In FireFox, how can I make new windows start blank with the focus in the URL bar

firefox

In FireFox version 50 on OS X 10.10.5, when I create a new window (using ⌘-N), the new window opens with the FireFox logo and the input focus on the search field in the middle of the page:

enter image description here

I would really much rather prefer to start with a blank page and the input focus in the URL bar. How can I configure FireFox to behave that way?

In my FireFox Preferences, in the General tab, for "When Firefox starts" I have the setting "Show my windows and tabs from last time" and I want to keep that setting. Hopefully whatever is needed to change the ⌘-N behavior does not need to change the value of this preference setting.

Best Answer

Update Note: The original answer was applicable to Firefox version 50, and somewhere along the way Mozilla added what's shown directly below. (From Firefox version 66.0.5).

Firefox (menu) > Preferences… ⌘` then click Home and set Homepage and new windows and New tabs to: Blank Page

Firefox version 66.0.5.



Original Answer

To have Firefox open a new window to a blank page, you'll need to set the Home Page to about:blank under General preferences (about:preferences#general in the Address bar).

General preferences


Then when pressing N, this is what a new window will look like when it opens:

enter image description here