How to delete tabs on Google Chrome

You can replace them with custom shortcuts too

Updated on September 9, 2021

What to Know

• To get rid of all of them, open a new tab and click Customize Chrome > Shortcuts, and toggle on Hide shortcuts.
• To delete one, hover over a shortcut on the new tab page, and click the three-dot menu icon that appears. Select Remove.
• You can also remove shortcuts by clearing your Chrome browsing history.

This article explains how to hide and delete shortcuts on Chrome’s new tab page and add custom shortcuts.

How to Hide New Tab Shortcuts

When you open a new tab page in Chrome, you’ll see shortcuts to websites you frequently visit under the search bar. If you don’t want those to appear, your best bet is to hide them. Here’s how.

1. Open a new tab in Chrome.

2. Click Customize Chrome on the lower right.

3. Click Shortcuts.

4. Toggle on Hide shortcuts.

5. Click Done to save. Then when you open a new tab, you'll see not much more than the Google search bar.

How to Delete Shortcuts

If you like having the shortcuts on the new tab page, you can remove any that you no longer want to show up. You can only delete one shortcut at a time. 

1. Open a new tab in Chrome.

2. Hover over a shortcut and click the three-dot menu icon.

3. Select Remove.

4. You’ll see a notification that the shortcut was removed. Click Undo to restore it. Click Restore default shortcuts to bring back all of them.

Clear Your Browsing History

Another way to get rid of the new tab shortcuts is by clearing your browser history. 

1. From a new Chrome tab page in Windows, press Control + Shift + Delete to open settings. On a Mac, press Command + Shift + Delete. 

2. Tick off Browsing history if it’s not already. Choose a time range from the drop-down menu; the default is the last 24 hours. Click Clear Data.

3. Clearing your browsing history will delete all the shortcuts on the new tab page, if you've enabled Most visited sites. In that case, new ones will appear as you surf the web. However, if you've select My shortcuts then removing the history will not delete those shortcuts.

How to Add Custom Shortcuts

Chrome offers two options if you want to see shortcuts on the new tab page: My shortcuts and Most visited sites. The latter option is automatically updated based on your browser history.

You can add as many custom shortcuts to your favorite websites to the new tab page as you want. To display your custom shortcuts, open a new tab, and click Customize Chrome > Shortcuts > My shortcuts.

1. Click Add shortcut on the new tab page.

2. Input a name and URL, then click Done.

3. The shortcut will now appear on your new tab page.

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