Remove Most | Visited Pages

Alternative: Use a browser extension like Empty New Tab Page or Start.me for more control.

How to Remove "Most Visited" Pages from Your Browser New Tab

Are shortcuts to your most frequently visited sites cluttering your new tab window? Whether you want to hide a specific site or clear the entire grid, here is how to take control of your privacy and browser aesthetics.

For Google Chrome:

For Microsoft Edge:

For Mobile Browsers (Chrome/Edge on Android/iOS):

The ability to remove most visited pages is not just about cleaning up your browser; it is about controlling your attention. Every time you open a new tab, you have a cognitive choice. A cluttered grid of thumbnails pulls you toward mindless browsing. A blank page allows you to focus.

Review your browser settings today. Decide what you actually want to see when you open the internet. Then, remove the noise.

Updated for 2025 browser versions. If a specific menu item has moved, look for synonyms like "Top Sites," "Frequently Visited," "Speed Dial," or "Shortcuts."

To remove "Most Visited" or "Frequently Visited" sections from your browser on a computer or mobile device, follow these steps: Google Chrome (Desktop)

You can either hide the shortcuts or delete specific entries from your New Tab page: Hide the Entire Section , click the Customize Chrome button (pencil icon) at the bottom right, and toggle off Show shortcuts Remove Specific Sites : Hover over a site tile on the New Tab page and click the three dots to delete that specific entry. Clear History : To wipe the list completely, go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Clear browsing data and select Browsing history Google Help Safari (iPhone & iPad) Via Start Page : Open Safari, tap the icon (two squares), then tap the for a new tab. Scroll to the bottom, tap , and toggle off Frequently Visited Via Settings : Go to the Settings app , scroll down to , and toggle off Frequently Visited Sites under the General section. Safari (Mac) Open a new window or tab in Safari. Settings icon

(three sliders) in the bottom-right corner of the start page. Uncheck the box for Frequently Visited specific websites

from ever appearing in these lists while keeping the feature on?

Customize your New Tab page in Chrome - Computer - Google Help

The "Most Visited" section on your browser's home or New Tab page can be managed by either removing specific icons or disabling the feature entirely.  Google Chrome  To clean up or remove these shortcuts in Chrome: 

Remove individual shortcuts: Hover over a shortcut icon on the New Tab page and click the "X" or the three dots that appear to select Remove. Disable the entire section:

Open a new tab and click the "Customize Chrome" pencil icon (usually in the bottom right corner). Select the Shortcuts menu from the side panel. remove most visited pages

Toggle off "Show shortcuts" to hide the entire row of icons, or switch from "Most visited sites" to "My shortcuts" to manually curate what appears.

Clear browsing history: Since these shortcuts are generated from your history, you can clear them by going to Settings > Privacy and security > Delete browsing data and selecting Browsing history.  Microsoft Edge  Edge uses a similar system for "Quick Links": 

Hide the section: Click the Page Settings (gear icon) in the top-right of the New Tab page and toggle off Quick links.

Remove single sites: Hover over a tile and click the "X" to delete it from the list.  Safari (Mac & iOS) 

On Mac: Right-click anywhere on the start page background, uncheck Favorites or Frequently Visited, or right-click a specific icon and select Delete.

On iPhone/iPad: Open a new tab, scroll to the bottom, tap Edit, and toggle off Frequently Visited.  Firefox 

Disable "Shortcuts": Click the gear icon in the top-right of a new tab and uncheck the Shortcuts box.

Remove specific sites: Click the three dots (...) on a site tile and select Dismiss to remove it.  If you’d like, I can help you:  Permanently stop Chrome from tracking your history

Find a specific browser extension for advanced homepage customization Step-by-step for a mobile device (Android/iOS)  Let me know which browser and device you are using!  How to Turn off Chrome's 'Most Visited Sites' Thumbnails

If you’re tired of your browser broadcasting your most-frequented corners of the internet every time you open a new tab, you aren’t alone. Whether you’re looking for a cleaner aesthetic or a bit more privacy, here is how to clear those "most visited" pages across the major browsers. Google Chrome

Chrome gives you two main ways to handle these shortcuts: removing them one by one or hiding the section entirely. Remove individual sites

: Hover your mouse over the site thumbnail on a new tab page. Click the three-dot menu

) that appears in the top-right corner of the icon and select Hide the whole section Open a new tab and click the Customize Chrome button (pencil icon) in the bottom-right corner. Show shortcuts to off, or select My shortcuts

instead of "Most visited sites" to only show pages you've manually pinned. Clear History : If the thumbnails persist, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data and clear your Browsing history to reset the algorithm that chooses these sites. Safari (iPhone & Mac)

Apple makes it easy to toggle this feature off globally or edit it on the fly. On iPhone/iPad

: Open Safari, go to your start page (new tab), scroll to the bottom, and tap . Toggle off Frequently Visited : Go to the iOS Settings app > Safari and toggle off Frequently Visited Sites : Open a new tab, click the Settings icon (three sliders) in the bottom-right corner, and uncheck the Frequently Visited Delete specific sites Alternative: Use a browser extension like Empty New

: Long-press (iPhone) or right-click (Mac) a specific icon on the start page and select to remove just that one site. Mozilla Firefox

Firefox refers to these as "Shortcuts" or "Top Sites" and lets you manage them through the Home settings.

