# How to change the homepage in Safari on Mac: steps for macOS 27 Golden Gate

> How to change the homepage in Safari on Mac: open Settings, click General, type a web address in the Homepage field, then set new windows and tabs.

URL: https://www.lazur.app/how-to/change-the-homepage-in-safari
Updated: 2026-11-08

To change the homepage in Safari on Mac, choose Safari > Settings, click General, and type a web address in the Homepage field. Then open the New windows open with and New tabs open with menus and pick Homepage, so Safari opens that page every time you start a window or tab.

## Quick answer

- Choose Safari > Settings, or press Command comma, then click General.
- Type a full web address in the Homepage field, or click Set to Current Page.
- Set New windows open with and New tabs open with to Homepage. The two menus work separately.
- Go back to your homepage with History > Home, or press Shift Command H.

Applies to: Safari on Mac in current macOS releases, including macOS 27 Golden Gate. Time: 3 min. Difficulty: Easy.

## What you need

- Safari open on your Mac
- The full web address of your homepage, including https://
- Permission to change Safari settings

## How to Change the Safari homepage on a Mac in Safari on a Mac

1. **Open Safari Settings.** (Safari > Settings) Shortcut: ⌘,. Click Safari in the menu bar at the top of the screen, then choose Settings. You can also press Command comma while Safari is in front. Older guides and some Apple pages call this item Preferences. Tip: If the Settings window opens on another pane, click General in the toolbar at the top of the window.
2. **Open the General pane.** (Settings > General) In the Settings window, click General in the toolbar. This pane holds the Homepage field, the Safari opens with menu, and both new window and new tab menus. Everything for this task lives on this one screen. Tip: Keep this window open. You return to it for both pop-up menus.
3. **Type your homepage address.** (Settings > General > Homepage) Click inside the Homepage field and type the full web address, such as https://www.apple.com. If you are already on the right page, click Set to Current Page instead. Safari fills the field with that page's address. Tip: Include https:// at the start so the address is complete.
4. **Set New windows open with.** (Settings > General > New windows open with > Homepage) Click the New windows open with pop-up menu and choose Homepage. From now on, a new window starts on the page in the Homepage field. Tip: Choose Empty Page instead if you want new windows to start blank.
5. **Set New tabs open with.** (Settings > General > New tabs open with > Homepage) Click the New tabs open with pop-up menu and choose Homepage too. This menu works separately from the windows menu, so change it even if you already changed the windows menu. Tip: If new tabs still show Start Page, check that you picked Homepage and not Same Page.
6. **Test a new window and tab.** (File > New Window) Shortcut: ⌘N. Close the Settings window. Press Command N to open a new window and confirm that it loads your homepage. Then press Command T to open a new tab and check that too. Tip: If the page does not load, check the address in the Homepage field for typos.
7. **Jump back to your homepage.** (History > Home) Shortcut: ⇧⌘H. From any page, open the History menu and choose Home. Apple lists Shift-Command-H for this action, so you can skip the menu once you know the keys. Tip: Hold Shift and Command together, then press H while the Safari window is in front.

Your homepage is the web address Safari opens first, when you start a new window or a new tab. Safari keeps that choice in one pane of its settings. The steps are short. The tricky part is that the pane has two separate pop-up menus, and most people change only one of them.

![Person using a MacBook at a desk while learning how to change the homepage in Safari on Mac](https://images.lazur.app/content-images/howto/change-the-homepage-in-safari/how-to-change-the-homepage-in-safari-1-1891e5.jpg)

## What you need before you start

- Safari open on your Mac. Safari comes with macOS, so you do not need to install anything.
- The full web address of the page you want, including https://. For example, https://www.apple.com.
- Permission to change settings. On a work or school Mac, a configuration profile can lock Safari settings.
- About three minutes. Most of that time goes to typing the address.

## Where the homepage setting lives in Safari

Apple's guide for this task says to choose Safari > Settings, then click General. The General pane holds the Homepage field, the Safari opens with menu, and the two new window and new tab menus. Everything you need sits on that one screen, so you rarely have to leave it.

You may see older guides or Apple pages that say Preferences instead of Settings. Apple's instructions say to choose Settings, or Preferences in older versions. Both names open the same General pane. If your menu says Preferences, choose that item.

The label changed in other places too. Wikipedia says Apple renamed System Preferences to System Settings in macOS Ventura 13. The sources do not date when Safari changed its own menu label, so trust the menu you see on your screen.

## New windows open with versus New tabs open with

These two pop-up menus decide what Safari shows when you open something new. New windows open with applies when you start a window, for example with Command N or File > New Window. New tabs open with applies when you start a tab, for example with Command T or File > New Tab.

