How to Open a URL in a New Tab Automatically: A Simple Chrome Extension

If you’ve ever searched for how to open a URL in a new tab in Chrome, you’ve probably run into the same issue I did: multiple extensions that promise something simple but ship with way more than you asked for.

Maybe I’m a bit paranoid, but this functionality really should be a small, lightweight, extension that does one thing: opens a customizable URL when you open a new tab in Chrome.

So I built my own New Tab URL Redirect Chrome extension.

A Simple Way to Open a URL in a New Tab

New Tab URL is a small, open-source Chrome extension that redirects every new tab to a URL you choose. That’s the entire feature.

No dashboards.
No tracking.
No background services.

Just a clean redirect when you open a new tab.

If you’re looking for a lightweight way to automatically open a URL in a new tab, this does exactly that.

Technical Details

• No analytics or tracking of any kind
• Uses only Chrome’s storage permission
• Validates URLs and blocks unsafe schemes like javascript:
• Fully open source and easy to audit
• Under 100 lines of JavaScript
• Syncs your setting across Chrome if you’re signed in

You can read the entire codebase in a few minutes.

How to Install the Extension

This extension isn’t published to the Chrome Web Store (yet), so installation is manual:

1. Download the ZIP from the GitHub repository
   https://github.com/rodgtr1/new-tab-url-redirect

2. Extract the ZIP to a folder on your computer

3. Open Chrome and go to:
   chrome://extensions/

4. Enable Developer mode

5. Click Load unpacked and select the extracted folder

Once installed:

• Right-click the extension icon
• Open Options
• Enter the URL you want Chrome to open in a new tab
• Save your changes

Open a new tab and it will redirect immediately.

If no URL is set, Chrome falls back to its default new tab page.

Privacy and Security

This extension is intentionally boring from a security standpoint, which is the goal.

It does:

• Store your chosen URL locally
• Redirect new tabs to that URL
• Ensure only http and https URLs are allowed

It does not:

• Read your browsing history
• Inspect page content
• Inject scripts into websites
• Communicate with external servers
• Collect or share any data

The core logic of the extension lives in just a few small files:

• manifest.json
• redirect.js
• options.js

The remaining files are basic HTML for the options page and static assets like icons.

Nothing hidden. Nothing bundled.

Why I Built It

I wanted a way to open a URL in a new tab automatically without trusting a third-party extension that I couldn’t easily verify. (Yes you have to trust me 😈, but give it a quick read, it’s elementary level code).

Many Chrome extensions are black boxes, and many of them change behavior over time.

By keeping this extension small and open source, anyone can confirm exactly what it does (and doesn’t).

Common Ways People Use It

Some popular setups include:

• Opening Hacker News or another news site
• Launching Gmail or Google Calendar
• Starting the day in Notion, Todoist, or a task manager
• Redirecting to a company dashboard, internal tool, or homelab dashboard
• Loading a locally hosted page or blank screen

You can change the URL anytime, or remove the extension to restore Chrome’s default new tab behavior.

Troubleshooting

If it’s not working as expected:

• Make sure the URL includes https:// or http://
• Confirm the extension is enabled in chrome://extensions/
• Try removing and reloading the extension

To stop using it, simply disable or remove the extension.

Get the Code

You can view or download the project here:
https://github.com/travisdrodgers/newtab-url

No fluff, no tracking, no unnecessary permissions — just a straightforward way to open any URL when you open a new tab in Chrome.

Questions, issues, or ideas? The project is open source and contributions are welcome on GitHub.