How to deactivate recently visited sites on main (home) page?

The "Remove Most Visited Pages" extension was a popular tool for Chrome users who wanted to keep their homepage clean and private. However, Google has since added official settings that make most third-party extensions for this purpose unnecessary. How to Remove Most Visited Pages (Official Method)

The easiest way to hide these shortcuts on desktop is through Chrome's native customization menu: Open a New Tab in Google Chrome.

Click the Customize Chrome (pencil icon) button in the bottom-right corner. Select the Shortcuts tab.

Toggle off Show shortcuts to hide them completely, or select My shortcuts to manually choose what appears instead of "Most visited". Alternative: Selective Removal If you want to keep the feature but remove specific sites:

Manual Delete: Hover over a site thumbnail on your new tab page and click the "X" or the three dots to remove that specific page.

Clear History: To reset the entire list, you can clear your browsing data by going to Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data and selecting Browsing history. Using Extensions

While the official "Remove Most Visited Pages" extension exists, many older versions are no longer supported because they haven't been updated to the newer Manifest V3 standard required by Chrome for security. If you still prefer an extension:

Search the Chrome Web Store for current "New Tab" customizers.

Be aware that these often redirect your new tab page to a simplified version of Google or a blank page.

Are you looking to hide specific sites from appearing, or do you want to replace the entire New Tab page with something else?

Customize your New Tab page in Chrome - Computer - Google Help

The notification pinged softly, a polite chime that belied its weight. “Storage critical. Action required.”

Mira stared at her neural interface display. Her personal cloud, a digital hoard she’d curated for fifteen years, was full. Not metaphorically full—mathematically, irrevocably full. Every byte she wanted to save now had to fight for the right to exist. For Microsoft Edge:

The system’s solution blinked patiently on her retina: “Remove Most Visited Pages.”

She hesitated. The pages weren't just URLs; they were fragments of her life, rendered as ghostly thumbnails. The algorithm had ranked them by frequency of access, a cold arithmetic of memory.

Page 1: “Jasper Memorial Hospital – ICU Visitation.”

She’d visited that page 847 times in a single month. Three years ago. Her son Leo had been born twelve weeks early, a translucent warrior in a plastic box. Every hour she wasn't holding him, she’d refreshed the page, checking for policy changes, for a sign that she could stay longer, touch him more. The page was terror and hope, crystallized. She remembered the last visit: the doctor’s tired smile, the sound of a monitor flatlining for another baby, not hers, thank god, not hers. Leo was now a healthy, annoying toddler who hid her styluses. She hadn’t looked at that page in two years and eleven months. But the frequency of that one terrible month kept it locked at the top.

Page 2: “Saturn V Launch Sequence – 4K.”

Her father’s page. He’d been a space nut, a man who cried at rocket launches. She’d played that video for him on the last afternoon of his life, while the morphine pump ticked. He couldn't speak, but his eyes tracked the flames. After he died, she’d visited the page obsessively for six months, then less, then almost never. But the algorithm didn't know about grief’s half-life.

Page 3: “You’ve Got Mail – Soundboard.”

This one stung. The AOL dial-up chime. Her first love, Daniel. They’d met in a chat room for bad poetry in 2005. She’d visited that soundboard a thousand times, not for nostalgia, but for a specific, humiliating reason: to prove to herself she could still feel something. The sound was a Pavlovian bell for a teenager’s dopamine flood. Now, it was just noise.

Page 4, 5, 6… Work documents she’d long since archived. A recipe for a lemon cake she’d never baked successfully. The obituary of a neighbor she barely knew, clicked on out of morbid curiosity, then revisited because she felt guilty.

Mira’s finger hovered over the “Select All” button.

“It’s just data,” she whispered. A lie she told herself.

She unselected the ICU page. Couldn't do it. The Saturn rocket page. Couldn't. The soundboard… she paused, then left it. Some ghosts deserve the bandwidth.

Instead, she manually deleted the rest: the work files, the failed cake, the neighbor’s obituary. The system grudgingly reported: “45 MB recovered. Recommendation: remove top 3 most visited pages for optimal performance.”

She ignored it. Then she opened a new, blank page. At the top, she typed a single line: “Leo’s first steps – backyard. June 12.”

She uploaded the video. It was large, high-resolution, full of laughter and shaky camera work. The storage meter ticked down to zero. Then, a new warning: “Remove least visited pages?”

Mira smiled. “No,” she said. “Delete the warnings.”

She closed the interface and went to find her son. The most visited pages of her life were no longer on a screen. They were in the next room, leaving crumbs on the sofa.

To help you frame this piece, here’s a structured outline and key angles you could explore in your feature.