When you see about:blank on a web browser’s address bar, you’re viewing a blank page.
About Blank is an element built into your web browser for viewing blank pages or when nothing loads up.
This element is a part of major web browsers including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Vivaldi, and others.
Some people prefer using the about:blank page as their home page instead of a New Tab page or a specific page to help them load the page faster.
You can remove about:blank by going to browser settings and changing the homepage from about:blank to whatever you prefer.
What is about:blank?
About Blank (about:blank) is simply a blank page built inside your browser.
The “about:” part in the URL instructs the URL to show the browser’s built in internal pages.
For instance, if we type about:settings in the URL, it’ll redirect you to the browser’s Settings page.
Similarly, if you type about:downloads in the URL, you’ll be redirected to the Download list page of the browser.
That is how, when you type in about:blank on your address bar and press Enter, an empty page is loaded without any element on it.
Again, it’s not hosted on the internet. But it is hosted on your Web Browser.
How is about:blank Useful?
Many users use this page as their home page knowingly or unknowingly. This leaves them with a blank page every time they open their home page.
This makes it look less cluttery.
Usually, web browsers will display about:blank if they don’t have anything to display on the web page.
A browser must display something at all times, and if it isn’t displaying, your browser will redirect you to about:blank.
If you want to see a blank page when you open your web browser, you can follow these steps to set your home page as about:blank.
- Open the Web Browser of your choice.
- Type “about:settings” on the address bar, and press the Enter or the Return key.
- In your browser’s settings, scroll down to “On startup” section.
Alternatively, you can search for “Home” in the search bar. - Look for something that lets you set a default homepage.
In Chrome, you’ll see something like shown below. - Select the text box, and type “about:blank” in it.
Now go to your home page, and you’ll see a blank page instead of a New Tab.
Using an About Blank page as the home page or every time you start your browser reduces the load on your processor.
This way, your browser loads up faster and doesn’t use many resources at the same time.
Is about:blank a Virus or a Malware?
No, the about:blank (About Blank) is not a virus, malware, or dangerous file. Generally You don’t need to be afraid of about blank page.
However, malware can set your browser to display an about:blank page if you didn’t set it yourself.
If you see an about:blank page, or several about:blank popping up on your browser and you didn’t set it intentionally, then your PC might be affected by malware.
In such cases, you can perform a full scan of your PC with Windows Defender or any other anti-virus of your choice.
How to Remove about:blank page?
While you cannot completely remove about:blank page as it is an inbuilt feature in most of the major browsers. You can disable it from settings and will never see it again.
To remove about:blank page, you need to change your browser’s home page.
This way, you’ll see your browser’s New Tab page or a specific page you want.
Here’s how to change your browser’s home page to get rid of about blank page on any browser.
Google Chrome
Here’s how you can remove about:blank page by changing your homepage on Google Chrome.
- Click on the menu (three vertical dots), and select Settings.
- Head over to the “On Startup” section, and select one of these options:
- Open the New Tab Page
- Delete about:blank under Open a Specific page and type in your favorite page.
This will remove the about blank page from your Chrome browser. So you can choose any preferred option from the above.
Apple Safari
Similarly, on a Mac, click on Safari to remove the about blank page on Apple Safari. Then navigate to Preferences > General tab. Now replace about:blank with your preferred page.
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft has launched its Chromium-based browser as well. To remove the about blank page from Microsoft Edge, click Menu and navigate to Settings.
Click on the “Start, Home, and New Tabs” option on the left. From the “When Edge Starts” section, select either “Open the New Tab Page” or remove the “about:blank” page from the list of the pages that open when you launch Edge.
Other Browsers
You’ll find the same settings on other browsers as well, especially the ones based on Chromium.
You can head over to Settings and change the webpage that opens upon startup.
Either go with a new tab page or choose your favorite site instead of the “about:blank” page.
About:Blank (About Blank) Pages are Safe Usually
We hope you understood everything about the “about:blank” pages and their usage in web browsers.
Since it’s a part of a browser, you can feel safer and rest assured.
If you are running macOS, there’s less probability that it’s malware or virus. On the contrary, the risk is still there if you’re running Windows.
You don’t need to worry when you see an about:blank page on your web browser.
But if you haven’t set it yourself or it didn’t come with the browser by default, then you need to worry.
It’s always recommended to check for possible malware and viruses from time to time to avoid them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should you be worried if a page redirects you to about:blank page?
Is about:blank a virus or malware?
How to fix about:blank page?
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