PSA: Updates to the new tab page in Chrome 138

Oliver Dunk

unread,

Jun 17, 2025, 1:18:45 PMJun 17

to Chromium Extensions

Hi all,

Starting in Chrome 138, we are updating the new tab page UI with a new footer. This will show when the new tab page is provided by an extension and offer easier access to the "Customize Chrome" menu. It also makes it easier to see the extension providing the new tab page.

It looks like this:

Users can turn the footer off with the "Show footer on New tab page" toggle or by right-clicking the footer and selecting “Hide footer on New Tab page” in the menu.

If you build a new tab page extension, you may want to check if you need to accommodate this in your UI. You can do so by enabling "NTP Footer" at chrome://flags in Chrome Beta or Canary.

This change will be gradually rolling out to users over the coming weeks. As always, if you have any questions, please do let us know.

Thanks,
Oliver on behalf of Chrome Extensions DevRel

Jackie Han

unread,

Jun 18, 2025, 2:29:49 AMJun 18

to Oliver Dunk, Chromium Extensions

Custom themes should be part of Chrome's settings, and the absence of this footer should not affect users. So in my opinion, this footer should not be part of NTP.

It shouldn't always appear in daily use. If it must be displayed, one suggestion is to add a close button on the footer (similar to website cookie banner). Clicking it will stop displaying the footer and guide the user to adjust the settings in the browser settings.

Users can turn the footer off by right-clicking the footer and selecting “Hide footer on New Tab page” in the menu.

I didn't see this menu by right-clicking the footer (Chrome Canary 139.0.7245.0)

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chromium Extensions" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chromium-extens...@chromium.org.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/chromium-extensions/35838641-eae6-4632-9a00-77b4d6831a81n%40chromium.org.

Oliver Dunk

unread,

Jun 18, 2025, 4:42:36 AMJun 18

to Jackie Han, Chromium Extensions

I didn't see this menu by right-clicking the footer (Chrome Canary 139.0.7245.0)

Thanks for testing! We're still landing some final changes - hopefully this will be there shortly.

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

Mythical 5th

unread,

Jun 18, 2025, 7:42:19 AMJun 18

to Chromium Extensions, Oliver Dunk, Chromium Extensions, Jackie Han

I have the toggle in version 138. I don't like it, it looks like a clunky hack to let users be able to edit the toolbar.

Have the designers considered adding the Profile Name and Avatar to the Customise Chrome sidebar rather than adding a footer to the NTP?

The "Customise profile" settings page has 3 sections: Name, Theme and Avatar, and can be accessed directly from the ellipsis menu and the profile menu (where it has a different label in each menu!). Unlike the sidebar equivalent, the settings page has no button/link to edit the toolbar, but one can be found in the Appearance menu. Clicking this opens the sidebar (which feels wrong).

If the menu options for Customise Profile/Customise Your Chrome opened the sidebar instead of the settings page, and if the sidebar included Profile Name and Avatar (as well as the theme and the link to edit the toolbar), we would not need the NTP footer.

Reply all

Reply to author

Forward