How to Search the Safari Tabs on Your iPhone Quickly & without Swiping

safari search for a tab

You can search Safari on the iPhone to find words or phrases , but did you know you can also Safari Search your open tabs? If you tend to have large numbers of Safari tabs open at once, this tip will help you search Safari for the tab you want without having to scroll through all your open tabs to find it. Read on to learn how to search Safari on the iPhone to switch between tabs.

Related: How to Use Apple Pay in Safari on the iPhone

iPhone Life

How to Use Safari Search to Find a Specific Open Tab

  •  In Safari, tap the tabs icon .

safari search for a tab

  • Enter a word or phrase relevant to the tab you’re looking for and tap Search .

safari search for a tab

With this tip, you’ll never get lost in your tabs again. It’s so much easier to use Safari search to find the article or recipe you’re looking for. When you’re ready to put your iPhone down, you can even save your Safari tabs to read later !

Author Details

Tamlin Day's picture

Tamlin Day is a feature web writer for iPhone Life and a regular contributor to iPhone Life magazine. A prolific writer of tips, reviews, and in-depth guides, Tamlin has written hundreds of articles for iPhone Life. From iPhone settings to recommendations for the best iPhone-compatible gear to the latest Apple news, Tamlin's expertise covers a broad spectrum. 

Before joining iPhone Life, Tamlin received his BFA in Media & Communications as well as a BA in Graphic Design from Maharishi International University (MIU), where he edited MIU's literary journal, Meta-fore. With a passion for teaching, Tamlin has instructed young adults, college students, and adult learners on topics ranging from spoken word poetry to taking the perfect group selfie. Tamlin's first computer, a Radioshack Color Computer III, was given to him by his father. At 13, Tamlin built his first PC from spare parts. He is proud to put his passion for teaching and tech into practice as a writer and educator at iPhone Life.

Master iOS 17 with our latest in-depth guide!

Article Spotlight

Master the notes app.

safari search for a tab

This is your last chance  to get our in-depth Notes Guide — 2024 Edition and take advantage of our  exclusive 30% discount on your iPhone Life Insider subscription!  We are also proud to offer an additional 10% discount for seniors, veterans, and service personnel.

Featured Products

safari search for a tab

Most Popular

How to Know If Someone Blocked You on iMessage

6 Ways To Know if Someone Blocked You on iMessage

How to fix Find My not working

Why Is Find My iPhone Not Working? Here’s the Real Fix

What is SOS on iPhone

What Is SOS on iPhone? Learn This Key Emergency Feature!

How to See Steps on Apple Watch Face

Step Counter: How To Show Steps on Apple Watch Face

Why Is My iPhone Battery Draining So Fast?

10 Simple Tips To Fix iPhone Battery Drain

How to Put Two Pictures Side-by-Side on iPhone (iOS 17)

How To Put Two Pictures Together on iPhone

How to Find a Hidden Spy Camera with Your iPhone

How to Find a Hidden Spy Camera with Your iPhone

How to Tell If Your iPhone or iPad Is Charging When Off or On (iOS 16)

How to Tell If a Dead iPhone Is Charging

What Is a Rapid Security Response? Everything You Need to Know

What Is a Rapid Security Response? Everything You Need to Know

Hide Apps on iPhone So Only You Can Find Them

How To Hide an App on Your iPhone

StandBy Turns Your iPhone into a Bedside Clock (iOS 17)

StandBy Turns Your iPhone into a Bedside Clock (iOS 17)

How to Turn Off Flashlight On iPhone: 3 Easy Ways (2023)

How To Turn Off Flashlight on iPhone (Without Swiping Up!)

Featured articles.

how to find a lost iPhone without find my iPhone

How to Find a Lost iPhone, Even If It's Dead or Offline

Create a Contact Group on iPhone—the Easy Way! (iOS 17)

Create a Contact Group on iPhone—the Easy Way! (iOS 17)

add driver's license to Apple Wallet

How to Add a Driver's License to Apple Wallet (2024)

How to Cast Apple TV to Chromecast for Easy Viewing

How to Cast Apple TV to Chromecast for Easy Viewing

Fix Photos Not Uploading to iCloud Once & for All

Fix Photos Not Uploading to iCloud Once & for All (iOS 17)

Apple ID Login: 9 Ways to Fix the Error Connecting to Apple ID Server Message (iOS 16)

There Was an Error Connecting to the Apple ID Server: Fixed

CarPlay Not Working? How to Fix Apple CarPlay Today (iOS 17)

CarPlay Not Working? 4 Ways to Fix Apple CarPlay Today

Check out our sponsors.

safari search for a tab

  • Each email reveals new things you can do with your phone (and other devices) with easy-to-follow screenshots.
  • Enter your email to get your first tip immediately!

safari search for a tab

How to search through tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad

If you do a lot of browsing on the internet with Safari on your iOS device, there may come a time when you want to find a specific site or page that you have open. While you can easily scroll through your open tabs, if you’re looking for something in particular, it may take less time to simply search for it, especially if you have a bunch of tabs opened.

So, here’s how to search through tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad.

iPhone Searching Tabs in Safari

Access your Safari tabs

With Safari open on your iPhone or iPad, tap the Tabs button on the bottom right corner.

Safari Tab Button and Tabs iPhone

Now to search through your tabs, slide down on that tabs screen, and you’ll see a search box appear at the top. Type in your search word or phrase, and all tabs not containing it will disappear, leaving the one or more that apply.

You’ll notice as you begin typing that the results will start to narrow down immediately. So, in many cases, you won’t even have to type the complete word or phrase you’re looking for. When you see the site or page you want, tap it, and you’re set.

Safari Tab Tab Search iPhone

More Safari tutorials:

  • How to find a specific word inside webpages in Safari for iPhone and iPad
  • How to hide Favorites in Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac
  • How to turn off Frequently Visited Sites in Safari for iPhone and iPad

How To Search For Specific Tabs in Safari

safari-search-tabs-icon

Search for tabs in Safari

Open the Safari app and click the tabs icon at the bottom right to get into the tabs display.

safari-search-tabs

Then you have to activate the landscape mode by turning your iPhone to the side, because it does not work in the portrait format. Keep in mind, that the search will be deleted once you turn your iPhone back to the portrait mode. So your search results will be lost if you accidentally leave the landscape format.

Once you are in this mode, you will see all tabs in a grid. You can now type in the search term in the search bar above. Please note that you can only look for titles and not the content.

safari-search-tabs-3

While you are typing, Safari will already narrow the tabs that fit to the search term. Click the “ Search ” button to start the search and choose the tab that you were looking for.

safari-search-tabs-2

Maybe you want to go back to the search results, after you have looked up the tab. Just click the tabs icon again. As soon as you click a tab of a new website, the search will be deleted, so that you have to restart the search, if it was not the right website.  

Thanks to the search function in Safari, you will only need a search term to find a specific website again. So you are not wasting your time by going through all your tabs in Safari.

  • a. Send us an email
  • b. Anonymous form
  • Buyer's Guide
  • Upcoming Products
  • Tips / Contact Us
  • Podcast Instagram Facebook Twitter Mastodon YouTube Notifications RSS Newsletter

iOS 15 Safari Guide: Tabs, Extensions, Search Bar, and Other Changes

Apple's Safari app has undergone a number of changes during the iOS 15 beta testing process. Apple started out with a radical new design that moved the address bar from the top of the app's interface and introduced a floating tab bar, but after a multitude of complaints, there were several redesigns that culminated in an option to undo the iOS 15 design entirely.

Design Changes

Safari started out with a new floating tab design that moved the address bar and tabs to the bottom of the iPhone interface, but now the design change is optional.

new safari design options ios 15

You can get to webpage settings by tapping on the Aa, or reload a page by tapping on the reload button. With this Tab Bar interface, when you scroll through a webpage, the entire Tab Bar collapses down so you can see more of the website. You can bring it back up with a tap.

If you choose "Single Tab" instead of "Tab Bar," the address bar and tabs will remain at the top of the Safari window, which is how iOS 14 works. The design of the Single Tab option is unchanged from iOS 14, with the same control bar available at the bottom of the interface. You can't swipe through tabs using the Single Tab interface and will instead need to use the Tab Switcher.

You can swap between the bottom Tab Bar and the Single Tab interface by tapping on the "Aa" button that's next to any URL.

safari show bottom tab bar ios 15 option

  • How to Move iOS 15 Safari's Address Search Bar Back to Top

Website Tinting

Available in the Settings app, Allow Website Tinting matches the collapsed Safari address bar interface to the website's colors to make it blend in better with the background.

ios 15 safari tinting

  • How to Turn Off Website Tinting in Safari

Landscape Tab Bar

With the new Landscape Tab Bar setting, when you use your ‌iPhone‌ in landscape mode with Safari, you'll see a Mac-style tab bar that shows all of your open tabs, and you can swipe through them.

ios 15 landscape tab bar

Pull to Refresh

A downward swipe on any webpage in iOS 15 will refresh the page, and this is an alternative to having to tap on the reload icon.

ios 15 pull to refresh

  • iOS 15: How to Quickly Refresh a Webpage in Safari

Tabs in iOS 15 can be saved into Tab Groups, which offers a way to preserve a set of tabs you have open without having to have those tabs active.

ios 15 safari tab groups

To make a Tab Group, just open up all of the websites that you want to include, tap on the Tabs button with the down arrow, and then tap New Tab Group from [#] Tabs. You can also use this option to create a New Empty Tab Group that tabs can be added to later. Long press on any open tab (or the main address bar if you have the single tab view enabled) to add it to a Tab Group.

To load up a Tab Group, tap on the Tabs button and then tap on the name of the group in the list. All of your Tab Groups sync across your devices so you can access them on iPhones and iPads running iOS and iPadOS 15 as well as on Macs running macOS Monterey.

  • iOS 15: How to Use Tab Groups in Safari

Tab Overview Grid

In iOS 14, all of your open tabs are displayed in a card-like interface that you can swipe through, but in iOS 15, open tabs are displayed in a grid view.

ios 15 safari tab tiles

Customizable Start Page

Safari is more customizable in iOS 15, and you can edit what's available on your start page. This is a feature that has been available on macOS, but is now also available on iOS devices.

ios 15 safari customize start page

You can choose to have the start page show Favorites, Frequently Visited sites, Shared With You content, Privacy Report info, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, and iCloud Tabs.

There's an option to use the same Start Page appearance across all devices, and a toggle to upload the background image of your choice.

  • iOS 15: How to Customize Your Safari Start Page

Intelligent Tracking Prevention Improvements

With updates to Intelligent Tracking Prevention, the feature that keeps websites from tracking your web activity, trackers are now blocked from accessing your IP address to build a profile on you.

