On Debian 13 GNOME opening a new Chromium tab opens https://duckduckgo.com, how to make it open a webpage not requiring Internet access?
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Apr 6, 5:15pm

On Debian 13 with GNOME, if you want Chromium to open a new tab with a local webpage (or a page that does not require an internet connection) instead of https://duckduckgo.com, you can adjust Chromium's startup behavior.

Method 1: Change Startup Page in Chromium Settings

  1. Open Chromium.

  2. Go to:

    text
    chrome://settings/onStartup
  3. Under "On startup," select:

    • "Open the New Tab page" (if you want a blank page or a local HTML file)
    • "Open a specific page or set of pages" and enter the local file path (e.g., file:///path/to/your/local_page.html)

    If you want a blank page, use:

    text
    chrome://newtab

    or simply about:blank in the address bar.


Method 2: Edit Chromium Preferences File

If you want to enforce this change system-wide or for all profiles, you can edit Chromium's preferences file:

  1. Close Chromium.

  2. Open the preferences file:

    bash
    nano ~/.config/chromium/Default/Preferences

    (Replace ~/.config/chromium/ with the correct path if you use a different profile or Chromium variant.)

  3. Search for:

    json
    "homepage": "https://duckduckgo.com",
    "startup_urls": ["https://duckduckgo.com"],

    and replace them with:

    json
    "homepage": "about:blank",
    "startup_urls": ["about:blank"],

    or your local file path (e.g., "file:///path/to/your/local_page.html").

  4. Save the file and restart Chromium.


Method 3: Use Command Line Arguments

You can also launch Chromium with a command-line argument to open a specific page:

bash
chromium --new-window "about:blank"

or

bash
chromium --new-window "file:///path/to/your/local_page.html"

Notes:

  • If you want to open a local HTML file, ensure the file path is correct and accessible.
  • If Chromium resets these settings after updates, consider using a policy or extension to enforce the change.

Would you like help creating a local HTML file for testing? Or do you want to enforce this setting system-wide?

Apr 6, 5:15pm

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