The row of tiles under the search box on Chrome's new tab page often shows the wrong things: sites you opened twice, nothing you picked, or nothing at all. Chrome new tab shortcuts run in one of two modes, and most trouble comes from being in the wrong one.
What you can change
- Who fills the row: you (My shortcuts) or Chrome (Most visited sites).
- Each tile: add, edit, remove, and undo a removal.
- The order, by dragging, once the list is yours.
- Whether the row shows. Where it sits is fixed: under the search box.
Labels come from Google's help pages for Chrome on a computer, in British English: Customise Chrome is Customize Chrome in the US. Google's help is silent on undoing and reordering. For those we read Chromium, the open source code Chrome is built from, on 21 September 2026, and say so each time.
Choose between My shortcuts and Most visited sites
Open the Customise Chrome panel
Open a new tab and click Customise Chrome at the bottom right. A panel opens at the side, as Google's help page describes.
Pick who fills the row
Under Shortcuts, select one.
- My shortcuts: websites you chose. In Chromium's code the row keeps Chrome's suggestions until your first add, edit or removal, which freezes them into your own list.
- Most visited sites: Chrome fills the row with websites you visit often, so it changes as your browsing does.
Or hide the row
Turn off Show shortcuts and the tiles disappear.
Add, edit, remove and put back a shortcut
Add a shortcut
With My shortcuts chosen, click Add shortcut under the search box. Enter the name and URL, then click Done. Google gives these steps in its Workspace guide to tabs and shortcuts.
Edit the name or the address
Point to the tile's icon. At its top right, click More, then Edit shortcut. Change the name or URL and click Done.
Remove a shortcut
Point to the icon, click More, then Remove. Most visited tiles cannot be edited: in Chromium's code they carry a remove button and no More menu.
Put a shortcut back
In Chromium's code a 'Shortcut removed' message stays up for ten seconds with an Undo button; Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac) works while it shows. After that, add the shortcut again. Beside Undo sits Restore default shortcuts: it deletes your own list and returns the row to Chrome's suggestions.
Reorder your shortcuts
Make the list yours
Select My shortcuts in Customise Chrome. In Chromium's code, Most visited tiles cannot be dragged: Chrome sets their order.
Drag a tile to its new place
Press and hold a tile, drag it to its new position and let go. Google's help does not mention this; it is in Chromium's code.
Why Chrome new tab shortcuts disappear or keep changing
Check which list is chosen
Open Customise Chrome. With Most visited sites selected the row follows your browsing, and deleting browsing history removes shortcuts to the pages you delete. Select My shortcuts, then add or edit one tile so the list becomes yours.
Check that the row is switched on
In the same panel, make sure Show shortcuts is on.
Look for an extension
If the page is no longer Chrome's own, an extension has replaced it, and Chrome's row is not on that page. The page's footer names the extension; if there is none, turn on Show footer on New tab page in Customise Chrome. Switch the extension off at chrome://extensions and Chrome's page returns.
Check whether Chrome is managed
On a work or school computer, look for 'Managed by your organisation' at the bottom of the More menu, or open chrome://management. From Chrome 141 an administrator can add the organisation's own shortcuts and decide whether you may rename or remove them.
When you want more than Chrome's row
Google's help lists no way to group the tiles or move the row. Two things go further.
Use the bookmarks bar
Show the bar
Select More, Bookmarks and lists, Show bookmarks bar. Google's help calls the bar the easy way to open a bookmark.
Fill it with pages and folders
On a page you want to keep, select Bookmark to the right of the address bar. For a folder, right-click the bar and select Add folder. Drag bookmarks into the order you want.
Replace the new tab page with an extension
An extension can supply its own new tab page, with its own kind of shortcut. We make one, Backs, so weigh this accordingly. In Backs a link is a bookmark Backon (our word for a widget). Click Menu, choose Bookmarks Cafe and drag a bookmark out: it follows your pointer until you drop it on the grid, wherever you like.
The Favicon Sign shows the site's icon repainted in your background photo's colours, with its name below. The icon comes from Chrome's own icon cache, then from Google's or DuckDuckGo's icon service; an unknown site gets its first letter. Arrow signs carry a short label you type, and banners are small pictures such as a cat or a jellyfish. To set a link, click Move for edit mode, point to the bookmark and click the pencil.
Backs has no folders; the nearest thing is the Tab Bookshelf, which saves tabs, tab groups or a window as books on shelves you name. Nothing is filled in for you. Bookmarks are in the free plan and need no account. Chrome on a computer only.
What can go wrong
There is no Add shortcut tile. It belongs to My shortcuts. If the row ends in Show more, select it: in Chromium's code the tile is hidden while the list is folded, and again when the list is full.
Customise Chrome has no Shortcuts section. Google's help says customising the page needs a signed-in Google Account and Google as the default search engine. Check yours in Settings, Search engine.
Questions and answers
- How many shortcuts can I add to Chrome's new tab page?
- Google's help pages give no number, so we give none. In Chromium's code the Add shortcut tile disappears once the list is full: select Show more, or remove a shortcut you no longer use.
- Why do my Chrome shortcuts keep changing?
- Most visited sites is chosen, so Chrome refills the row from your browsing. Select My shortcuts in Customise Chrome, then add or edit one tile.
- Can I change the icon on a shortcut?
- Not in the Edit shortcut box: in Chromium's code it has two fields, name and URL. The tile shows the site's own icon.
- Can I put new tab shortcuts in folders?
- Google's help lists no way to group the tiles. The bookmarks bar has folders: right-click it and select Add folder.
Photo: Nacho Rochon / Unsplash