  • iOS 15: How to Hide Your IP Address From Trackers in Safari

HTTPS Upgrade

Safari in iOS 15 automatically upgrades sites that are known to support HTTPS from HTTP, which is insecure.

iCloud Private Relay

‌iCloud‌ Private Relay is a privacy feature that makes sure all of your Safari traffic is encrypted.

As explained in our privacy guide , ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay protects your IP address and de-links it from the websites that you visit by utilizing two separate internet relays.

icloud private relay

By having a two-step process that involves both an Apple server and a third-party server, ‌‌iCloud‌‌ Private Relay prevents anyone, including Apple, from determining a user's identity and linking it to the website the user is visiting.

With this system, Apple knows your IP address and the third-party partner knows the site you're visiting, and because the information is de-linked, neither Apple nor the partner company has a complete picture of the site you're visiting and your location, and neither does the website you're browsing. Normally websites have access to this data and combined with cookies, can use it to build a profile of your preferences.

Web Extensions

Safari in iOS 15 supports web extensions, with web extensions able to be downloaded and installed through the App Store . Available extensions include content blockers, VPNs, and more.

ios 15 safari extensions

  • iOS 15: How to Download and Install Safari Web Extensions

With iOS 15, iPhones and iPads are able to use a new Live Text feature to detect text in any image, and this includes images that you find in Safari.

safari translate live text interface

  • How to Copy and Paste Text From Photos
  • How to Translate Text in Photos

Shared With You

Shared With You, a new option available on the Safari start page, aggregates all of the links that you've been sent in the Messages app and other social networking apps that support the Shared With You feature.

safari shared with you

Guide Feedback

Have questions about the new Safari changes in iOS 15, know of a feature we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here .

Get weekly top MacRumors stories in your inbox.

Top Rated Comments

ejbrennan Avatar

The landscape view in MacRumors looks amazing! Safari looks so modern now. Just brilliant!

Biro Avatar

Easier to refresh now.

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Spotlight

Source: Apple to Announce New Products This Week

iPhone Trade In Box

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 With EU App Changes, New Emoji, Podcast Transcripts and More

iOS 17

iOS 17.4 Out Now: 10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do

Apple MacBook Air 2 up hero 240304

Apple Announces New MacBook Air Models With M3 Chip

Next article.

Apple MacBook Air 2 up hero 240304 feature

Our comprehensive guide highlighting every major new addition in iOS 17, plus how-tos that walk you through using the new features.

ios 17 4 sidebar square

App Store changes for the EU, new emoji, Podcasts transcripts, and more.

iphone 15 series

Get the most out your iPhone 15 with our complete guide to all the new features.

sonoma icon upcoming square

A deep dive into new features in macOS Sonoma, big and small.

macbook air m2 square

Updated M3 models in 13.6" and 15.3" sizes.

ipad pro 2022 square upcoming

Revamped models with OLED displays, M3 chip, and redesigned Magic Keyboard accessory.

Apple iPad Air hero color lineup 220308

Updated 10.9-inch model and new 12.9-inch model, M2 chip expected.

ios 18 upcoming square

Expected to see new AI-focused features and more. Preview coming at WWDC in June with public release in September.

Other Stories

icloud photos

16 hours ago by Tim Hardwick

ipads yellow sale imag

21 hours ago by Tim Hardwick

lock screen widgets ios 16

2 days ago by Tim Hardwick

siri symbol iphone feature

iGB Logo

40+ Safari tips and tricks for iPhone (iOS 17)

Ava

Safari is getting better with each iOS update. And with iOS 17, Apple has again focused on smooth user experience and strong privacy. You will have a new Profiles option, better search results, enhanced Private Browsing, Autofill verification codes, sharing Safari passwords, etc., and other useful tools.

So, without further ado, let’s jump into the best Safari tips and tricks for iPhone. 

1. Create Safari profiles

Safari Profiles are a new way to organize your browsing activity with convenience. I have created different Profiles on Safari separate browsing environments for different purposes, such as work, college, and personal. Each profile has its own set of extensions, Tab Groups, bookmarks, and history.

So, this Safari browser feature can boost your speed and performance as you don’t need to switch between work and personal accounts each time. Sounds cool, right? Go through our detailed guide to create Safari profiles in iOS 17.

2. Quick search results

To save your time, Safari shows quick search results using Smart Search field with iOS 17. It is faster and more responsive than before and shows more relevant and understandable search recommendations.

For example, I wanted to keep up with the ongoing NBA match, so I searched for NBA live scores. Safari displayed a scorecard instantly; thus, I didn’t even have to do a search and visit any website. If you search for “cake,” it will show you the nearest bakery with the option to call and map directions.   

If you are not getting the Quick search results, check your Safari settings:

  • Open Settings → Safari .

tap safari, select quick website search, toggle on in settings

3. Advanced Private Browsing

Locking Private tabs feature is my best iOS 17 Safari tips and tricks for iPhone. Private Browsing prevents trackers on sites and deletes your browsing history.

Safari will lock your private tabs when you are not using them. So, you can move around keeping those tabs open. If anyone tries to access it, they must enter your passcode. Also, now Private Browsing removes the trackers from the URLs you visit. Therefore, tracking and identifying your device is quite impossible now.

You can also opt for this advanced tracking protection in all your daily browsing. For that,

  • Go to Settings → Safari → Advanced .
  • Tap Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection .

tap Advanced, tap Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting protection, select All Browsing in Safari Settings

4. Autofill verification codes 

Another efficient hidden tricks inside Apple’s Safari browser on iOS 17. Now, Safari will get your verification codes from Mail. Such a relief as it was never fun to get verification codes by email.  

You don’t have to close Safari anymore to search the verification code email and return. The verification codes will be readily accessed on the keyboard, and you may automatically fill them in. 

5. Sharing passwords with Family Passwords

Taking the security and convenience to the next level, Apple has introduced an essential Safari feature for your iPhone – Family Password sharing. You can create a group of trusted contacts and share your iCloud Keychains passwords. The group members can access your passwords, add theirs and edit them.  

Also, you can remove any contact from the group or modify the password. Therefore, you don’t need to share the passwords verbally or AirDrop them. Learn this interesting feature from our guide on how to use Family Passwords in iOS 17 on iPhone . 

6. Listen to a web page

Don’t want to read through long articles and blogs? Now you can listen to web pages that have Reader support.

  • Open a website in Safari. 
  • Tap AA icon on address bar. 

tap AA icon, select Listen to page on Safari

7. Share Tab Group to collaborate

Tab groups brings so much convenience to organize browsing activities. Now you can also share a tab group with your friends and collogues to keep up your research.

  • From the current web page, tap the  tabs  icon.
  • Then, on the top right, hit the  share icon .  If it isn’t visible, go to the top of the tabs. 

Share Tab Group to collaborate

For the time being, you can only invite people using the Messages app. 

8. Change the background of your Tab Group

iOS 16 allows you to  customize the start page  of your Tabs Group so you can change the layout of Safari. Similar to adding Favourites to the start page, you may also set a custom background using this iPhone Safari trick. 

  • Go to the start page and tap  Edit  by scrolling down. 
  • Now toggle on  Background Image  if it’s disabled and choose a wallpaper. 

Change the background of your Tab Group

9. Check recently closed tabs for each Tab Group

  • From the existing Tab Group , go to the start page of Safari.
  • Scroll down and choose  Edit .

Check recently closed tabs for each Tab Group

10. Add Tab Groups or Safari profiles to your Focus mode

Focus mode  is more upgraded and enhanced in iOS 17. It has added a new feature called Filters. Using it, you can limit and restrict other tabs and only see a certain group of Safari tabs. You may also opt for your personalized Safari Profile in Focus mode.

  • Open  Settings  → Tap  Focus .
  • Now choose a Focus mode. Here, I have chosen  Do Not Disturb .

Tap plus + on Add Filter in settings on iPhone

  • After that, select  Safari  from the  App Filters.

tap Safari, select tab group, tap Choose in Focus filter

  • It will show the list of your Tab Groups.  Select  the one you want to use during Focus mode. 

choose the tab group and tap add in Focus filter safari

Along with these settings, you can also pin tabs in Tab Groups and add Favorites to each Tab Group’s start page. Refer to  our complete guide on Tab groups to learn about more such hacks.

11. Find on Page feature

Safari’s Find on Page function comes in handy whenever you need to search a website.

  • Open a webpage and  long press  on a word or select a phrase.

Find on Page feature on Webpage on iPhone

12. Image translation for websites

Translating images in Safari is not new, but the results weren’t always correct. But Apple has fixed the issue with  Live Text . 

  • Long-press on the image  you want to translate.  

tap show text, tap translate in safari

13. New language support for Safari webpage translation

Besides image translation, you may  translate a webpage in Safari . The iOS 16 update has added new language support for Safari translation. So, you can now translate websites with Arabic, Dutch, Indonesian, Korean, Polish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese text. 

14. Passkeys for enhanced security 

Passkeys on iOS 16  will take the role of standard passwords when logging into your accounts across websites or apps. Therefore, you will be safeguarded against data breaches, phishing scams, and password-cracking attempts. 

With Passkeys, you will authenticate using Touch ID or Face ID instead of manually typing a password when creating or logging in to an account. As a result, it will create unique public and private keys linked to your biometric authentication. 

Your iCloud Keychain will save the private key while the public key is kept on the website’s servers. The best part is no one, even Apple, cannot see the private key. However, it will sync to all your other iCloud devices, making it simple for you to log in from any location and device.

15. Easily copy subjects from images

The new  Visual Look Up  feature is also accessible in the Safari app. So, you can drag objects directly out of any photos on the website. Just long-press on it and tap  Copy Subject . So, you may duplicate any internet picture and erase its background. Besides, paste the cutout, save it, or drop it anywhere on your iPhone.

16. Edit suggested strong passwords

As you already know, Safari  generates strong passwords  while creating an account on a website. But some websites have certain criteria for creating a password. Don’t worry! I have some tips and tricks to solve this issue. Apple now allows the creation of strong passwords as required.

  • When you start creating an account on any website, you will see a pop-up window. Then tap  Other Options . 

Edit suggested strong password on Safari

17. Get push notifications from websites

Finally, this Mac feature is on your iPhone. Whenever you visit a website, it will ask you if you want to receive push notifications from that website. You must add that website to your Home Screen and use it as a web app. Go through our detailed guide on how to use web apps on iPhone .

18. Safari extensions synchronization

Suppose you have added a Grammarly extension to Safari. But when using Safari on Mac, you need to install the extension again. The good news is that Apple now supports Safari extension synchronization across all your devices. 

  • Open  Settings.  Go to  Safari → Extensions .

