How to open the same pages every time Chrome starts
Gmail, your calendar, the team chat: if you open the same things every morning, Chrome can do it for you. Here's how, and what to do when that's not enough.
Many days start the same way: you open Chrome and type the same addresses, one by one. Email, calendar, Slack, your company's tool. It only takes a few seconds, but you do it every single day.
Chrome has a setting that opens those pages on its own at startup. We'll show you how to set it up, where it falls short, and how to use NexoPad to open other sets of pages with one click, like the ones for month-end close or the Monday meeting.
How to set up Chrome's startup pages
Open the startup settings
Go to the ⋮ > Settings > On startup menu. Faster: type chrome://settings/onStartup in the address bar and press Enter.
Choose the third option
Select Open a specific page or set of pages. Two buttons appear below it to choose which pages open.
Add your pages one by one
Click Add a new page, type the address (for example, https://mail.google.com) and click Add. Repeat for every page you want to see at startup.
Or use the tabs you already have open
If the pages you want are already open, click Use current pages and Chrome saves them all at once. You can then remove any you don't need.
Test it
Close Chrome completely and open it again. Your pages should appear, each in its own tab, ready to go.
The three "On startup" options
Open the New Tab page. Chrome starts with an empty tab showing the search box and your shortcuts. This is the default.
Continue where you left off. Chrome reopens the tabs you had when you closed it. It's handy for picking up yesterday's work, but it changes every day depending on what you leave open. We cover it in how to save all open tabs.
Open a specific page or set of pages. Chrome always opens the same pages you chose, no matter what happened the day before. This is the option for your fixed morning routine.
Bonus: the Home button
Chrome can show a house-shaped button next to the address bar. Turn it on in Settings > Appearance > Show home button and choose which page it opens.
It's useful for getting back to your favorite page at any time of day, but it opens a single page, not a set.
What Chrome's startup pages don't solve
They always open the same thing. Startup pages open every time you open Chrome, all at once. You can't tell it "just email today" or "invoices too today".
Changing them takes effort. To add or remove a page, you have to go back to settings. It's not something you'll do in the middle of the morning.
They're per profile. Each Chrome profile has its own startup pages. If you use the same profile for everything, you only get one set.
They don't help with specific tasks. Month-end close, the Monday meeting or a client review need different pages, often in the middle of the afternoon, not at startup. For that, you need something else.
Sets of pages per task with NexoPad
Open the pages for a task
For example, for your start of the day, open Gmail, Google Calendar and Slack in one window.
Save them as a group
Press Ctrl+Space to open the NexoPad popup, click the + button and choose Save all tabs. Give it a name, like "Start of the day", and click Create group. It's saved in the Groups folder.
Create a group for each task
Repeat with "Month-end close" or "Monday meeting". You can also create a group by hand from the link form, typing several addresses separated by | .
Open it with one click when you need it
Click the group in the popup or the side panel. All its pages open at once, together in a Chrome tab group with its name and color.
More ways to open a group
You don't even need the popup. On any page, press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac), type the group's name and press Enter. Or type sys followed by one of the group's tags in the address bar. We explain it in open sites by typing a keyword.
One important detail: NexoPad doesn't open your groups automatically when Chrome starts. You open them yourself, when you need them. That's why it works so well alongside Chrome's startup pages, not instead of them.
Which option should you choose?
| What it opens | When | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome startup pages | Always the same pages you chose | Every time you open Chrome | What you use every day |
| Continue where you left off | The tabs you had open when you closed it | Every time you open Chrome | Picking up yesterday's work |
| NexoPad group | The group's pages, in a tab group with a name and color | When you click it | Sets of pages for each task |
Frequently asked questions
How do I make Chrome always open the same pages?
Go to chrome://settings/onStartup, choose Open a specific page or set of pages and add your pages, or click Use current pages.
Can I have several sets of startup pages?
In Chrome, only one per profile. If you want different sets for each task, save them as groups in NexoPad and open the one you need with one click.
What's the difference between startup pages and the Home button?
Startup pages open on their own when Chrome starts. The Home button opens a single page when you click it.
Does NexoPad open my groups when Chrome starts?
No. NexoPad groups open when you click them, or with Ctrl+K. For what you want to see as soon as Chrome opens, use Chrome's startup pages.
How many pages fit in a NexoPad group?
Up to 5 on the free plan, 20 on Pro and 50 on Teams. Each group counts as a single link, and the free plan includes 20 links.
Published on October 20, 20266 min read
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