How do I make Google my homepage on a Mac

Asya Karapetyan
Content marketer, who specializes in Mac how-to guides
November 3, 2022
7 minutes to read

For your convenience, you can set a particular page to open as a homepage in your browser. If you want to automatically load the Google page every time you launch your browser or open a new tab, read this article. We will provide a step-by-step guide on how to make Google your homepage in any browser on your Mac.

Google home page

Contents:

  1. What is a homepage in a browser?
  2. How to set Homepage in Chrome
  3. How to set Safari Homepage
  4. How to set Homepage in Firefox
  5. FAQ

How to make your browser work faster

Besides changing your browser’s homepage, you might want to add some of the numerous browser extensions that help you do different tasks. Extensions can make your work processes with your browser more convenient. However, many extensions can also make your browser work slowly. You can take control of all extensions with MacCleaner Pro.

MacCleaner Pro is a software solution to clean up and speed up your Mac. The application helps you clear all junk, like caches, cookies, applications’ leftovers, and others. It also allows you to manage extensions and plugins for all your browsers in one window.
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What is a homepage in a browser?

A homepage is the web page that opens when you first launch your browser. Every website and browser has a home page.

When talking about a browser homepage, you can set up a particular search engine page or any website as a start page to avoid wasting your time manually opening it. Most browsers allow you to change the homepage. Below, you will learn how to change the homepage on the Chrome, Safari, and Firefox browsers.

How to set the homepage in Chrome

By default, when you download Google Chrome, the Google search engine is already used as the start page. However, if you install browser extensions, the start page can be automatically changed. Fortunately, this is easy to fix.

Here is how to make Google your homepage in the Chrome browser:

  1. Open Google Chrome.
  2. In the menu bar, click Chrome and select Preferences.
  3. Switch to the Appearance section in the sidebar.
  4. Switch on the toggle button for the “Show home button” option.
  5. Type https://google.com/ in the appropriate field.
Chrome settings where you can set up homepage

After this, your home page will be the Google page, and you can automatically open it by clicking the Chrome Home button near the address bar.

How to customize Google Chrome’s homepage

Most browsers, including Google Chrome, provide so-called shortcuts or visual tabs. You can see a certain set of site links on your homepage. See an example in the screenshot below. Chrome homepage
To customize the homepage in Chrome, do the following:

  1. Click the Edit button in the bottom right corner.
  2. Click Shortcuts and select whether to set your shortcuts or use shortcuts for most visited sites.
  3. Click Done.
  4. customizing Chrome homepage
  5. If you selected your shortcuts, click the Plus (+) button to add shortcuts and provide their names and URLs. Then click Done.
  6. To edit the shortcuts, click the three dots button and change the name and URL for each shortcut.

How to set Safari’s homepage

Unlike most browsers that open a search engine on the start page, Safari opens your list of favorite web pages. To change the homepage on Safari, do the following:

  1. Launch Safari.
  2. Open Safari Preferences → General tab.
  3. In the Homepage field, type https://google.com/.

You can also set new windows and tabs to open with the homepage. Safari preferences window with the homepage option highlighted

Note that Safari doesn’t have a Home button like Google Chrome. If you want to quickly open the homepage in Safari, set the appropriate configuration for a new tab. Then click to open a new tab or new windows to open your homepage.

How to set the homepage in Firefox

If you use Mozilla Firefox as your main browser, you can also make Google your homepage to open automatically. Here is how:

  1. Open Firefox.
  2. In the Menu bar, click Firefox and select Preferences.
  3. Click Home in the sidebar.
  4. In the Homepage line, select Custom URLs.
  5. Paste https://google.com/ in the URL field.
  6. Here, you can also set up Firefox to open new tabs with your homepage.
Firefox preferences showing how to set up home page

If you’re wondering where the Home button is in Firefox, note that the newest version of the browser allows you to customize the toolbar and show or hide the Home button.

Here is how to add the Home button in Firefox:

  1. Click the three lines button in the top right corner.
  2. Click More tools → select Customize toolbar…
  3. Drag and drop the Home icon to the Firefox toolbar.
Firefox settings showing location of Home button

Now you can click the Home button to quickly open the appropriate page in Firefox.

Conclusion

Now you know how to make Google your homepage on a Mac. If you still have questions, leave them in the discussion section below. We will be happy to help you. Also, we want to remind you that if your browser is working slow, use MacCleaner Pro. This app will help you take control of all extensions and plugins, clear cache files, and speed up your browser.



FAQs

Why can’t I change my homepage on my Mac?
How do I change the folder’s color on a Mac?
How do I reset my homepage on Safari?
Why is Chrome opening my last page?

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