Safari extensions synchronization on iPhone

Additionally, here you can see all your installed  extensions on your iPhone . Besides, the  On Other Devices  section lists extensions that aren’t on your device. So, you can simply download them as you must have the apps for those extensions on your iPhone.

19. Sync website settings on all your Apple devices

Like extension synchronization, you can sync your  website settings  across devices. Therefore you only need to configure your choices like Page Zoom, Request Desktop Site, Reader, Content Blockers, Camera, Microphone, and Location once. 

  • Go to  Settings → Safari.

Sync website settings on all your Apple devices

20. New Shortcuts actions 

Apple has added new Shortcut actions to Safari. See the list below:

  • Find Bookmarks
  • Open Bookmark
  • Set Safari Focus Filter
  • Find Reading List Items
  • Open Reading List Item
  • Create Tab Group
  • Find Tab Groups
  • Open Tab Group
  • Create New Private Tab
  • Create New Tab

21. Skip CAPTCHAs when browsing

  • Open  Settings  → tap your  name (Apple ID) .
  • From the next window, choose  Password & Security .

go to your Apple ID, tap Sign in and security, toggle on Automatic verification in Settings

22. Haptic touch (Safari app icon )

tap and hold the safari icon to get quick menu

It’s pretty good, and I kind of like this neat implementation. So, give it a shot to get into the action faster. (Punch line)

23. Take a sneak peek

Next in line is the option to take a page’s preview and get multiple useful options without leaving that page.

Just touch and hold a URL to get a preview of a page. Then, you can swipe up to reveal options like Open In Background, Add to Reading List, Copy, and Share.

24. Paste and go & Paste and search

copy a link and paste and go in Safari

Likewise, you can use this same trick to search for anything faster. After copying any text, touch and hold the address bar. Then, hit Paste and Search. There you go! 

25. Easily type Top-Level domains

Next up, I’d like to show you a quick way to enter top-level domains in the search bar. Simply touch and hold the tiny “.” period button in the bottom row of the keyboard and then choose from several top-level domain extensions, such as .com, .net, and .org, based on your location.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, as the stock  QuickType keyboard  has many tricks up its sleeve.

To discover more about such cool keyboard tips, check out  our hands-on guide .

26. Jump back to the top of the page

While reading an article, you’ve scrolled all the way to the bottom. How would you quickly jump back to the top of the page? By scrolling up? That’s not productive at all.

The smarter way to get it done is by  double-tapping the status bar  at the top of the screen. It works reliably and makes web browsing a bit smooth sailing. Really.

27.   Set a reminder to look at a page at a specific time

Did you know that Siri could help you set a reminder to check out a webpage at a specific time?

Just invoke Siri and say something like,  ”Remind me to look at this page today at 9 P.M.”  Siri will confirm that it will do the assigned task.

Now, you will get a reminder at the set time to check out that article. Tap on it, and you will be taken to the Reminders app. Then, hit the Safari icon to visit that page. I often use this feature to catch up with my favorite articles at a convenient time. And I would recommend using it as well because it’s very user-friendly.

28. Quickly access forward/backward history

While browsing the web, you’ve gone several pages deep. Now, you might want to quickly access all the backward history. What will you normally do? Keep tapping on the backward button.

No, that’s not the better way to go about it. Simply  touch and hold the back button.  Now, you will see all of your backward histories. Similarly, you can  touch and hold the forward button  to view all of your forward histories. So, the next time you want to go back and forth while browsing the web, do not forget to use this nifty trick.

29. Play a video in the background

If you like listening to audio while browsing the web, this tip is for you.

Assuming a video is playing in Safari, press the Home button or swipe up from the Home bar. Now, the video will pause. Bring up the player menu and hit the play button. The video will start playing again in the background.

Keep in mind; YouTube doesn’t support this feature officially. However, if you’ve enabled the YouTube Picture-in-picture mode you can enjoy playing videos in the background.

30. Load the desktop site 

Not all sites are perfectly optimized for mobile devices. To be honest, I have come across many websites that look cramped on mobile devices. Thankfully, there is an option to  request the desktop version of a site.

To do it, simply tap the  AA   icon  on the address bar and choose  Request Desktop Site . 

Boom! Safari will instantly present you with the desktop version of the site. You can again revert back to the mobile site in the same way. 

31. Change the default Safari search engine

Google is set as the default search engine in Safari.

However, you can choose to change it as and when you want. To lean how it is done, you can refer to our article on  how to change Safari search engine on iPhone .

32. Rearrange tabs

Especially during extensive research, I like to keep tabs in the right order, making it a bit easier to access the specific ones. To rearrange tabs:

  • Open  Safari  and hit the  tabs  icon. 
  • Now, you will see all of your open tabs. Simply touch and hold a specific one and drag it at the top, bottom, or anywhere you want.

Use this simple gesture to keep all of your tabs perfectly organized.

33. Search specific tabs on Safari

The next tip that I’m gonna talk about is searching specific tabs. Save it for the time when you have several open tabs and want to quickly jump onto specific ones.

  • Hit the tabs icon and then scroll up to reveal the  Search Tabs  bar. 

Search specific tabs on Safari

I don’t think most of you would be aware of this secret trick that lets you close all the searched tabs. Frankly speaking, I was unaware of this hack until I stumbled upon it a few days back.

Just touch and hold the  Cancel button,  and you will see an option to close all the tabs matching a site. Simply tap it, and all the tabs matching that particular site will be gone!

34. Close all tabs at once

Close all tabs at once on Safari

Alternatively, you can also hit the  tabs  icon once. Then long press the  Done  button. Finally, tap  Close All Tabs,  and they will go away!

35. Reopen Recently Closed Tabs

At times after closing all the tabs, I realized I needed to check out some specific ones. And that’s the time this tip came onto the scene.

To  reopen recently closed tabs , hit the  tabs  icon and then touch and hold the  plus (+)  button. Now, you will see the list of all the tabs you had recently closed.

Next, select the one you want to use. Super handy, isn’t it?

36. Open Incognito tab

Safari comes with an  incognito mode  to let you search the web with more privacy. The best part about it is that when you enter this mode, the web browser doesn’t store any of your data.

  • Long press the  tabs  icon. 

Open Incognito tab on Safari

There’s another way to go incognito. From the Tabs View screen, tap on your Tabs Group name. Then select  Private  and confirm by tapping  Done . When you want to disable the private browsing mode, simply repeat the same steps I’ve just mentioned. And the general web browsing mode will be back.

37. Clear cookies and history

Moving on, make sure to  clear out cookies  and history from time to time to prevent the app from being cluttered. And it can also prevent others from guessing what sort of stuff you are browsing these days!

To clean it up, hop into the  Settings  app →  Safari . Then, scroll down and tap  Clear History and Website Data  twice.

Clear cookies and history on Safari

38. Manage all of your saved passwords

Believe me,  managing passwords on iOS  has never been so painless and seamless.

To manage your passcodes:

  • Open the  Settings  app and tap  Passwords .
  • Next, you need to authenticate. Once it’s done, you will see all of your accounts. 
  • Tap on the one you want to manage. At the top right, tap  Edit . 
  • Next, make desired changes and tap on  Done  to confirm.

39. View saved passwords using Siri

Siri makes it incredibly easy to  view saved passwords . Say, I want to access the passwords of the Facebook account. I will invoke Siri and say something like, “Show my Facebook passwords.” 

Now, I need to authenticate my device. Once done, I will access the Facebook account and the saved password. Told you, it’s super handy.

40. Autofill Passwords

Every time you want to log in to any website account, you don’t need to enter the password manually. To take advantage of this feature, ensure that  Autofill Passwords  switch is ON inside the  Passwords  setting.

Going forward, the first time you log in to an account, you will get the option to save it to the iCloud Keychain. So, when you enter your login credentials, the keyboard will automatically pop up the password for your saved account. Tap on it, and all the details will be instantly filled in.

41. Quickly enter Verification Codes

The latest version of iOS has made entering verification codes very simple, thanks to the  Two-Factor Authentication .

All you’ve got to do is just hit the text field and tap on the incoming verification code to autofill the confirmation box. That’s really very user-friendly.

42. Change default Password AutoFill provider

Though Apple’s iCloud Keychain works smoothly, using third-party apps is great. To  change the default password AutoFill  provider, ensure that you’ve already installed your favorite password manager and, ideally, set it up. 

  • Launch the  Settings  app on your iPhone, and tap  Passwords . 
  • Now authenticate and select  Password Options .
  • Next, you will see the compatible third-party password managers installed on your device under  Allow Filling From . Choose your preferred option and follow the instruction to authenticate it, and you are done!

43. Convert a webpage into a PDF

While browsing the web, whenever I stumble upon an article, I like to save it to my special collection. That’s when the option to  convert a webpage into PDF  comes into the picture.

Let’s say I want to convert a webpage into a PDF.

  • Tap the  Share  button and choose  Print  in the share sheet. 

tap the Share button beside the Print Options at the top on Safari

Also, you can annotate the file using the Markup tool and save it to the Files app. That’s a pretty intuitive iOS feature.

44. Quickly add any article to your reading list

If you are a voracious reader, this tip is for you. The next time you want to save an article to read later:

  • Touch and hold the  book icon .
  • Choose  Add to Reading List  in the menu.

In case you wish to save it for offline reading, tap  Save Automatically .

45. Make the most of Reader Mode

Last but not least, Safari comes with a useful Reader Mode to enhance the reading experience.

  • Tap the  AA icon  on the address bar. 
  • Next, select  Website Settings  from the context menu. 

Make the most of Reader Mode on Safari

Therefore, whenever you are browsing through that website, it will eliminate all the unnecessary stuff to make it easier for you to read the article. That’s not all; you can tap on the text button and choose from several fonts and themes to further boost your reading experience.

Stay tuned in for more such handy tips…

So, that’s how you can get the most out of Safari on your iOS device. These tips can surely cut the lag and speed up your web browsing. Have I missed out on some cool tricks? If yes, don’t go away before you spill some beans about them down below.

Explore more…

  • How to change Safari search engine on iPhone, iPad and Mac 
  • How to clear Safari cache, history and cookies on iPhone or iPad
  • 15 Ways to Fix Safari not working on iPhone

safari search for a tab

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

How to use Safari Tab Groups

If you’re a safari user, tab groups can help you keep your life organized and your desktop clean..

By Monica Chin , a senior reviewer covering laptops and other gadgets. Monica was a writer for Tom's Guide and Business Insider before joining The Verge in 2020.

Share this story

MacBook displaying Safari with illustrations of Finder and macOS in the background.

If you’re using Safari but you’re not using Tab Groups, well, it’s time to change that.

