How Do I Reset My Home Page?

When web browsing, is easy to click on links end up some place that you have no idea where you are, but the nice thing about your browser is that it will always take you back to your home page. For example, some people may be cruising through a long string of websites and then forget how to return to where they originally started. You can "reset" where you are by returning to your home page.

To return to your home page from anywhere on the World Wide Web, there is a button on your browser that will take you back immediately. At the top of your browser, there are a number of buttons with icons in them. These buttons will accomplish various tasks that are common during a browsing session.

There is usually a page forward and page backward button, a reload page button, a stop loading button (typically an "X" shape icon) and in most cases, an icon that looks like a small house.

The house icon is the button that will immediately return you to your home page. Pressing this button will save you from having to back up through all the pages that you have viewed or having to type in the URL of your home page. One click and you are right back where you started.

Your home page should be set to a page that is most useful to you. Some users have elected to use an online mail service. Setting your home page to the inbox of your mail service is a good idea for those people that receive a lot of email and need to be able to check it frequently. Rather than leaving a window open in their browser linked to their inbox, they can simply click their mouse and return to their home page to check their mail and then return to the site they were working on. For others, perhaps Google would be the best option for a home page if you search a lot.

Setting Your Home Page

To set your home page, use the tools in your browser that allow you to customize both the features of your browser and to set your personal preferences. These tools are usually in the Options, Internet Options or Preferences section. Once you have set your personal home page you can continue with your work.

Resetting the Home Page After a Virus

Sometimes, however, after you have set your home page, something can go wrong. Malware and spyware has become a very frustrating thing to deal with. All too often, visiting a website or installing a program onto your computer will cause the home page in your web browser to be set to somewhere other than you intended. The next time you open your browser, the home page that comes up may not be what you expect. It may have been hijacked to a new location.

To rectify this problem, you will need to enter your web browser and set your home page just as you did when you first got your computer. Enter the settings section of your browser and find the entry that defines your home page. Delete the home page URL that is currently there and replace it with the URL that you want to be your home page. This can be a frequent nuisance depending on what sites you visit and what types of programs that you are loading on your computer.

Other Times You Need to Reset

There may be other times when you have to reset your home page. Unfortunately, there are techniques that some hackers and some programmers use that lock your home page to a specific location. Usually these programs are used after the home page is set to a URL of their choosing and the programs then grey out the URL space in the settings of your browser. This can be infuriating as you no longer can change your home page. Beware of these lurking properties of programs.

Often times the only fix for this problem is to remove the offending program or uninstall the browser and try a fresh install. There is no guarantee that the reinstall will work, but it is worth a try.