Firefox has just received one of its biggest updates yet. Not only has the browser received a design overhaul, it’s also improved its base performance and added some new features. One change you will notice right away is on the new tab page. Previously, Firefox showed you a speed dial that populated over time with websites you visit most often. Now, it shows you two different types of thumbnails; top sites, and highlights. The top sites seem to be inspired by Top Sites in Microsoft Edge but they aren’t preset by Mozilla. They simply feature the websites you visit most often. The Highlights show you recent websites that you visited. Here’s how to manage top sites and highlights in Firefox.
To manage top sites and highlights in Firefox, you need to visit the new tab page preferences. Open a new tab, and click the cog wheel button at the top right.
Show More Top Sites
By default, you see six top sites. To view more top sites, enable the Show two rows option. Conversely, if the highlights do the trick for you, you can disable top sites in Firefox by unchecking ‘Top Sites’ in the new tab page preferences.
Edit Top Sites
You can edit top sites in Firefox. Simply click the little bubble at the top right of a top site’s thumbnail. You can pin it so that is isn’t replaced by any other website that you start to visit often. You can also edit it, remove it, and delete it from your history.
Hide Highlights
To hide highlights, open the new tab page preferences and uncheck the Highlights option.
Edit Highlights
To edit a highlight, click the little bubble at the top right of a highlight. You can bookmark a highlight, remove it, or delete it from your history. There is no option to edit a highlight because they aren’t permanent. They update as you browse and aren’t stored permanently.
Firefox for iOS and Android also have a highlights option but at present, there’s no way to turn it off. This new version of Firefox has given users two types of speed dials; one is more permanent and reserved for your favorite websites. The other updates regularly and it is an easy way to recall recent tabs from your history.
If you ever felt the websites on the new tab page didn’t update frequently enough, or that they updated too often you’re going to be pretty satisfied with top sites and highlights.