Tab Groups, as the name implies, allows you to group a selection of tabs together and essentially set them aside for future use. For example, if you have a bunch of tabs you use for work and a bunch of tabs you use after work, you can cordon these tabs off into batches so that they don’t get in each other’s way. You can use your work tabs at work and, when you’re finished, swap them for your “after work” tabs with just one click.

  • How to use Microsoft Edge’s new tab groups feature

You might also have different Tab Groups for different assignments at work or different school projects. Folks who share a computer might have different Tab Groups for each user. The possibilities are endless.

Here’s how to create a tab group in Safari.

How to create Safari Tab Groups on macOS

There are a couple of ways to do this. The easiest method is to make a group out of whatever tabs you currently have open. If you’re about to close Safari but think you might need to pick up where you left off when you open it later, throwing your tabs into a group can give you some peace of mind.

You can also create a tab group from scratch if there is a batch of tabs you think you might want to use later. This is a bit more time-consuming but will allow you to be more selective about which tabs to include.

A screenshot of Safari on macOS with New Tab Group with 2 Tabs selected.

To create a tab group from existing tabs

  • In Safari, click the down arrow in the toolbar. (It’s on the left side, next to the button that opens the sidebar.)
  • Pick New Tab Group With [X] Tabs .
  • In the left column, look for the Tab Group subhead. Name your tab group, then press Enter.

A screenshot of Safari on macOS with a tab selected and Move to Tab Group highlighted.

To create a tab group from scratch

  • Click the down arrow in the toolbar. (It’s next to the button that opens the sidebar.)
  • Pick New Empty Tab Group .
  • Name your tab group, then press enter.
  • Right-click a tab you want to add to the group, click Move to Tab Group , and select the tab group you want. Alternatively, you can click and drag the tab to your group on the left side.

To open your new tab group

  • Click on that down arrow again.
  • Click on the tab group you want.

Once you’ve got a group up and running, it’s not set in stone. You can adjust the makeup of a given tab group by clicking the arrow to its right in the sidebar’s tab group list. Right-click any tab that comes up, and you’ll have the option to remove it from the group, remove all tabs that aren’t it from the group, or move it to a different group,

You can also click the three dots just next to the arrow if you want to rename, delete, or share the group, along with other options.

How to create Safari Tab Groups on iOS

Tab Groups can sync between iOS and macOS devices, so if you create one on your Mac computer, you can still access it on your iPhone. Nevertheless, if it’s more convenient for you to create these from the Safari app on iOS, you can certainly do so.

A screenshot of Safari on iOS with a tab long-pressed and Move to Tab Group selected.

  • In the Safari app, click the tabs button on the bottom right. (It’s the one with two squares.)
  • Press and hold a tab you want to add, then pick Move to Tab Group .
  • Select New Tab Group .
  • Name your new group.

Rivian surprises with R3 and R3X electric SUVs

Rivian r2 revealed: a $45,000 electric off-roader for the masses, apple will cut off third-party app store updates if your iphone leaves the eu for a month, fortnite’s new season brings greek gods to the battle royale, overwatch 2’s cowboy bebop collaboration has won me back.

Sponsor logo

More from How to

Vector collage showing different aspects of Google Keep.

How to make the most of Google Keep

The Fitbit Versa, Fitbit Luxe, Fitbit Charge 5, and Fitbit Ace 3 fitness trackers, on an orange and red background.

The best Fitbits for your fitness and health

Floating MacBook Pro on wallpaper of Mac and Safari icons, with system preferences opened and the Monterey wallpaper.

How to uninstall apps in macOS

iPhone with icons and illustrated background

How to check which apps are using the most data on an iPhone

  • GTA 5 Cheats
  • What is Discord?
  • Find a Lost Phone
  • Upcoming Movies
  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • Best YouTube TV Alternatives
  • How to Recall an Email in Outlook

How to master Safari tabs in MacOS Monterey

Alex Blake

There are a lot of useful ways you can use and manage tabs in the Safari web browser on MacOS. With a few settings hidden in preference panes and right-click menus, you can make your web browser much more effective and efficient in day-to-day use.

Step 1: Change tab appearance

Step 2: create a new tab group, step 3: manage your tab groups.

  • Step 4: Get a bird’s eye view

Step 5: Move and reorder tabs

Step 6: reopen closed tabs and windows.

Things get interesting when you start using Safari’s Tab Groups , which were introduced with MacOS Monterey . These let you organize your tabs into related groups and then switch between them. For instance, you might have one group containing a few tabs for work, then a second group for news sites that you read during your lunch break. Switch from your news group to your work group, and all the news tabs are hidden. It’s like moving between two different Safari windows, but with less hassle. And even better, all your Tab Groups sync between your other Apple devices that are using the same Apple ID.

Of course, there is far more to Safari tabs than just Tab Groups and plenty more useful tips and tricks to learn along the way. We will cover these as well in this guide, helping you get much more from the humble web browser tab.

  • How to choose between a MacBook and a Windows laptop
  • Google witness accidentally reveals how much Apple gets for Safari search
  • How to watch Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ Mac launch event if you missed it

By default, Safari keeps the URL bar above the row of tabs you have open. However, you can merge the two so that clicking the active tab lets you enter a new web address directly into the tab.

To do so, click Safari > Preferences in your Mac menu bar. In the Preferences pane, click Tabs , then click Compact next to Tab Layout .

Don’t forget to check the other settings while you’re there. You can change how tabs behave, including whether new pages open in tabs or windows and whether the focus switches to a new tab as soon as you open it.

In most browsers, all your tabs are grouped together into one long stream. In situations like that, it can be easy to lose track of the different things you were working on in different tabs. Safari does things a little differently with its Tab Groups feature, which lets you create named groups of tabs and switch between them with ease.

To create a Tab Group, click the sidebar button in the top-left corner, then click the New Tab G roup button on the right of the sidebar. Next, choose whether you want the Tab Group to comprise your currently open tabs or to create a new, blank group. Give it a name, and you’re done.

Alternatively, you can create a Tab Group by right-clicking on any tab and clicking Move to Tab Group > New Tab Group . Or open the sidebar, right-click the X Tabs button (where X is the number of tabs you have open), then click New Tab Group with X Tabs .

When you switch between Tab Groups, the tabs in your previous group will be replaced by those in the new group. Don’t worry, they still exist, they’re just hidden. To move between Tab Groups, click the downward arrow next to the name of the group in the top-left corner, then click the name of a different Tab Group. Or simply click a different Tab Group in the sidebar.

You can add a tab to an existing Tab Group at any time by right-clicking it and clicking Move to Tab Group , then clicking the name of the destination group. Alternatively, open the sidebar, then drag and drop a tab from the main window into your desired Tab Group.

To remove a tab from a Tab Group (but still keep it open), right-click it and click Move to Tab Group > X Tabs , where X is the number of tabs this group contains. This will put the tab in an unnamed group of tabs located at the top of the sidebar.

You can rename a Tab Group by double-clicking its name in the sidebar or by right-clicking it and selecting Rename . Note that this only works with groups you have created, not the X Tabs Group at the top of the sidebar. To remove a group entirely, right-click it and click Delete . This will close all tabs contained in the group.

Step 4: Get a bird’s eye view

If you use a lot of tabs at once, it can be hard to find the one you want because tabs shrink in size the more you have open. However, there’s a quick way to get a bird’s eye view of your tabs. Just press Shift + Command , click View > Show Tab Overview  or click the Tab Overview button in the top-right corner of the Safari window (it looks like four squares arranged into a larger square). This will show all your tabs as large tiles. Just click one to make it the active tab.

Additionally, you can add a new tab to a Tab Group using the overview feature. Open the overview, then click the large Plus tile, and a new tab will open. And if you need to find a specific tab, open the overview and start typing. You will notice the cursor is active in a Search Tabs box in the top-right, and results will appear as you type.

Reordering your tabs is as easy as clicking and dragging one to a new place in the tab bar. There is another, more ordered way to do it, though. Right-click any tab, then click Arrange Tabs By and choose either Title or Website . This will arrange the tabs alphabetically either by tab name (the website title that’s shown in the tab) or by the website address.

Accidentally closed a tab? Not to worry — you can instantly reopen it by pressing Command + Z . Keep pressing it to keep reopening other tabs.

If there’s a specific tab you want to reopen, click History in the menu bar to see recently visited websites. Or click History > Recently Closed for a long list of recently closed tabs. You can even reopen tabs from days prior by clicking History , then choosing a date from the bottom of the menu and picking a tab.

To reopen a closed window, just press Shift + Command + T , or click History > Reopen Last Closed Window .

Want a quick way to switch between tabs? Just press Command + Shift + Right Arrow or Command + Shift + Left Arrow to move along the row of tabs. Alternatively, use Command + 1 to Command + 9 to switch to the tab that corresponds to each number. Both are great  Mac keyboard shortcuts that will save you time.

And if you have several Tab Groups open when you close Safari, the likelihood is you will want them open again when you next launch your web browser. To ensure they load when Safari opens, click Safari > Preferences in the menu bar, then click the General tab. Under Safari Opens With , click All Windows From Last Session .

Editors' Recommendations

  • The best Mac apps for 2024: top software for your Mac
  • 5 reasons your MacBook keeps restarting and how to fix it
  • 7 trackpad gestures for Mac that everyone should know
  • Common macOS Sonoma problems and how to fix them
  • This dangerous new Mac malware steals your credit card info

Alex Blake

If you're new to the Mac, the first question people have is how to take a screenshot. There's no Print Screen key, so you'll be forgiven if it's not immediately obvious. Or hey, maybe you just forgot the keyboard shortcut or want to go deep into the very best screenshot apps available. We got ya.

There are plenty of options and customizations, so there's plenty to dig into. Here’s everything you could ever want to know about taking a screenshot on your Mac. How to take a screenshot using keyboard shortcuts MacOS keyboard shortcuts are the quickest ways to take screenshots, whether you're capturing the entire screen or just a portion. By default, Apple's methods save your screenshot to the desktop, but if you want to copy the screenshot to the clipboard, there's a keyboard shortcut you can use instead. How to capture a selected area

Many Mac owners swear that keyboard shortcuts help simplify their lives. If you’re new to a Mac, learning all the available keyboard shortcuts can be a real challenge. Quite a few of these shortcuts will now work in iPadOS, too, thanks to the Magic Keyboard available to iPad Pro users.

We’ve put together a list of the most important shortcuts you should know. You can also take a look at our list of the best Mac apps for even more Apple shortcuts. The most important shortcuts

When Apple announced it would revolutionize the world of Mac gaming at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, many people were skeptical. But the latest update to the company’s Game Porting Toolkit has made some important changes to how games run on the Mac -- and the results are impressive.

The toolkit allows developers to move their Windows games across to macOS Sonoma. Games makers can test out how well their products run on Apple’s hardware and find out what they need to do to make the jump, something that Apple says ends up “significantly reducing the total development time.”

