[Tip] Restore Old Classic “New Tab Page” Customize UI in Mozilla Firefox

In newer versions of Mozilla Firefox web browser such as version 89 and later, if you open new tab page or homepage (start page), you might have noticed that the previous cog wheel icon (tools icon) present at the top-right corner of the page has been removed. It was used to launch Firefox Setting or Preferences (about:preferences#home) page where users could customize or change Homepage and New tab page appearance such as adding or removing sections.

Now a new Personalize button is displayed on New Tab page which launches a flyout panel to directly customize New Tab page look-n-feel such as enabling or disabling shortcuts, etc.

Following screenshot shows the new redesigned UI of New Tab page customize panel in Firefox browser:

If you don’t like the new UI redesign and want to restore old classic way to customize New Tab page UI by clicking on cog wheel icon, this article will help you.

A few months back, we shared a tutorial to activate and enable the new customize UI design in Firefox when it was under development and testing. You can find the tutorial at following link:

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

Fortunately, the same preference/flag which we used to enable the new customize UI still works in Firefox newer versions and we can modify it to disable the new UI and bring back classic cog wheel icon on New Tab page.

Following steps will help you in restoring good ol’ customize UI on New Tab page in Mozilla Firefox web browser:

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 true by default, which means the new design UI for New Tab page is currently activated and enabled in Firefox.

3. To disable new customize flyout and restore classic cog wheel icon on New Tab page, double-click on browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.newNewtabExperience.enabled preference and set it to false. 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 the classic cog wheel icon on New Tab page back.

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

Also Check:

[Tip] Restore Old Classic Theme and UI in Firefox 89 and Later Versions

[Tip] Restore “Compact Mode” Density Option in Firefox Customize Window