Your Personal Launch Pad

The smarter browser
home page

DesktopPage replaces the default Chrome, Edge, or Firefox new-tab page with a beautiful, fast, and fully private launch pad — tailored exactly to how you browse the web.

Open DesktopPage
🔒
100% Private

All your data — shortcuts, notes, and settings — is stored locally in your browser using IndexedDB. Nothing is sent to a server. No account. No tracking.

⚡
Instant Load

No API calls, no login screens. DesktopPage opens instantly, so you spend less time waiting and more time doing.

🔗
Website Shortcuts

Pin your favourite sites with custom names, colours, and auto-fetched favicons. One click to launch any site in a new tab.

🔍
Google Search Bar

Search Google instantly from the home page. Type a URL to navigate directly. Opens results in a new tab so you never lose your place.

📝
Built-in Notepad

Capture ideas, to-do lists, or research notes without leaving the tab. Write in plain text or Markdown — all auto-saved locally.

🧩
Extendable Widgets

Turn widgets on or off from the manager. A live clock is included. Developers can add their own widgets with a few lines of JavaScript.

How Everything Works

🔍

Search Bar

Search Google or navigate to any website

The search bar at the top of the page is your primary way to explore the web. Type anything and press Enter or click the arrow button.

  • Typing a search query (e.g. best coffee shops) opens a Google search in a new tab.
  • Typing a URL (e.g. github.com or https://github.com) navigates directly to that site in a new tab.
⌨️ Press Ctrl + K (or ⌘K on Mac) anywhere on the page to instantly focus the search bar.

Shortcuts are tiles on the home page that launch websites in a new tab. They are displayed with the site's favicon and your chosen name.

Adding a shortcut:

1Click Add Shortcut in the Shortcuts panel header.
2Enter a Name (e.g. GitHub), the URL (e.g. https://github.com), and choose an Accent Colour for the card hover effect.
3Click Save. The shortcut appears instantly.

Editing or deleting a shortcut:

  • Hover over any shortcut card to reveal the edit (pencil) and delete (bin) icons in the top-right corner of the tile.
  • Click the pencil to open the edit modal and update any field.
  • Click the bin to remove the shortcut permanently.
💡 You can add as many shortcuts as you like. Favicons are automatically fetched from Google's public favicon service.

The Notes panel is a full notepad built into your browser home page. All notes are stored in your browser's local IndexedDB storage — never uploaded anywhere.

Creating a note:

1Click Notes in the top navigation bar.
2Click New Note. The editor opens on the right side.
3Enter a title and start writing in the large text area.
4Click Save (or press it at any time — the note is also identified by the current activeNoteId so re-saving always updates the same note).

Note formats:

  • Plain Text — simple, unformatted writing. Great for to-do lists, quick reminders, or meeting notes.
  • Markdown — full Markdown support including headings (#, ##), bold, italic, code blocks, blockquotes, lists, and links. Toggle the Preview button to see the rendered output.

Switching between notes: Click any note title in the left sidebar. Notes are listed most-recently-edited first.

Deleting a note: Open the note and click the red bin icon in the toolbar.

📌 You can create unlimited notes. Use Markdown notes for structured documents like project plans, checklists, or research summaries.

Switch a note to Markdown format, then use the syntax below. Click Preview to see the rendered result.

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3

**Bold text**
*Italic text*
***Bold and italic***

- Bullet point
- Another point
  - Nested point

1. Numbered list
2. Second item

`inline code`

```
code block
```

> Blockquote

[Link text](https://example.com)

---   (horizontal rule)

Widgets are small information cards that display above your shortcuts. They are completely optional and can be turned on or off individually from the Widgets panel.

Managing widgets:

1Click Widgets in the top navigation.
2Each widget shows its name, description, and a toggle switch.
3Toggle the switch to enable or disable. Your preference is saved automatically.

Included widget — Clock:

  • Displays the current local time in 12-hour format (HH:MM:SS AM/PM).
  • Shows the full date (day, month, year).
  • Updates every second. Enabled by default.
🔌 Widget on/off states are saved to IndexedDB, so your preferences are remembered next time you open the page.

DesktopPage has a lightweight widget registry. Any JavaScript file can register a widget by calling DesktopPage.registerWidget(). The system handles toggling, persistence, rendering, and cleanup.

Widget definition object:

window.DesktopPage.registerWidget({
  id:          'my-widget',      // unique string ID
  name:        'My Widget',     // display name in manager
  description: 'Does something', // short description
  icon:        '🌤',             // emoji shown in manager

  // Called when the widget is enabled — mount your DOM here
  render(container) {
    container.textContent = 'Hello from my widget!';
  },

  // Called when the widget is disabled — clean up intervals, listeners etc.
  destroy() {
    // e.g. clearInterval(myInterval)
  },
});

Steps to add a widget:

1Create a file: widgets/my-widget.widget.js
2Call DesktopPage.registerWidget({ ... }) inside the file (see template above).
3Add a <script src="widgets/my-widget.widget.js"></script> tag in index.html before app.js.
4Reload the page — your widget will appear in the Widgets manager, ready to be toggled.
💡 The container passed to render() already has the widget-card CSS class applied, giving it the correct background, border, and padding automatically.

DesktopPage stores everything — shortcuts, notes, and widget preferences — in your browser's IndexedDB, a built-in local storage system available in all modern browsers.

🚫No server
🚫No account
🚫No tracking
🚫No cookies
✅100% local
✅Works offline

Clearing your data: Your DesktopPage data can be cleared at any time by going to your browser's Settings → Privacy & Security → Clear browsing data and selecting Indexed DB. This will remove all shortcuts, notes, and widget settings.

⚠️ Because data is stored locally, it is tied to the specific browser and device you are using. It will not sync across devices automatically.

Google Chrome:

1Click the three-dot menu (⋮) → Settings.
2Under On startup, select Open a specific page or set of pages.
3Click Add a new page and enter https://desktoppage.com.

Microsoft Edge:

1Click Settings → Start, home, and new tabs.
2Under When Edge starts, choose Open these pages and add https://desktoppage.com.

Firefox:

1Click Settings → Home.
2Set Homepage and new windows to Custom URLs and enter https://desktoppage.com.
Is DesktopPage free?
Yes — DesktopPage is completely free to use with no subscription, no premium tier, and no account required.
Will my data be backed up?
Data is stored locally in your browser's IndexedDB. It persists until you clear your browser's site data. There is currently no cloud backup or cross-device sync — your data lives on your device only.
Does it work offline?
Yes, once the page is cached by your browser, all core features (shortcuts, notes, widgets) work without an internet connection. Favicons and Google Fonts require a connection on first load.
Can I export my notes?
Notes are stored as plain text or Markdown content in IndexedDB. You can copy and paste content from any note into an external file at any time.
How many shortcuts and notes can I add?
There is no hard limit in DesktopPage itself. The only limit is the available IndexedDB storage quota in your browser, which is typically several hundred megabytes to gigabytes.
Can I add my own widgets?
Yes! Widgets are standalone JavaScript files. See the "Building Custom Widgets" section above for full instructions. Any developer familiar with basic JavaScript can create and plug in a widget in minutes.