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

How do I make Safari open search results in a new tab by default?

I'd like for results from the search toolbar to open in a new tab by default, like I've configured in Firefox. How can I get this same default behavior in Safari? I already know that Command-Enter will do this for me, but I want to change the default behavior so that I don't have to hold down Command every time I do a search.

Daniel Beck's user avatar

  • Not an answer, but I wonder how you get the cursor into the search field to start with. If you use your mouse or touchpad, then maybe the following makes your workflow a bit easier: Command-N for a new window, followed by Tab to get into the search field, and after typing your search text: Return to show the search results in that (new) window. –  Arjan Oct 28, 2010 at 19:40
  • @Arjan: Can be slow on some machines, because it might load the Top Sites for new windows. Cmd-L for Location bar, Tab, Search, Cmd-Enter is faster (at least on my machine and in my opinion). –  Daniel Beck ♦ Oct 28, 2010 at 19:45
  • @Arjan Glims can be configured to focus the search field for new windows and tabs. Saves a keystroke. –  Daniel Beck ♦ Oct 28, 2010 at 20:16
  • I don't think it's possible. I just checked Saft (well-known commercial Safari modification), Glims and the Safari Extensions library, nothing turned up. It seems you need to continue using Firefox for full customizability. –  Daniel Beck ♦ Oct 28, 2010 at 20:26
  • Wow, that's horrible. -1 to Safari. –  Jeff Oct 28, 2010 at 22:52

4 Answers 4

If you're in to some work, then Glims with a custom search provider, and some AppleScript to create your own protocol handler (URL scheme) can do the trick. But I think pressing Command-Return is much easier. ;-)

Here's what you'd need:

Open Applications, AppleScript Editor, and paste the following:

Select menu File, Save As, and be sure to select File Format: "Application". This will create something that looks like a single application, but actually holds a folder structure.

In Finder, find the place where you saved the application, right-click it and select "Show package contents".

Find file Contents/FileInfo.plist and open it with a text editor.

At the end, just above the last two lines </dict></plist> , add:

Move the whole application package into, for example, Application/Utilities (to ensure Launch Services registers it ).

Test in any browser, using newwindow://http://www.google.com/search?q=abc . If it doesn't work, then double-click the application or even rename the package, just to trigger the discovery by Launch Services again.

Install the Glims plugin for Safari.

In Safari's preferences, tab sheet Glims, Search Engine List, add a new entry. Note that Glims requires the slashes after newwindow: . Without that, Glims would prefix http:// to whatever text you entered:

I don't know how to change the icon that Glims shows... Also, when using this, there's no key you can hold down to not open the results in a new window.

Glorfindel's user avatar

  • ...and to open in a new Tab: set Safari to use tabs when a new window is opened. Did I mention that Command-Return is soooo much easier? ;-) –  Arjan Oct 31, 2010 at 22:10
  • Yikes! I think I'll stick with Command-Return for now. –  Jeff Nov 2, 2010 at 3:29
  • And generally I guess I'll use Chrome and Firefox instead of Safari. –  Jeff Nov 2, 2010 at 3:30
  • 1 Wow. This is... insane. Wow. Good job! –  Daniel Beck ♦ Nov 2, 2010 at 6:55

Here's what I found out so far:

  • It is not possible in vanilla Safari
  • It is not added in Saft (well-known commercial Safari modification)
  • It is not added in Glims .
  • There is no Safari extension for that and the Safari API does not support this for an extension.

Therefore, I don't think it's possible. It seems you need to continue using Firefox for full customizability.

  • Hmmm, now the homepage shows this question has an answer... –  Arjan Oct 28, 2010 at 20:08
  • @Arjan what do you mean? –  Daniel Beck ♦ Oct 28, 2010 at 20:11
  • I mean this does not answer the question. But now this question no longer has zero answers, and hence might not trigger others to read it? –  Arjan Oct 28, 2010 at 20:17

Jeff wrote:

...I wonder how you get the cursor into the search field to start with...

You can do that with Command-k just as you would with Firefox. Just go into Apple -> Preferences -> Keyboard and add a new keyboard shortcut for Safari.

Decavolt's user avatar

  • Jeff didn't write that, Arjan did. Furthermore, Command-Option-F is the shortcut to directly focus the search bar. –  NReilingh Apr 3, 2011 at 18:10

Be default, here is how I do it:

  • With Safari open, press CMD + OPTION + F (puts cursor in search field)
  • enter my search term
  • press CMD + ENTER (opens results in a new tab)
  • Done, search results open in a new tab in 4 seconds or less

That said, I have updated CMD + OPTION + F to be CMD + K to match Firefox (and I think Chrome?)… but I would prefer that there was a checkbox in Safari Preferences on the "Tabs" tab to make search results open in a new tab.

jono's user avatar

  • Note: To customize the Safari search shortcut you have to: –  jono Dec 11, 2011 at 2:27
  • 1 … you have to do what? –  slhck Dec 11, 2011 at 9:56

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged macos search safari ..

  • The Overflow Blog
  • Building GenAI features in practice with Intuit Mailchimp
  • A leading ML educator on what you need to know about LLMs
  • Featured on Meta
  • Our partnership with Google and commitment to socially responsible AI
  • Shifting the data dump schedule: A proposal

Hot Network Questions

  • Flight to Canada 20-hour layover in Narita. Filipino
  • How do I best identify weak points in myself along a path to academia
  • 30°F / -1°C sleeping bag vs a 50°F / 10°C sleeping bag whilst wearing layers
  • Should we give page numbers to each pages of the research paper?
  • Is non-physicalism reasonable?
  • Is intent required for genocide?
  • Is there a relationship between καθαιρέω ("destroy") and καθαίρω ("purify")?
  • Is electric current actually the flow of electrical charge?
  • Is there a language to write programmes by pictures?
  • QGIS: How to only get the intersection part of self-intersecting polygons?
  • Sci-fi short story about a human ship discovering a lost colony of genetically modified humans who find pleasure in self-sacrifice
  • both of my parents are dead or both of my parents were dead
  • 電話をくださる subject identification
  • List of nice non-context-free languages
  • Delayed blast fireball + sculpt spell = safely pick up fireball?
  • Why do we see a black hole shadow despite the fact that there is hot gas all around it and not all radiation is absorbed by the horizon?
  • Series or movie with long-lived witches hiding in the modern world?
  • Create n random points on [0,1] with minimum distance
  • Devastated- Ribble R872 Ultegra damage to rear dropout
  • One-Dimensional Pinball
  • Contract for plumber vs roofer
  • Converting at once 5000 GeoJSON into ESRI Shapefiles with QGIS
  • Minimally clued 4x5 Hidato (4 clues)
  • What are the Lie algebras that appear as centralizers in a semisimple Lie algebra?

safari search for a tab

14 shortcuts for Safari Views, Tab Groups, and Focus Filters to use with iOS 16

Safari is getting easier to work with inside Shortcuts — these shortcuts will help you get started.

Photo of a subset of the linked shortcuts shown in light blue on an iPad screen.

New actions

Safari views, focus filters.

In the iOS 16 public beta, Apple has added six new actions to the Shortcuts app that work with Safari on iPhone and iPad.

Currently only available for developers and public testers (but coming to everyone this fall), these actions are aimed at interacting with different "views" in Safari, plus creating tabs and doing basic Tab Group management.

To help you take full advantage of these, here are 14 shortcuts built out with each potential option across the actions so that you don't have to build them yourself — if you're brave enough to install the betas, that is (if not, just bookmark this story):

  • Open Safari Bookmarks
  • Open Safari History
  • Open Reading List
  • Open Shared With You
  • Open Safari start page
  • Open Safari sidebar
  • Open Tab Overview
  • Open new tab
  • Open new private tab
  • Open Default tabs
  • Open Private tabs
  • Create Tab Group
  • Open Safari Tab Group
  • Set Safari Focus Filter

Released alongside 40 other actions , Safari has gained six actions of its own so far in the betas (descriptions from Apple):

1. Open View: Opens the view in Safari.

2. Open New Tab: Opens a new tab.

3. Open New Private Tab: Opens a new Private Tab.

4. Create Tab Group: Creates an empty Tab Group.

5. Open Tab Group: Opens the selected Tab Group.

6. Set Safari Focus Filter: Sets the behavior of the safari when the given Focus in enabled.

In addition, Safari Reader actions are also now available on macOS , matching the functionality from iOS and iPadOS that's been missing the last year since Shortcuts for Mac launched — we'll cover how to take advantage of those in a future story.

The Open View action in Safari packs a lot of functionality into a single action, providing access to every screen you can find in the Safari app.

We've built shortcuts for each option, letting you speak the names to Siri and immediately access the specific portion of the app when needed. Plus, this set works great as a Shortcuts widget to quickly pick between every option and get to the right spot.

- Open Safari Bookmarks: Opens the Bookmarks tab of the Safari app to your bookmarked websites.

- Open Safari History: Opens the Safari app and shows the History tab of previously-visited sites. Use this shortcut to find a website that you visited earlier in the day/week/month and access it again — it works well if you remember looking something up recently but don't want to search the web for the same information again, like recipes for example.

- Open Reading List: Opens the Safari app to the Reading List window so you can find pages you've saved for later. Use this shortcut to actually get to your read-later list in Safari.

- Open Shared With You: Opens Safari to the Shared With You tab where links shared in Messages are surfaced for quick access. Use this shortcut to quickly open all the links that have been, well, shared with you in apps like Messages – this works great if you regularly share links, articles, and websites with things like recipes with friends and family from your favorite iPad .

- Open Safari start page: Shows the Start Page section of Safari with Favorites, iCloud Tabs, and other custom sections. Use this shortcut to access your iCloud Tabs from another device or jump into one of your Favorite bookmarks.

- Open Safari sidebar: Activates the Sidebar area of Safari, showing the extra features and moving the main window to a 2/3 view. Use this shortcut alongside other Safari functions to set the app up exactly how you want it — it works well for a web browsing experience where you may be switching between tab groups, for example.

- Open Tab Overview: Shows all the current tabs in your tab group in a bird's eye view. Use this shortcut to quickly see the contents of all your active tabs and pick between them — it works well for searching for a specific tab, looking at the site previews, and closing tabs you're not using.

To work with tabs and tab groups, Safari has options to create new tabs, plus create a new tab group and reopen it as needed. We've included the Open View actions for Open Default Tab View and Open Private Tab View here as well since they align well with the New Tab and New Private Tab actions.

- Open new tab : Creates a new blank tab in the Safari app. Use this shortcut to open an empty tab and leave it waiting in Safari — it works well in the Shortcuts widget, or as a prompt to begin a web browsing session. Oddly, this doesn't let you specify a Tab Group to create it in (yet?).

