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This lion is yawning at your choice of home page (probably). Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP/Press Association Images

Bored of seeing the same old thing when you start up a browser? Change it

If you want to make it a little more useful the next time you start up your browser.

WHEN YOU OPEN up your browser, what do you see? Probably the usual search bar, maybe a few tabs of your most viewed sites or some other settings.

Although it’s a small thing, it can be handy and break up the monotony of your morning (or whenever you start up your browser) by having something a little different to greet you when you start up.

How to change it?

While all the major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc.) have this feature in settings, what can be changed will differ from each one.

Chrome: Settings > Appearance > Show Home Button > Change
Firefox: Open page of choice > Drag tab onto the home screen
Safari: Settings/Preferences > General > Home Page
Opera: Settings > Preferences > Home Page
Internet Explorer: Tools > Internet Options > General

All will allow you to change your home page, but some can allow you to open up a specific page every time you open up a new tab, either through settings or by installing a plugin.

Add new page Chrome Chrome

Which one should you go for?

That depends on a few things. You could go for the more practical ideas like your email address, Facebook page or news site, but you can mix it up with something a little more cheerful.

Many sites have a photo of the day or random comic setting which will provide you with something new every day so it’s good to choose something that will be interesting, but snappy so you’re not distracted by what you have to do.

Here are a few quick examples to help kick you off.

National Geographic – its photo of the day with shots taken from around the world and they rarely disappoint.

National Geo National Geographic National Geographic

Word of the day - Because there’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve your vocabulary.

Word of the day Dictionary.com Dictionary.com

Wikipedia - Start the day by reading about a completely random article. Whether you have an interest in said article is another story entirely, but since there are more than 4.8 million articles available, it will keep you busy.

xkcd – Needs no introduction, but any comic with a random button can be turned into your home page. Just visit your comic of choice, right click the random button and click on copy link to get the URL.

Xkcd Xkcd Xkcd

Read: These are the best browsers you can get for your smartphone > 

Read: How does Facebook decide what to show on your newsfeed? > 

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Author
Quinton O'Reilly
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