The menus do not share a value. You can point windows at your homepage and leave tabs on Start Page. Or you can flip that. Changing one menu does not change the other, so check both before you close Settings.

| Option | What Safari shows | Available for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Start Page | Favorites, a Privacy Report summary, Reading List, and pages open on other signed-in Apple devices | Windows and tabs |
| Homepage | The web address you typed in the Homepage field | Windows and tabs |
| Empty Page | A blank window or tab | Windows and tabs |
| Same Page | The most recently viewed page | Windows and tabs |
| Tabs for Favorites | Your Favorites, opened as tabs | Windows only |
| Choose tabs folder | A tabs folder you choose | Windows only |

_Options in the two pop-up menus, based on Apple's General settings guide._

## Set to Current Page: the fastest route

If the page you want is already open, you do not need to type anything. Click Set to Current Page in the General pane. Safari copies the address of the page in front of you into the Homepage field.

This works well for a news site, a company intranet, or a web app you open every morning. Afterward, read the address in the field. If the address looks wrong, close Settings, load the right page, and click the button again.

- **7.83%** Safari share of worldwide desktop browser use, October 2026 ([source](https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worldwide))

Safari is not the biggest desktop browser. StatCounter put it at 7.83% of worldwide desktop browser use in October 2026. Chrome had 66.98% and Edge had 13.24% in the same data. The steps here cover Safari only, so Chrome and Edge keep their own settings.

## Open your homepage whenever you need it

After the homepage is set, you can return to it from any open page. Open the History menu and choose Home. Apple's keyboard list gives Shift-Command-H for the same action, so you can skip the menu once the keys feel natural.

If Home loads a page you did not expect, check the address in the Homepage field. Open Settings, go to General, and read the field again. The address you see there is the one Safari uses.

## A worked example: a morning news page

Say you read the same news site every morning. Open that site in Safari first. Press Command comma, click General, and click Set to Current Page. Then set New windows open with to Homepage and New tabs open with to Homepage.

The next morning, press Command N. The new window should load the news site without any typing. If it loads a different page, the field still holds an old address. Change it, then repeat the test with Command N.

If a homepage loads slowly, the homepage is rarely the only cause. Check your connection first. If you want a fast start while you troubleshoot, set New tabs open with to Empty Page for a day.

## Safari opens with is a different setting

The Safari opens with menu sits in the same General pane, and it causes confusion. It controls which windows Safari reopens when the app launches. It does not control what a new window shows once Safari is already running.

Its options include a new window, a new private window, and windows from the last session. Some options appear only when Close windows when quitting an app is selected in Desktop & Dock settings.

To open Safari with no windows reopened for one launch, press and hold Shift while you open Safari. To stop Safari reopening windows every time, use the system setting Close windows when quitting an application.

## Mistakes people make with the homepage

- Typing a site name instead of an address. Enter the full address, such as https://www.apple.com, so Safari knows where to go.
- Changing only the windows menu. Tabs keep their own setting, so change New tabs open with too.
- Looking for Preferences when your menu says Settings, or the reverse. Look for the item that opens the General pane.
- Expecting the homepage to stop old windows from reopening. That job belongs to Safari opens with, which is a separate menu.
- Ignoring a locked field. A configuration profile can control Safari, so ask whoever manages the Mac.

## Start Page, Homepage, Same Page, and Empty Page: which to pick

Start Page is not a fixed address. It shows Favorites, a Privacy Report summary, Reading List, and pages open on other signed-in Apple devices. If you want the same page every time, Homepage is the more predictable choice.

Same Page opens the most recently viewed page, so it changes as you browse. Empty Page opens a blank window or tab. Pick it when you want a quiet start and nothing else. A common pairing is Homepage for new windows and Start Page for new tabs, but the choice is yours.

## Why your homepage keeps changing

If the homepage or search engine changes on its own, or Safari opens pages you did not ask for, treat that as a warning sign. Apple says unwanted windows or a changed search engine can mean a phishing site tricked you into installing suspicious software. Work through these steps in order.

1. Update macOS, or restart the Mac if no update is waiting.
2. Open Safari > Settings and remove any Safari extension you do not recognize.
3. Delete any app you do not recognize, especially one you do not remember installing.
4. Remove any suspicious configuration profile, using the path for your version of macOS.

Run the update first, then check apps, extensions, and profiles. A restart does not remove software that is already installed, so the checks still matter after it.

