If opening a new tab in Chrome shows a page you didn’t choose, such as an unfamiliar search box, an ad-filled “start page” or a site that loads and then jumps elsewhere, something has replaced Chrome’s New Tab page. Extensions can replace that page, so start there: remove the extension responsible and the normal New Tab page comes back. If it returns after you remove it, a program on your computer is probably putting it back.
If Chrome asks “Did you mean to change this page?”
When an extension takes over the New Tab page, Chrome can show a message titled “Did you mean to change this page?” or “Change back to Google?” that names it, such as This page was changed by the “…” extension, with two buttons. Select Change it back. Select Keep it only if you installed that extension on purpose to change your new tabs.
Find and remove the extension
- Paste
chrome://extensionsinto the address bar, or select More (the three dots at the top right) > Extensions > Manage extensions. - Turn off the extensions one at a time, opening a new tab after each one. When the New Tab page goes back to normal, the last extension you turned off was the cause.
- Select Remove on that extension and confirm. Remove any other extension you don’t recognize too.
Google says that if an extension controls your New Tab page, you can find it in the footer at the bottom of the page (Customize your New Tab page), so the footer can tell you which one to remove. Removing an extension follows Google’s Install and manage extensions. If you can’t remove an extension, or Chrome’s menu says Managed by your organization on your own computer, it was installed by policy. The fix for that is in step 4 of the hijacker guide linked below.
Check your search engine too
Google lists a homepage or search engine that changes without your permission as a sign of unwanted software, so check the search engine as well. Open chrome://settings/searchEngines and make sure the default is the one you want. If it keeps changing back, see how to fix a search engine that keeps changing.
New tab vs startup page vs homepage
These are three different settings, and hijackers can change any of them:
- New Tab page: what you see when you open a new tab. Extensions can replace it.
- Startup page: what Chrome opens when it starts. Set it under
chrome://settings/onStartup. - Homepage: where the Home button takes you. Set it under Settings > Appearance > Show Home button.
Google explains both of the last two in Set your homepage and startup page, and says that if any of them changed on its own, you may have unwanted software. To change what appears on a normal New Tab page, such as shortcuts or the background, see how to customize Chrome’s New Tab page.
If the page keeps coming back
A program on the computer is probably putting the extension back. Work through the full clean-up in how to remove a browser hijacker from Chrome: uninstall programs you don’t recognize, run a full antivirus scan, check for policies, then reset Chrome’s settings. Google’s reset help page says a reset puts the New Tab page back to its default and turns off extensions, without deleting your bookmarks or saved passwords.