- Open new private tab: Creates a new tab in the Private tab group of Safari.

- Open Default tabs: Opens Safari to the main tab section outside of Tab Groups. Use this shortcut to switch out of "Tab Group mode" and back to your normal set of tabs. Works well when you don't care about saving tabs for later and want to end a specific browsing session.

- Open Private tabs: Switches to the Private tab group where browse data isn't tracked. Use this shortcut to switch from public to private tabs and see the set you have available behind your default set. I use this to see the non-logged-in version of my website when testing the public vs. members-only experience.

- Create Tab Group: Generates a new tab group in Safari, prompting for a new name. Use this shortcut when you want to set up a new Tab Group and keep track of specific tabs synced across devices over time.

- Open Safari Tab Group: Prompts you to choose which of your Tab Groups to open. Use this shortcut to pick from your full list of tab groups and open the corresponding option — this works well as a Shortcuts widget to jump into the various groups you have without tapping around the Safari app multiple times.  

Try duplicating this shortcut and create new shortcuts for each of your tab groups so you can access each of them with Siri too.

Finally, Safari is one of the apps that Apple added Focus Filters actions for (so far?) — this feature lets you automatically switch to a specific tab group when you activate a Focus mode, and this action lets you control that functionality entirely from within Shortcuts.

- Set Safari Focus Filter: Activate/deactivate the Focus Filter features for Safari tab groups by asking for a Focus, then which Tab Group to set. Use this shortcut to automate whether or not the feature activates alongside Focus modes — works well as an override for the Focus options defined in Settings.

These handy new Shortcuts make Safari a breeze

With that set of shortcuts, you now have a complete basis for interacting with Safari in iOS 16 — you can access everything, work with tabs, and get even deeper with Tab Groups and Focus Filters.

Currently, these actions do not work in the macOS Ventura betas — while I assume this is only temporary in the earlier betas, it's possible these may not come to the Mac. This story will be updated in future betas if more information is discovered.

This overall release is also missing a set of actions for "getting" the current tabs from Safari and your various tab groups. On the Mac, there is an action called Get Current Tab from Safari that has existed since last year that was brought over from Automator.

However, that action hasn't been brought to iOS, updated for Tab Groups, and doesn't let you get anything except the front-most tab. I hope Apple fixes this in the next few betas, as I'd like to see a Get Tabs From Safari action added in this iOS 16 release so Shortcuts users can truly take advantage of all their tabs and Tab Group setups to the fullest.

We'll be covering how to use the Safari Reader actions on the Mac in the future, plus sharing more advanced use cases for these actions near to the iOS 16 launch — until then, enjoy playing with these shortcuts on the betas.

Master your iPhone in minutes

iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!

Matthew Cassinelli

Matthew Cassinelli is a writer, podcaster, video producer, and Shortcuts creator. After working on the Workflow app before it was acquired by Apple and turned into Shortcuts, Matthew now shares about how to use Shortcuts and how to get things done with Apple technology.

On his personal website MatthewCassinelli.com, Matthew has shared hundreds & hundreds of shortcuts that anyone can download, plus runs a membership program for more advanced Shortcuts users. He also publishes a weekly newsletter called “What’s New in Shortcuts.”

iOS 18 could have these great new accessibility features — more font size support, better voice Shortcuts, and more

iOS 17.4's new browser choice screen explained — Apple displays randomized list of 11 most-downloaded Safari alternatives

Apple confirms it has reinstated Epic Games' developer account following “conversations”

Most Popular

By Tammy Rogers February 09, 2024

By Olivia Powell February 09, 2024

By Oliver Haslam February 07, 2024

By Tammy Rogers January 25, 2024

By Stephen Warwick January 04, 2024

By Stephen Warwick December 28, 2023

By Britta O'Boyle December 19, 2023

By Stephen Warwick November 24, 2023

By Lloyd Coombes November 04, 2023

By James Bentley October 25, 2023

  • 2 A developer working on PCVR mode for Apple’s spatial headset tells us what makes it special
  • 3 This Mac game gives me a much-needed break from work
  • 4 This Mac is under $500 and it's the best deal you'll find on a desktop Mac today
  • 5 iOS 18 could have these great new accessibility features

safari search for a tab

Pocket-lint

How to delete your Safari history on Mac, iPhone, or iPad

  • Clearing your Safari history removes cookies and reduces online tracking.
  • The process for deleting web history is different for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
  • You can use Private Browsing Mode to prevent web history from being saved.

From accessing your bank account on a shared computer to Googling embarrassing queries, there are a number of reasons to want to clear out your search history. Deleting your history on Safari removes your trail of web browsing, but the process also does more than clear out potentially embarrassing websites.

Clearing your history will also remove associated cookies from the web browser, reducing the number of ways you are being tracked online. While clearing your web history only removes cookies from Safari and not third-party websites that already have your data, it can still be helpful to reduce online tracking. Clearing the related cache can also sometimes fix bugs.

Deleting a web history from Safari isn't a terribly complicated process, but the steps are a bit different if you are using a MacBook , iPad , or iPhone . The steps for clearing several web pages and a single website are also different. Some privacy settings can also prevent you from deleting any web history, leaving the buttons you need grayed out.

How to close all Safari tabs on iPhone at the same time

There are also a few tricks that can make the process simpler. For example, if you turn on iCloud for Safari, when you delete the history from your Mac, it will automatically be deleted from your phone and tablet too. If you know you want to delete your web history before you make a single click, you can use Private Browsing Mode instead.

Whether you are a murder mystery writer looking to eliminate search queries that would raise the eyebrows of any detective, or you want to reduce the number of cookies tracking you, this guide will tell you how to delete Safari history in a few simple steps.

How to delete Safari history on a Mac

Safari allows you to delete a lot of web history from a Mac or MacBook at once by allowing you to choose the dates for which you would like to erase. If you want to clear websites from the last hour, last day, last two days or all of your web history, this is the process to use.

  • Open Safari
  • From the top toolbar, click on History , then click Clear History.
  • In the pop-up window, use the drop-down menu to select the time period you want to clear from your history.
  • Click Clear History .

How to delete Safari history on an iPhone or iPad

The steps for clearing out your Safari history on an iPhone is quite different from using a Safari browser on a Mac. But, the process is the same across both iPhones and iPads, so these steps below work for both your phone and tablet.

  • Open the Settings app.
  • Select Safari.
  • Scroll down to the Privacy & Security section and select Clear History and Website Data.
  • On the next page, tap the time frame that you would like to delete the history for.
  • Optional: If you also want to close out of all open websites, tap the toggle for Close All Tabs.
  • Tap Clear History.

How to delete a single website from Safari history

Safari allows you to easily delete websites from the last hour, day, two days, or your entire web history easily. But, if you only want to remove a single website, you'll instead have to access your history, and then select the individual page to remove.

  • Open a Safari browser.
  • From the top toolbar, select History > Show All History. Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut Command + Y.
  • Select the website entry that you wish to delete. If that site was not visited today, you will need to tap on the date that you visited the website to find it or use the search bar at the top.
  • Right-click on the website entry and select delete.

On an iPhone or iPad:

  • Tap the Bookmark icon on the bottom (it looks like an open book).
  • Tap the Clock or History icon at the top of the page.
  • Locate the website that you wish to delete from your history -- your history is organized by the date you visited.
  • On the website you wish to delete, swipe left, then tap on the red trash icon.

How to use Bing Chat on Safari

How to use private mode in safari.

If you know that you'll want to delete the website that you are about to visit from your history, try using Private Browsing Mode instead. This mode does not save any website history, including search history and autofill information. That means you can do your online banking without going back and deleting your web history when you are done.

To use Private Browsing Mode on a Mac:

  • Open Safari.
  • On the top toolbar, go to File > New Private Window.
  • Use this new private window for browsing. You can quickly see if a Safari browser is Private because the field to type in the URL is dark gray instead of white.

To use Private Browsing Mode on iOS:

  • Tap the tab icon in the bottom left corner.
  • At the bottom of the screen, tap Private (swipe to see all the toppings in this toolbar if you do not see the Private option.)
  • Private browsing will have a dark gray URL field instead of white. To return to regular browsing, repeat the steps but this time swipe back to your open tabs.

How to use picture-in-picture mode in Safari on Mac

How to instantly clear your web history from multiple devices.

With iCloud , Safari can save your web browsing across all the devices that you use with your Apple ID. While that's helpful for quickly recalling a website no matter what device you first opened it with, it also syncs any deletions to the web history across your devices . That means if you delete a web page from your history on a Mac, it will automatically be deleted from your iPhone too -- as long as both devices are logged into the same Apple ID and iCloud for Safari is enabled.

iCloud for Safari can be enabled during the setup process for a new device, but it can also be turned on and off from the Settings app:

  • Tap on your Apple ID or name at the top.
  • Tap on iCloud.
  • Under Apps Using iCloud, select Show All . (If you are running iOS 15 or earlier, you may not see the full list already instead of the Show All option, in which case you can jump to the next step.)
  • Toggle on Safari from the list.

Why can't I clear my Safari history?

In some cases, the buttons that you need to tap to clear your Safari history are gray. But why can't you delete your Safari history, and how do you fix it? Here are a few common reasons why the Safari history options are grayed out:

  • You've already deleted your history and there are no more websites to clear out.
  • Web content restrictions are turned on. Some parental control settings prevent kids and teens from deleting their web history, while other content restrictions can also prevent you from deleting. To access the content restriction options, open the Settings app and go to Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
  • You are using Private Browsing Mode. This mode does not save your web history, so you have nothing to delete.

14 Safari tips and tricks you absolutely need to know

Can you permanently delete safari history.

Deleting your Safari history makes it difficult for the average person to recover the past websites that you have visited. However, if you are connected to your work or school network, in some cases the network administrator can still see your website access. Deleting your website history also may not fool a trained digital forensics expert during an investigation.

How to delete your Safari history on Mac, iPhone, or iPad

Gizchina.com

Firefox for Android is developing a new tablet interface – uses a PC-like tab bar

Efe Udin

Firefox for Android is undergoing a significant transformation with the development of a new tablet interface that aims to enhance user experience and functionality. One of the key features of this update is the introduction of a PC-like tab bar, which promises to revolutionize how users interact with the browser on their tablets.

safari search for a tab

A recent report from ITHome shows that Firefox is developing an optimized UI for tablet devices for the Android version. Although Firefox has already been launched on the Android platform, it has not been specially optimized for tablets. Now users can try out the new tab bar through the hidden  version of Firefox Nightly.

