New tab opens a search site I did not install

“Every new tab dumps me on a random search page and my homepage changed.”

Edge new tab showing an unfamiliar search brand and a puzzle-piece extensions icon.

Likely cause

A recently installed extension (or a bundled toolbar from unrelated freeware) replaced the new-tab and search provider. This is almost never “Edge is broken” — it is an extension or default-search change.

Confidence 88%Windows · Microsoft Edge

1
List extensions with permission
Open edge://extensions. Disable anything you do not recognize — especially items that can “Change your search settings” or “Read and change all data”.
2
Reset search and new tab
Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Address bar and search → Search engine used in address bar → set Bing or Google. Then Settings → Start, home, and new tab page → restore Microsoft’s new tab.
3
Check startup boost / on-startup pages
Settings → Start, home, and new tab → When Edge starts. Remove unfamiliar “Open these pages” URLs that force the hijack site on launch.
4
Repair Edge only if it persists
Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Microsoft Edge → Modify → Repair. If a third-party “optimizer” installed the hijack, uninstall that app from the same list.

Diagnose my screenshot

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