Have you ever attempted to access any website but seen “about:blank” in the URL box where your desired URL was supposed to be?

It occasionally occurs and is nothing to be concerned about.

You’ve come to the right place if you want to learn about What does about:blank means and how to remove this about:blank from different browsers.

Let’s get started!

What is about:blank?

No matter which browser you use Chrome, Safari, or another – the word “about:blank” simply refers to an error blank page. If there is nothing to display by a web browser, the about:blank page will appear. Every browser comes with about:blank inbuilt page.

The “about:” component of the address instructs the web browser to display underlying, built-in pages. For instance, in Chrome, you may enter “about:downloads” to check the list of files that have already been downloaded.

It also may appear if your browser does not include a configured home page or if the website you typed in doesn’t exist. You don’t actually need to fix the about:blank page; in fact, it may even be beneficial. For example, Chrome’s about:blank URL bar functions exactly like the Search bar.

Why Does about:blank Page Appear?

What causes this blank page to occur periodically? Well, the answer is a blank page might show on the screen for a number of reasons, including accessing a website that is infected with malicious code, when the browser is unsure of what to access, and so on.

These are a few of the primary causes:

  • An incorrect or problematic URL
  • Troubles with internet connections
  • When the browser is unsure what to do next
  • Cache issues
  • Trying to access a malicious website
  • More no.of browser addons and plugins

The “about:blank” page is not dangerous since it does not occur due to some malicious code or malware. However, malware might make it appear more frequently if your browser sets a blank URL as its antivirus protection standard.

Does Utilizing an about:blank Page have any Advantages?

When someone is browsing the internet and encounters a bad website, they will be sent to about:blank URL instead of accessing malicious websites, protecting the user from malware infiltrating the system.

As a browser home page, many individuals utilize about:blank. This opens the empty page whenever the user starts the browser. This technique allows the user to stop the browser from opening any additional websites.

Including about blank on the launch page will save a significant amount of data by avoiding the simultaneous loading of several unneeded websites.

Is there a way to Stop about:blank Pages from Appearing?

As a built-in file for the browser, the about:blank blocked page cannot be removed. You can get about:blank on the system web browser while attempting to connect to a restricted website for security purposes.

The website won’t load if a browser finds a danger, which happens frequently. When that occurs, your web browser shows about:blank because it needs to display something.

You may, however, change your launch page from about:blank. This about:blank blocked page can’t be entirely disabled, but about:blank regular page can be replaced with another URL. And here are the steps to remove the about:blank regular page on different web browsers.

Removing about:blank on Chrome

  • Open Chrome, and select Settings from the menu that appears when you click the three vertical dots symbol on the top-right corner.
  • Click the “on startup” option from the navigable menu and choose “Open a specific page or set of pages“.
  • And then remove the about:blank and enter the new URL you want to be displayed by selecting “Add a new page“.
<img alt="Removing about:blank on Chrome" data- data-src="https://kirelos.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/echo/chrome-1.png" data- height="364" src="data:image/svg xml,” width=”840″>

Additionally, you can also navigate directly to the “On startup” setting using this URL. Just paste the below URL into the chrome search bar and click enter.

chrome://settings/onStartup

Removing about:blank on Firefox

  • Open the settings menu by opening Firefox and clicking the three horizontal stripes on the top-right corner.
  • Choose the Home tab, then click “Custom URLs” beside the Homepage and the new windows option.
  • Now delete the about:blank and insert the URL you wish to use for the homepage and new tab.
<img alt="Removing about:blank on Firefox" data- data-src="https://kirelos.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/echo/firefox.png" data- height="368" src="data:image/svg xml,” width=”927″>

similar to the chrome browser, you can directly access the custom URLs menu by using the following URL.

about:preferences#home

Removing about:blank on Safari.

  • Select Preferences in the Safari menu after launching the browser.
  • Toggle to the General tab.
  • Change about:blank to another website URL in place of the default homepage.
<img alt="safari" data-src="https://kirelos.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/echo/safari.png" height="471" src="data:image/svg xml,” width=”800″>

It’s possible that your browser is configured to launch with the about:blank standard page if you always see it when u open a new tab. Simply change your homepage to whatever you like after removing about:blank default page.

Wrapping Up

There is no reason to worry about the about:blank page. Sometimes it’s simply an indication that your CPUobstructs some harmful program. Many antivirus programs redirect users to the about:blank page to secure the system rather than accessing the harmful website.

I hope you found this article helpful in learning about what does about:blank means in web browsers. You may also be interested in learning about domain propagation and tools to track it.

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