How to disable the most-visited pages function when opening a new tab in Chrome

February 5, 2009 6:13 AM

Is it possible to disable the "most visited / recent history" tab in the Google Chrome browser? I can set Chrome so that it loads a blank page on startup, but when opening a tab it displays all my most visited sites. This inspired one very embarrassing moment when a friend unconsciously CTRL-Tabbed and saw a glaring menu of my darkest internet meanderings. Several sites claim to be able to solve this but no instructions I have yet followed have made any difference.
posted by skylar to computers & internet (9 comments total)

Use a different browser for your porn viewing. Clear the cache after use.
posted by EarBucket at 6:30 AM on February 5

No need to use a different browser, Chrome's 'incognito window' mode is designed for surfing things you don't want stored.
posted by Jairus at 6:36 AM on February 5

Use Chrome's "Incognito Mode" for your dark meanderings. Leaves no trace in history, cookies, etc.

CTRL-SHIFT-N opens a new window in Incognito mode.
You an also append --incognito to the end of the command line so that Chrome is always in Incognito mode.
You can also right-click any link and select Open link in incognito window.
posted by DWRoelands at 6:37 AM on February 5

Sorry guys, you're not answering my question. With respect, this is a classic case of me asking one very specific question and well-meaning MeFi users offering completely tangential answers.

Allow me to rephrase my question in a slightly different way.

All other browsers that I have used previously give the option of opening a fresh tab that is completely blank. No content in it whatsoever. Only Google Chrome insists on bringing up a tab full of information. I don't want every fresh tab to open up full of information. I want the fresh tab to be blank.

Is there a way I can fix Google Chrome to make the new tabs blank, just as I can make a new window blank? It makes no sense to me that a new window in Chrome can be blank but a new tab can not.

Bear in mind that the "most visited / recent history" window also includes all my added bookmarks, so using incognito mode is really neither here nor there. Anyone who opens a new tab will get to see all my favourite sites and my bookmarks even if I've used incognito mode for a few really egregious sites.
posted by skylar at 8:29 AM on February 5 [1 favorite has favorites]

In short: no. There is not the option to customise the New Tabs page or give it a default opening. I'm sure Google will fix this in a future release, but for now it's not possible.

You can hack the bookmark's page to have a "New Tab" bookmarklet which will open a blank tab, but that's the best you'll get at the moment.
posted by Hartster at 9:23 AM on February 5

In short: yes. (Sorry, Hartster. Couldn't help myself. I'm a smart-ass by nature.)

The "Wrench" Menu >> Options >> Basics Tab >> On Startup:

Choose the option for "Open the following pages"

Click "Add..."

In the "URL:" box type "about:blank" (no quotes)

Click "Add"

Click "Close"

Close Chrome.

Open Chrome.

Ta-da!
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 9:27 AM on February 5

Sorry, I COMPLETELY misread.

I'll shut up now. (And take my lumps from Hartster.)
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 9:28 AM on February 5

I think I have a way to do it, or at least part of it.

Go to the little wrench icon and click on "Bookmark Manager."

Go to "Recently Added." You should find that your 8 or 10 most recently added bookmarks are the ones appearing on the right side of screen (the ones listed, not the ones pictured in the boxes) when you open a new tab.

Delete the offending bookmark from the list. Moving it only creates a copy, so if you want to keep the bookmark, move it, and then delete it from "Recently Added."

Now when you open a new browser tab, the offending bookmark no longer appears on the right-hand side.

Does that help?
posted by Flying Saucer at 12:40 PM on April 21

Looks like Google finally fixed it.
posted by Flying Saucer at 11:25 AM on May 31