## Remove a suspicious profile on your Mac

The path depends on your macOS version. On macOS Sequoia 15 or later, open System Settings > General > Device Management. On macOS Ventura 13 or later, open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Profiles. On earlier versions, open System Preferences > Profiles.

Remove only profiles you do not recognize. A work or school profile may be legitimate, and removing it can cut off email or other services. Ask the person who manages the Mac before you remove anything.

## Does this work on iPhone or iPad?

This guide covers Safari on Mac only. The steps here did not check iPhone or iPad. Look in the Settings app on those devices, and do not assume the Mac steps match.

## Related Safari tasks

Once the homepage is set, you may want to change how Safari keeps your browsing. [Clear browsing history in Safari](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/clear-browsing-history-in-safari) removes the trail, and [delete cookies in Safari](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/delete-cookies-in-safari) handles site data one site at a time. If you want a separate setup for different work, [create a profile in Safari](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/create-a-profile-in-safari) covers that. Extensions are covered in [install an extension in Safari](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/install-an-extension-in-safari). To see how Lazur works inside Safari, read [Lazur for Safari](https://www.lazur.app/apps/safari).

## Shortcuts

- Open Safari Settings: ⌘,
- Go to your homepage: ⇧⌘H
- Open a new window: ⌘N
- Open a new tab: ⌘T
- Go back in Safari: ⌘[
- Go forward in Safari: ⌘]

## If it does not work

- **Homepage keeps changing or Safari opens unwanted windows** Apple says this can mean suspicious software. Update macOS or restart, remove unknown apps and extensions, and remove suspicious profiles.
- **The Settings menu says Preferences** Choose Preferences. It opens the same General pane. Older guides and some Apple pages use that name.
- **New tabs still open with Start Page** Check the New tabs open with menu. It works separately from the windows menu, so it needs its own Homepage choice.
- **The Homepage field will not accept changes** A configuration profile may control Safari. Check the profile list for your macOS version, and ask the person who manages the Mac before you remove anything.
- **Old windows reopen when Safari starts** Change Safari opens with in the General pane. For one launch only, hold Shift while you open Safari.

## With Lazur

Lazur is a voice assistant for the Mac that lives in the notch. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask; it sees your screen, answers out loud, points at buttons and walks you through apps. Hold fn to dictate. Free for 3 days, then $18/month: https://www.lazur.app/download

- “Where is the Homepage field in Safari?”: Lazur circles the Homepage field, then guides you to the pop-up menus one click at a time, waiting for each click. (Walks you through it)

## FAQ

### Can I set my homepage to the page I already have open?

Yes. Open Safari > Settings, click General, then click Set to Current Page. Safari fills the Homepage field with the address of the page you are viewing.

### What is the difference between a homepage and Start Page?

Your homepage is an address you choose. Start Page is a built-in page that shows Favorites, a Privacy Report summary, Reading List, and pages open on other signed-in Apple devices.

### Why does Safari still open old windows when I start it?

Those windows come from the Safari opens with menu, not the homepage. Change that menu in the General pane, or hold Shift while you open Safari to skip reopening windows for one launch.

### Can I make Safari open with a blank page?

Yes. Choose Empty Page in the New windows open with menu, the New tabs open with menu, or both. A blank window or tab opens instead of your homepage.

### Does this also change the homepage on my iPhone or iPad?

No. This guide covers Safari on Mac only. Check the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad separately, because the option may sit somewhere else.

### Does Lazur change my homepage for me?

No. Lazur does not click buttons or change settings for you. Hold Option and Command, ask where the Homepage field is, and Lazur circles it and guides you one click at a time.

### What if my homepage keeps changing back?

Treat it as a sign of suspicious software. Update or restart macOS, remove unknown extensions and apps, and remove any suspicious profile, as covered above.

## Sources

1. [Change your homepage in Safari on Mac, Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/change-your-homepage-ibrw1020/mac), Apple, checked 2026-11-08
2. [Change General settings in Safari on Mac, Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/general-ibrw1072/mac), Apple, checked 2026-11-08
3. [Keyboard shortcuts and gestures in Safari on Mac, Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/keyboard-shortcuts-and-gestures-cpsh003/mac), Apple, checked 2026-11-08
4. [Control which windows Safari reopens on Mac, Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/HT204296), Apple, checked 2026-11-08
5. [What's new in the updates for macOS 27 Golden Gate, Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/127257), Apple, checked 2026-11-08
6. [System Settings, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Settings), Wikipedia, checked 2026-11-08
7. [Desktop Browser Market Share Worldwide, StatCounter](https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/worldwide), StatCounter, checked 2026-11-08