Chrome’s new tab page changed by itself: how to find the cause and fix it

Updated 18 October 2026

When Chrome’s new tab page changes without your say-so, one of three things is usually behind it: an extension took over the page, your default search engine changed, or a program on your computer changed Chrome’s settings. Work out which one, undo it, and Chrome’s own page comes back.

First, rule out a Chrome update

Google redesigns its new tab page now and then. If the page still has the Google search box and a Customize Chrome button at the bottom right, it’s Chrome’s own page, and what changed can be adjusted there: shortcuts, cards and the footer. Our guide to customizing the new tab page covers those, and the AI Mode button has its own fix.

Work out what took over

Chrome 138 and later can show that footer on an extension’s new tab page. In Settings you may also find a box reading “An extension, [name], is controlling this setting”.

Fix it, one step at a time

1. Remove the extension. Open the three-dot menu, then Extensions > Manage extensions, and click Remove on anything you don’t recognize. Chrome flags some suspicious ones with “This extension is not listed in the Chrome Web Store and may have been added without your knowledge.” Removing an extension puts the settings it changed back the way they were. If one says “Installed by your administrator” on a personal computer and won’t remove, a policy put it there: go to step 3.
2. Set your search engine back. In Settings > Search engine, click Change and pick the one you want.
3. Check for stray policies. Open chrome://policy. For a personal computer that says it’s managed, Google suggests reviewing policies you don’t recognize, removing unwanted programs and extensions, and then resetting Chrome.
4. Uninstall unwanted programs. On Windows, open Settings > Apps > Installed apps. On a Mac, move the app from Applications to the Trash. Start with anything installed around the time the new tab changed.
5. Reset Chrome’s settings. Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their original defaults > Reset settings. This resets the search engine, home page, startup tabs and new tab page, unpins tabs, turns off extensions and clears cookies and site data, so you’ll need to sign in to websites again. Bookmarks and saved passwords stay.
6. Run Safety Check. Settings > Privacy and security > Go to Safety Check. Among other things, it warns about potentially harmful extensions.

Chrome also repairs some of this itself

Every time Chrome starts, it checks whether a program changed settings such as your search engine, home page, startup pages, pinned tabs and extensions, and puts them back if something looks wrong. If it resets your search engine, a small notice appears the next time you search. And when an extension takes over the new tab, Chrome asks “Change back to Google?”, where Change it back turns the extension off if you didn’t mean to install it.

One more change is on the way. Google’s policy documentation says that from Chrome 157 on Windows and Mac, Chrome will block policy-installed extensions that change the search engine or new tab page, and remove ones already installed, on computers where the policies were set locally without domain or cloud management.

After the cleanup

A reset turns off every extension, including the ones you want. Turn the good ones back on in chrome://extensions. If one of them is a new tab extension you chose, such as Stackboard, Chrome may ask “Change back to Google?” again; this time, choose Keep it.