Hi Wayne_a,

If you are concerened about your privacy you can turn this feature off:

Turn new Tab Page off

can you confirm that this solution is suipposed to work for ANDROID? all the screenshots suggest a tablet or desktop or something, and when i enter browser.newtab.url in the search bar nothing happens.

Those steps will not work on Android.

However clear private data should remove any history. Though bookmarks are not removed and will be used to populate the home screen. If you want to fully reset Firefox use the Android settings.

• From the Android home screen press the menu button
• Press settings
• Select applications
• Find Firefox and select it
• Press the clear data button

aaaaaagh.

I followed this instruction and it wiped out all my bookmarks which I have to re-enter from scratch including another desktop sync.

Using the browser still populates this 'top sites' feature which I dont want and don't need - and how to disable this is the point of this query ( I see there have bene other complaints about this BTW) Can you check with the techs whether 1) this cannot be removed/disabled or not 2) if not, will this be fixed in a future release (timelines?)

There is no way to disable the top sites at this time. I did say that the steps above would fully reset Firefox.

There is a way to delete individual entries in "Top Sites".

Tap and hold on the site name in the list. A popup should appear showing, OPEN IN NEW TAB, SHARE, REMOVE, ADD TO HOME SCREEN

The REMOVE option will delete the site from the list.

Hi there - nope, this doesnt work either. the options available when I tap and hol are only OPEN IN NEW TAB, SHARE, ADD TO HOME SCREEN

wayne

Hi Wayne, I get the extra REMOVE option on my Top Sites, except for a few at the bottom of the list that only have the three options you state.

These have a gold star next to them because they are also in Bookmarks. If I delete them from BOOKMARKS, they also disappear from Top Sites.

Sites listed in HISTORY also appear in TOP SITES with a gold star but these can be removed.

Mozant

hi there - nope, this doesnt work, irrspectvie whether a top site is in bookmarks I cant remove it from Top Sites. I have lvoed firefox since it came out but I cant beleive somethign so awful got through. I see there have been quite a few threads about this.... What shall I try now?

wayne

Strange, all I can say is, I can remove non-starred items from TopSites, and can remove starred items by deleting from Bookmarks or from History.

Yes, even with this ability to delete individual items it's a big oversight not to allow the feature to be disabled... Let's hope they fix it next time...

I've got Android 4.0.4 on a Galaxy Note with Firefox 15.0.1 Good luck

This is the main reason I still use Opera. At least there, if I delete my history, everything is deleted. Sofar Firefox sucks at privacysettings!

I have found a work around and "band-aid fix" for this problem. Depending on your circumstances and the reason why you want the top sites hidden, this may or may not help you.

I'll be straight up and say I have 1 particular folder for porn bookmarks. I have a about 15 folders of bookmarks and if you scroll down you'll see one labeled "PRON"!

Now, the problem with the top sites on my phone's mobile firefox was that all of the porn links were easily seen from the top sites list.

I recently downloaded an add-on for desktop firefox called "Link Password". This adds a right click context option to your bookmark menu. I right clicked on the PRON bookmark folder and chose "Encrypt All Links In The Folder". This allows you to password those links so no one else can open them. There is also a "Rename Links" option that will rename the links to random, docile internet names (Yahoo Login! Facebook App! Movies - Wikipedia! Those are some examples of what my raunchy porn link names turned into).

When I want to actually "use" those links, I just right click on my PRON bookmark folder in the bookmark menu, choose "DEcrypt All Links In The Folder", put in my password, then they are usable again and their names are restored. When I'm done, Encrypt them again.

Now to the topic at hand, when the folder is encrypted, NONE of those porn bookmarks show up in my top sites list on my mobile phone's firefox! You also can't use the porn links on the phone itself since the "Link Password" add-on doesn't exist for android firefox so the links just don't work but that is JUST FINE with me.

Now I can hand my phone to a friend or family member without them accidentally seeing that stuff, or without snoopy friends or strangers at a party seeing that stuff.

There is just no way for them to see the actual names of the links or to even click on them.

So, if your issue with the top sites list is similar to mine, consider the "Link Password" add-on extension for the PC version of firefox and then you can keep sync turned on between your android and PC safely and with peace of mind once again!

Hopefully they just add an option to clear or disable the top sites list completely!! It's been almost 4 months since I've seen the complaints start on this.

• My bad, wanted to edit this little quip onto my previous post...can't delete posts, eh?

Dude, where can I get this "Link Password" addon? It appears everywhere I search to only be an addon for the desktop version of firefox, not the android version. But you clearly state "Now I can hand my phone...", so I know you're not confused and replying to the topic under the impression that the question was regarding the desktop version.

I just installed firefox on my phone about 30 minutes ago and so far the experience has been incredibly bad. I mean, even when people post replies that sound helpful, they end up being useless...

Correct, it is only for the desktop version of Firefox (which I stated in my original comment).

The idea is that you are syncing your bookmarks with a desktop version of Firefox. If you encrypt the links on the desktop they will be encrypted on your synced devices also, AKA your Android device. This will render the links unusable on the Android but also make it so they don't show up on the "top sites" list.

This way of "fixing" it IS NOT for everyone, you would have to have a similar situation to mine.

1) Have a desktop with access to Firefox that will have the same bookmarks as your Android.

2) Not needing to use the links on the Android, only need them usable on the desktop.

If you don't want to or can't sync to a desktop anywhere, this won't work for you. If you need access to the links on the Android device this won't work for you.

If you don't have the bookmarks on a desktop already but don;t mind doing it, go ahead and sync it up with the Android device and then follow the original comment.

Locking this topic as it has gone off into discussing the desktop feature.