Google has moved away from the strict "9-tile grid" in newer versions of Chrome, often favoring a more flexible "Shortcuts" approach. However, the most_visited logic remains the core engine that determines which icons appear when a user hasn't manually set their own shortcuts.
most_visited9 is a relic and a sign that Chrome’s New Tab Page is built on a flexible grid system that supports more shortcuts than it shows by default. While most users will never need to touch it, developers and curious tinkerers can use this knowledge to build smarter new tab extensions or troubleshoot missing shortcuts.
It looks like you're referring to a specific technical flag or an element from Chrome’s internal new tab page (like most_visited9 – possibly a grid position or a debugging class).
: If a site you rarely visit appears, you can hover over the tile and click the 'X' to remove it; Chrome will then cycle in the next most visited site in your history. chrome newtab most_visited9
Here’s a blog post written for developers and power users.
: If your tiles disappear, it is usually due to a cleared browsing history or a "New Tab" extension overriding the default layout.
: While Chrome often automates these, users can manually "pin" specific sites to these nine slots or remove ones they don't want to see. Technical Implementation Google has moved away from the strict "9-tile
: The list of these nine sites is stored locally in your Chrome Top Sites file within your user profile directory.
: It automatically populates with your most frequently accessed websites based on your browsing history.
So most_visited9 is essentially the (since counting starts at 0) – a hidden slot that can be activated. While most users will never need to touch
You can’t directly edit the most_visited9 URL from the UI, but you can remove or pin tiles:
If you’ve ever poked around Chrome’s internals— chrome://flags , chrome://version , or the browser’s local state files—you might have stumbled upon strange class names like most_visited1 , most_visited9 , or similar. These aren’t errors; they’re Chrome’s internal handles for your tiles on the New Tab Page.
The most_visited9 identifier is a backend DOM element tag used by Chrome to manage the state and display of the ninth shortcut tile on the New Tab Page. It serves as a hook for UI rendering, user interaction tracking, and potential customization.
: For security reasons, these thumbnails are often isolated within an (often identified in Inspect Element as most-visited-iframe ), preventing the New Tab Page from having direct access to your full browsing history data while still allowing it to display the shortcuts.
You have full control over what appears in these slots. Depending on your screen resolution, Chrome displays between . To Enable or Disable Most Visited: