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When opening a new tab in Google Chrome, the focus will sometimes (and only sometimes) not be on the address bar, which instead contains the text chrome://new-tab-page-third-party/:

Google chrome address bar reading 'chrome://new-tab-page-third-party/'

When this happens, the DuckDuckGo logo (I use their new tab page) does not load as normal either, and only my 'most visited sites' appear.

The problem first started appearing a few weeks ago. I can't find any rhyme or reason in when it occurs and when it doesn't, and cannot replicate it reliably. It just happens sometimes.

prashant's answer to this question by dialex does NOT solve the issue - I already have the bookmarks bar enabled as standard, and the problem still occurs.

Why does this happen, and what can I do to address it?

EDIT: in response to a comment by user1686, this is my empty chrome://policy page: a chrome://policy page with no policies set

Drubbels
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2 Answers2

1

Well, Its Because DDG ( DuckDuckGo) doesn't have a NTP set by default.

According to @jxramos, ( on this post)

This CL creates a new default NTP for third-party search providers that do not have their own NTP define. It shows the most-visited tiles centered on the screen and can display a background is a chrome theme extension is installed. https://github.com/chromium/chromium/commit/dc334612cb78fa2233eb34c1355b6ee905f57cdc

I suggest changing the search engine to Google to check if the error happens then too

To change the engine:

  1. Type: chrome://settings/searchEngines?search=search+engine

  2. Navigate to Search Engines .

  3. In the Drop down menu, select Google ( or DuckDuckGo or your preferred engine)

Et Voila! It must be fixed.

But, If you want to continue using DDG, well , I would have do more research.

Glorfindel
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Lucifer
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1

You can also press F6, control+L or control+e to focus your address bar if it does not focus automatically ( it starts searching in google )

Also, There is a bug with opening a new tab with Smart Gestures

This answer took a different approach which is why I added another answer thread for it

Glorfindel
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Lucifer
  • 76