How to Customize Safari Start Page in macOS Big Sur

While the full-on customization on macOS might still be a few years down the line, Apple seems more willing than ever to finally move in this direction. And what better way to appreciate the macOS 11 than taking a look at Safari and giving some cool personal touch to the stock web browser? For starters, you can customize the Safari start page in macOS Big Sur to your heart’s liking.

Based on what suits your taste better, you can set a nice wallpaper for the Safari start page, remove favorites, and keep privacy reports out of sight. What’s more, you have the freedom to even get rid of Siri Suggestions if you find them annoying. Long story short, you’ve got more control over Safari’s Home screen and can choose to set it perfectly in sync with your priority.

Now that you know what’s coming up, let’s dive right in to get going!

Customize Safari Start Page on macOS Big Sur

We have mentioned several customization options. You can click on the links below to move to the ones that catches your fancy if you don’t want to read the whole article:

• Remove Clutter from the Safari Start Page
• Remove Specific Items from Safari Start Page
• Set a Custom Wallpaper for Safari Start Page

Remove Clutter from the Safari Start Page

1. Launch Safari on your Mac running macOS Big Sur.

2. Now, click on the menu button (three horizontal lines) at the bottom right corner.

3. Next, uncheck the box to the left of each item which you don’t want to see on your Safari start page. For instance, you can hide/remove several things like favorites, frequently visited sites, Siri Suggestions, Privacy Reports, Reading List, and the background image.

If you ever want to get them back, all you need to do is come back here and check the box for each item that you want to see on the Safari main screen.

Remove Specific Items from Safari Start Page

If you no longer want to see specific items like a bookmark, reading list, or a particular Safari Suggestion, you can choose to remove it from the web browser‘s home screen.

Delete a Particular Favorited Bookmark 

If the bookmark you want to delete doesn’t show up on the main screen, hover over the mouse next to a Favorites section and click on Show More. Now, right-click on the item in question and choose Delete in the popup.

Remove a Specific Frequently Visited Website 

Just in case you don’t want to show a particular website that you frequently visit on Safari’s home page, you can easily hide it. Simply right-click on the website and choose Delete in the popup. Going forward, this website will no longer show up under the frequently visited section.

Remove a Specific Siri Suggestion

Find the Siri Suggestion you want to get rid of under Siri Suggestions section. Then, right-click on the particular suggestion and choose Don’t suggest this website in the popup.

Remove a Particular Reading List 

You should see all of your reading list items under the Reading List section along the bottom of the screen. Right-click on a particular item and choose Remove Item in the popup.

Set a Custom Wallpaper for Safari Start Page

Well, this little nifty feature is one my top picks for Safari in macOS Big Sur. And I’m sure many Mac users would also love it. If you are one of them, set a nice photo as the background image for Safari.

1. On the Safari main page, click on the menu button at the bottom right corner of the screen.

2. Now, click on the “+” button.

3. Next, select a good-looking image and hit Choose.

Voila! You have successfully set a cool background image on the Safari home screen.

Customize Safari Start Page on Mac in macOS 11

So, that’s how you can fine-tune Safari’s main page in macOS 11. Despite being in developer beta, macOS Big Sur has been running quite smoothly on my MacBook. As for the redesigned look, it has just started to grow upon me since it looks in sync with iOS 14. Features like Control Center, intuitive widgets, and smarter Siri are some of the biggest highlights of the latest iteration of macOS. What are your top picks in Big Sur? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Also, let us know your two cents about whether or not it’s a worth upgrade from macOS Catalina.