab Page” Customize UI Right Now

In Mozilla Firefox browser, when you open a new tab or launch the browser, you get the default New Tab page which shows search box, top sites, recommendations by pocket, highlights, snippets, etc elements.

If you want to customize the New Tab page, you can click on the cog wheel icon (tools icon) present at the top-right corner of New Tab page. Upon clicking, it opens Home tab in Firefox Options (about:preferences#home) page to modify look of New Tab page. You can enable/disable all or selected elements and customize New Tab page according to your requirements.

Related: [Tip] Set a Blank Page as New Tab Page and Homepage in Mozilla Firefox

Recently we told you that Mozilla team is working on a new UI or design refresh for Firefox web browser which is codenamed as “Proton” at the moment. Currently the new design UI is under development and testing phase and can be tested in Firefox Nightly builds.

[Review] Upcoming “Proton” Design Refresh UI in Mozilla Firefox

The new Proton UI will be available for public use in Firefox 89 version which is scheduled to release in mid-2021, most probably on May 18, 2021.

Now it seems Mozilla team has started implementing new Proton design UI changes in Firefox public stable version as well.

Recently Mozilla team added a new design element to Firefox Nightly build which adds New Tab page Settings flyout and when I checked, I found the same change is also available in recently released Firefox 85 stable version.

Mozilla team has added a secret preference/flag to activate and enable new fly-out or sidebar to customize New Tab page appearance.

Following screenshot shows New Tab page customize fly-out in Firefox:

Now you can directly customize New Tab page look-n-feel using the new fly-out. No need to go to Firefox Options page and modify New Tab page UI.

If you want to turn on the new fly-out UI for New Tab page in Mozilla Firefox right now, following steps will help you:

1. Open Firefox Nightly and type about:config in the addressbar and press Enter. It’ll show you a warning message, click on “Accept the Risk and Continue” button. It’ll open Firefox’s hidden secret advanced configuration page i.e. about:config page.

2. Now type experience in Search filter box and look for following preference in the window:

The preference value is set to false by default, which means the new design UI for New Tab page is currently deactivated and disabled in Firefox.

3. To activate and enable new customize flyout for New Tab page, double-click on browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.newNewtabExperience.enabled preference and set it to true. Alternatively, you can click on the Toggle icon given next to the preference name.

That’s it. Now open New Tab page and you’ll get new “Personalize” button instead of the old cog wheel icon.

Click on Personalize button and you’ll get new fly-out to customize New Tab page appearance.

PS: To restore default New Tab page customize option, set the above mentioned preference to false again.

Thanks to ghacks…

Also Check:

[Tip] Always Show or Hide Bookmarks Toolbar on New Tab Page and Everywhere in Mozilla Firefox

[Firefox Tip] Hide or Remove “Other Bookmarks” Folder from Bookmarks Toolbar