In the Firefox Nightly version, the path to enable this feature is as follows:  Settings – About Firefox Nightly – Click the Firefox LOGO five times in a row to enable this feature .

safari search for a tab

After enabling this feature, users can see the new tab page on the browser homepage and hide settings options. It should be noted that this feature currently only exists in the Nightly version of Firefox. At the moment, this feature is still in the testing stage. Thus, it does not yet support the commonly used tab drag-and-drop function . On the iPad platform, Firefox already supports this new feature and supports the tab drag-and-drop function.

safari search for a tab

Evolution of Firefox for Android

Firefox for Android has been a popular choice among mobile users for its robust features, privacy-focused approach, and commitment to open-source principles. Over the years, Mozilla, the organization behind Firefox, has continuously worked on improving the browser to meet the evolving needs of users in an increasingly mobile-centric world.

The latest development in this journey is the revamp of Firefox for Android’s tablet interface. This overhaul represents a strategic move by Mozilla to align the user experience across different devices and provide a seamless browsing experience regardless of the platform.

Introducing the PC-Like Tab Bar

Central to this update is the introduction of a PC-like tab bar in Firefox for Android’s tablet interface. This new tab bar design mirrors the familiar layout found in desktop browsers, allowing users to manage multiple tabs more efficiently and intuitively.

By adopting a tab bar similar to that of desktop browsers, Firefox for Android aims to bridge the gap between mobile and desktop browsing experiences. This change not only enhances usability but also makes transitioning between devices smoother for users who rely on both tablets and PCs for their browsing needs.

Benefits of the New Tablet Interface

The new tablet interface in Firefox for Android brings several benefits that are poised to elevate the browsing experience for users:

Gizchina News of the week

1. Improved Tab Management: With the PC-like tab bar, users can easily view all open tabs at a glance and switch between them seamlessly. This streamlined tab management system enhances productivity and organization while browsing on a tablet.

2. Enhanced Multitasking: The new interface enables users to multitask more effectively by providing quick access to all open tabs. This feature is particularly useful for users who engage in research, online shopping, or any activity that involves juggling multiple web pages simultaneously.

3. Consistent User Experience: By aligning the tablet interface with desktop browsers, Firefox ensures a consistent user experience across different devices. This coherence simplifies navigation and reduces the learning curve for users transitioning between devices.

4. Customization Options: The new interface may also introduce customization options that allow users to tailor their browsing experience according to their preferences. From tab organization to layout customization, these features empower users to personalize their browsing environment.

Chrome Firefox

User Feedback and Future Developments

As with any significant update, user feedback plays a crucial role in shaping future developments. Mozilla is likely to closely monitor user responses to the new tablet interface in Firefox for Android, gathering insights on usability, performance, and overall satisfaction.

Based on user feedback, Mozilla may iterate on the design, introduce additional features, or make adjustments to further enhance the browsing experience on tablets. Continuous improvement based on user input is key to ensuring that Firefox remains a competitive and user-centric browser in the mobile landscape.

The development of a new tablet interface with a PC-like tab bar in Firefox for Android marks an important milestone in Mozilla’s efforts to refine and innovate its mobile browser offering. By bringing desktop-like tab management capabilities to tablets, Firefox aims to provide users with a seamless and intuitive browsing experience that transcends device boundaries. The evolution of Firefox for Android also reflects Mozilla’s commitment to providing users with a seamless and intuitive browsing experience across different devices.

By prioritizing improved tab management, enhanced multitasking capabilities, as well as a consistent user experience, Firefox aims to meet the evolving needs of users in an increasingly mobile-centric world. The development of the new tablet interface also underscores Mozilla’s dedication to innovation and user-centric design principles.

As Firefox continues to evolve, user feedback will remain instrumental in driving future enhancements and refinements. Also, by listening to user insights and incorporating them into the development process, Mozilla ensures that Firefox remains a competitive and user-friendly browser in the ever-changing landscape of mobile technology. Furthermore, with the promise of continuous improvement and user-focused innovation, Firefox for Android is poised to deliver an exceptional browsing experience for users around the globe.

As this update rolls out and users begin exploring the enhanced features of Firefox for Android’s tablet interface, it will be interesting to see how this transformation shapes user behaviour, productivity, and overall satisfaction with the browser. With a focus on usability, functionality, and user feedback, Mozilla continues to demonstrate its commitment to delivering a browser experience that meets the diverse needs of modern internet users.

Previous Xiaomi admits a bug with an update that leaves some of its phones unusable

Next huawei's cpu cores catching up: a promising development in chip technology.

About the author Efe Udin Efe Udin, a government tech policy expert is a seasoned tech writer with over seven years of tech writing experience. Efe's true passion lies in exploring the intersection of technology, politics, and brand feuds. With an astute understanding of the power dynamics and competitive landscape within the tech world, Efe delves into the intricacies of how technology influences political discourse and how brand rivalries shape the industry. Twitter Facebook Website

Related Posts

Google Play Console

Google Play Store Introduces Parallel App Downloads for Android Users

Google Phone App

Android: Google’s Phone app offers two very practical new features

WhatsApp Chats

Step-by-Step Guide: Convert WhatsApp Chats to PDF on Your Android Device

Boost performance of old Android phone

Tips for Maximizing the Performance of Your Old Android Phone

Safari User Guide

  • Change your homepage
  • Import bookmarks, history, and passwords
  • Make Safari your default web browser
  • Go to websites
  • Find what you’re looking for
  • Bookmark webpages that you want to revisit
  • See your favorite websites
  • Use tabs for webpages
  • Pin frequently visited websites
  • Play web videos
  • Mute audio in tabs
  • Pay with Apple Pay
  • Autofill credit card info
  • Autofill contact info
  • Keep a Reading List
  • Hide ads when reading articles
  • Translate a webpage
  • Download items from the web
  • Share or post webpages
  • Add passes to Wallet
  • Save part or all of a webpage
  • Print or create a PDF of a webpage
  • Customize a start page
  • Customize the Safari window
  • Customize settings per website
  • Zoom in on webpages
  • Get extensions
  • Manage cookies and website data
  • Block pop-ups
  • Clear your browsing history
  • Browse privately
  • Autofill user name and password info
  • Prevent cross-site tracking
  • View a Privacy Report
  • Change Safari preferences
  • Keyboard and other shortcuts
  • Troubleshooting

safari search for a tab

Use Private Browsing in Safari on Mac

When you browse privately , the details of your browsing aren’t saved, and the websites you visit aren’t shared with your other devices.

Open Safari for me

Browse privately one time

When you use a private window:

Browsing initiated in one tab is isolated from browsing initiated in another tab, so websites you visit can’t track your browsing across multiple sessions.

Webpages you visit and your AutoFill information aren’t saved.

Your open webpages aren’t stored in iCloud, so they aren’t shown when you view all your open tabs from other devices.

Your recent searches aren’t included in the results list when you use the Smart Search field.

Items you download aren’t included in the downloads list. (The items do remain on your computer.)

If you use Handoff , private windows aren’t passed to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or other Mac computers.

Changes to your cookies and website data aren’t saved.

Websites can’t modify information stored on your device, so services normally available at such sites may work differently until you use a non-private window.

Note: None of the above applies in non-private Safari windows you may have open.

Always browse privately

Click the “Safari opens with” pop-up menu, then choose “A new private window.”

safari search for a tab

Stop browsing privately

Delete any items you downloaded while using private windows.

Close any other private windows that are still open, to prevent other people from using the Back and Forward buttons to see pages you visited in them.

Besides using private windows, you can manage cookies and data stored by all websites and prevent cross-site tracking .

If you forget to use a private window, you can clear your browsing history .

Need to reopen closed tabs? Here's how to restore closed tabs on any browser.

safari search for a tab

Have you ever accidentally closed a tab on your computer even though you actually meant to quit a different one? Maybe the browser randomly closed your tabs, leaving you to lose your spot on certain sites or misplace important information. 

Whether you have one or 75 tabs open, it can be frustrating when they get closed by accident. But restoring them to normal is not too hard of a process. 

Here is what you need to do to reopen closed tabs on a Mac or PC for any browser, including Google Chrome and Safari. 

How to reopen closed tabs?

The easiest and quickest way to restore closed tabs on a Mac for any browser is reopen the browser and hold the "shift+command+T" keys. If you have a PC, to reopen a browser, hold the "shift+control+T" keys. 

This will restore the most recently closed tabs, whether it's just one or multiple. However, if you had multiple windows of several tabs open, you will need to do the key function for however many windows you had open. 

Just Curious: Your everyday questions, answered

How to reopen closed tabs on Chrome

If you are looking for a more in-depth process breakdown, here is how to restore closed tabs on Google Chrome: 

  • Open Google Chrome.
  • Click "History" in the top bar of your screen on a Mac. If you are on a PC, select the three vertical dots in the top right of the window and go to "History." This will give a drop menu. 
  • Go to "Recently Closed" and you will see all your previously visited sites. 
  • If you had only one tab, select the site and it will be restored. 
  • If you had multiple tabs, there will be an option that says "[Number] Tabs."  Choose this. It will show the group of tabs closed at the same time. Select "Restore All Tabs" or "Restore Window."

How to reopen closed tabs on Safari

Here is how to restore closed tabs on Safari: 

  • Open Safari.
  • Click "History" in the top bar of your screen. This will give a drop menu. 
  • From here you have two options: "Recently Opened" or "Reopen Last Closed Window." 
  • For "Recently Opened," you get a clearer breakdown of which tabs you had open, including the name of the site. For "Reopen Last Closed Window," it simply restores the tab without specifying the details until it is reopened. 
  • If you had multiple tabs, there will be an option under "Recently Opened," that says the name of the first site "and [Number] more tabs." Choose this. It will restore all tabs closed at the same time. 

All things tech: More tech news from USA TODAY

How-To Geek

How to change safari's default search engine on mac.

Prefer DuckDuckGo? Or something else? Switching is easy.

Quick Links

Changing search engine in safari preferences, using other search engines with safari, duckduckgo is your best choice.

Safari is a solid browser for most Mac users. It's fast, energy-efficient , plays nicely with the iPhone and iPad , and more. If you're not happy with the default search engine , though, changing it takes only a few clicks. Related: How to Change the Default Search Engine in Safari on iPhone or iPad

To change Safari's default search engine, launch the Safari app on your Mac and click on "Safari" in the top-left corner of the screen and select "Preferences" from the list that appears:

A new window will appear. Click on the "Search" button to switch to the search engine preferences:

Click on the drop-down arrow to select a search engine of your choice. You'll be able to choose from Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Bing , and Ecosia :

Once you've chosen your desired search engine you can close the preferences panel. From now on, all searches you conduct from the address bar will use the search engine specified in Safari's preferences.

There's currently no way of adding more search engines to Safari, which means if you want to use another search provider by default, you'll need to use an alternative browser like Chrome or Firefox.

Fortunately, you can use one clever workaround to search the web with different search engines directly from the Safari URL bar. To do this you'll need to use DuckDuckGo as your default search engine, so follow the steps above to change to this default search engine in Safari's preferences.

DuckDuckGo supports a range of additional operators called "bangs" which are primarily designed to limit your search to a particular website . For example, if you search "change Safari search engine !htg" in DuckDuckGo, you'll trigger the How-To Geek bang (!htg) which will search this website specifically, using our choice of search provider (which happens to be Google).

You can do this for a range of services like YouTube (!yt), Wikipedia (!w), and Twitter (!twitter). You can also use it to search Google (!g), Google Images (!gimg), and Gmail (!gmail) without having to rely on Google as your primary search engine. Remember that you don't get DuckDuckGo's enhanced privacy when using these bangs since the search engine merely hands your request to a third-party search instead.

Bangs include other search providers like Bing (!bing) and Ecosia (!eco). Head to the DuckDuckGo Bangs Repository  and search for your desired search engine, then add the bang to each search.

Not only is DuckDuckGo the best default Safari search engine from a privacy perspective, but you can also always switch to Google and get more in-depth results by adding a "!g" bang to your search. Searching with DuckDuckGo soon becomes second nature, especially when you've remembered which bangs to use for your favorite websites and search engines.

You can also use DuckDuckGo for media, maps, news, and directions .

  • Home New Posts Forum List Trending New Threads New Media Spy
  • WikiPost Latest summaries Watched WikiPosts
  • Support FAQ and Rules Contact Us

iOS 17.4 iCloud tabs syncing bug

  • Thread starter Morac
  • Start date Wednesday at 2:48 PM
  • Sort by reaction score
  • iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
  • iOS and iPadOS

Morac

macrumors 68020

  • Wednesday at 2:48 PM

bnnbreaking.com

iOS 17.4 Update Alters iCloud Safari Tab Syncing, Affecting User Experience Across Devices

bnnbreaking.com

macrumors newbie

  • Wednesday at 9:43 PM

I noticed this and I'm glad it's not just me!  

macrumors regular

  • Wednesday at 10:56 PM

If it is indeed a change made by Apple and not a bug, I’m in the ‘dislike’ camp and hope for it to be restored to its previous way of working.  

gwang73

  • Yesterday at 2:33 PM

I'm seeing the same issue. I can't remove the last closed tab in iCloud tabs, but they do sync when there are open tabs. Syncing isn't broken like before but definitely a behavior/bug change. Funny thing is tabs on Mac Safari sync perfectly. When there is no open tab in Mac Safari, nothing shows on iPhone or iPad. Seems to be an iPhone/iPad issue at the moment.  

garethjs

macrumors 65816

  • Today at 3:32 AM

yes confirmed I just noticed this too. Finally after it was working for a couple of months its broken again So ive tested this out if I open 1 lonesome tab on iOS, it gets reflected as being open on my iOS device in safari on Mac OS if I close that 1 tab on iOS, it stays open on MacOS if I now open a new tab in iOS, it replaces it on macOS and updates accordingly Now if I open several tabs in iOS, it updates macOS accordingly but I have to manually close each tab for it to be deleted in macOS but the last tab will still remain as being opened.... Now if I try to use the close all tabs option on iOS, none of the tabs get closed on MacOS how do they implement this without noticing it doesn't work is beyond me Thankfully it works in the opposite direction as in if I open a tab in safari on the Mac and close it iOS reflects accordingly.  

macrumors 6502

  • Today at 11:31 AM

Also interested. "BNN Breaking" linked in the OP appears to be an AI-driven, dubious website. But, since updating, my iOS 17.4 device's previous tabs still carry over to Ventura and Sonoma machines on the same Apple ID even though they're closed, and they cannot be permanently closed as of this post by right-click -> close on those machines as you can with iCloud tabs in general. Bookmarks also are not currently syncing properly to the iOS device, but they are in sync on the desktop machines. Are others seeing this problem also?  

safari search for a tab

  • Search the community and support articles
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Tabs, address bar, and search
  • Search Community member

Ask a new question

PapalPenguin

Why is there no option to open in another tab on the new tab page when i am looking at the news feed

Anyone know why we don’t have that and other options on holding a link?

On iPad Air 5 running latest version of iPadOS

safari search for a tab

  • Subscribe to RSS feed

Report abuse

Replies (5) .

  • Microsoft Agent |

Hi PapalPenguin,

Welcome to ask the Microsoft community and we'll be happy to help you.

We are in the same situation as you through testing, the user interface and functionality on the iPad, especially when using the Edge browser, may be different from the Edge browser on the PC due to the limitations and design guidelines of the iOS and iPadOS platforms. On the iPad, the Edge browser may be designed to be more touch-friendly and have a cleaner interface, whereas on the PC, it may offer more features and more complex interaction options.

If you encounter limitations in the Edge browser, try using the Safari browser to see if there are more options or better support, as Safari is optimized for both iOS and iPadOS. You may want to consider cross use.

I look forward to hearing from you and sharing more information.

Zoro-MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Was this reply helpful? Yes No

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

Thanks for your feedback.

Sadly using Safari is not the answer I would hope for LOL

Especially since opening a new tab in Safari doesn’t produce the News Feed that I get on Edge. I just want to be able to have an option to open in a new tab, right now the only options are Open, Copy or Share with none of those allowing me to open it in a new tab so I can keep where I am at on the main tab…

Chien Sage

Not all elements on a web page can be opened in a new tab. It depends on how the element was coded.

I completely understand that, we are talking about links on a Microsoft site using a Microsoft browser it should be something they could do honestly

I hear you, but that content doesn't come from Microsoft. It's from a hired contractor. You think Microsoft has time to go through news sites all over the world and pick out items to feature on Microsoft Edge?

Question Info

  • Norsk Bokmål
  • Ελληνικά
  • Русский
  • עברית
  • العربية
  • ไทย
  • 한국어
  • 中文(简体)
  • 中文(繁體)
  • 日本語

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Apple Released Security Updates for Multiple Products

Apple released security updates to address vulnerabilities in Safari, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. A cyber threat actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system. 

CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following advisories and apply the necessary updates: 

Safari 17.4  

macOS Sonoma 14.4  

macOS Ventura 13.6.5  

macOS Monterey 12.7.4  

watchOS 10.4  

tvOS 17.4  

visionOS 1.1  

This product is provided subject to this  Notification  and this  Privacy & Use  policy.

Please share your thoughts

We recently updated our anonymous product survey ; we’d welcome your feedback.

Related Advisories

Cisco releases security updates for secure client, cisa adds one known exploited jetbrains vulnerability, cve-2024-27198, to catalog, cisa releases one industrial control systems advisory, apple releases security updates for ios and ipados.

IMAGES

  1. How to search through tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad

    safari search for a tab

  2. How to Search Tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad

    safari search for a tab

  3. How to search through tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad

    safari search for a tab

  4. How to Search the Safari Tabs on iPhone?

    safari search for a tab

  5. How to Search Open Tabs in Safari on Mac

    safari search for a tab

  6. How to Search Tabs in Safari on Apple iPhone and iPad

    safari search for a tab

VIDEO

  1. Failed to Delete Safari Search History on iPhone Fix

  2. Safari Shortcuts in Mac

  3. How to clear safari history on iPhone?

  4. iPadOS 17: What's new in the Safari App

  5. How to close all the Opened TABs all at once in Safari Web Browser of iPhone and iPad ?

  6. How To Delete Safari Search History iOS 17.1.1.1 iphone 2024

COMMENTS

  1. How to Search Open Tabs in Safari on Mac

    Searching Tabs Using "Tab Overview" Safari's Tab Overview screen (similar to the tab switcher on iPhone and iPad) includes a built-in feature that lets you search through all the open tabs in the current window. The only drawback is that if you have multiple Safari windows open, you'll have to perform this action in each window. To get started ...

  2. How to Search the Safari Tabs on Your iPhone Quickly & without Swiping

    In Safari, tap the tabs icon. Scroll through to the last tab and then pull down on the screen to reveal the search bar. Enter a word or phrase relevant to the tab you're looking for and tap Search. Now, only the tabs containing that word or phrase will be visible. With this tip, you'll never get lost in your tabs again.

  3. 10 Ways to Easily Find Safari Tabs On Your iPhone and iPad

    Method 2: Search for a tab by name. Open Safari on your iPhone. Tap on the 'Tabs' icon in the bottom right corner. In the tab-view page, swipe down to access the Search bar at the top. Type in the name of the tab you wish to find and it should automatically show up in your search results.

  4. How to search through tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad

    Access your Safari tabs. With Safari open on your iPhone or iPad, tap the Tabs button on the bottom right corner. Now to search through your tabs, slide down on that tabs screen, and you'll see a search box appear at the top. Type in your search word or phrase, and all tabs not containing it will disappear, leaving the one or more that apply.

  5. Keyboard shortcuts and gestures in Safari on Mac

    Command-click a bookmark. Command-Return after typing in the Smart Search field. Open a page in a new tab, and make that tab the active tab. Shift-Command-click a link. Shift-Command-click a bookmark. Shift-Command-Return after typing in the Smart Search field. Go to the next tab. Control-Tab or Shift-Command-]

  6. Change Tabs preferences in Safari on Mac

    In the Safari app on your Mac, use Tabs preferences to choose how pages, links, and tabs work in Safari windows. To change these preferences, choose Safari > Preferences, then click Tabs. Keep tabs in a separate tab bar, or move them into the toolbar. Separate: Tabs remain in the tab bar, under the toolbar. Compact: Tabs move up to the toolbar.

  7. How To Search For Specific Tabs in Safari

    Hence, Apple gave you a little tool to find certain tabs again. You can now search for the title of the tab with the search bar. So you will definitely find the tab you are looking for, even if you have already lost the overview. Search for tabs in Safari. Open the Safari app and click the tabs icon at the bottom right to get into the tabs display.

  8. The Complete Guide to Mastering Tabs in Safari

    Open a website in a new window: Command+Option+Click on a link. Open a website in a new window and make it active: Command+Option+Shift+Click on a link. Select one of the first nine tabs: Command+1 through Command+9. Close all tabs but one: Option+click the close (X) button on the tab you want to keep open.

  9. macos

    The new "Search Tabs" feature of Safari 8 is pretty nice. When "show all tabs" is activated, you can type some text to filter the tabs to the one you want. However, once I have a single tab visible, it would be very nice to be able to activate that tab. This would allow "spotlight" type functionality for tabs.

  10. Search for websites in Safari on iPhone

    Search the web. Enter a search term, phrase, or URL in the search field. Tap a search suggestion, or tap Go on the keyboard. If you don't want to see suggested search terms, go to Settings > Safari, then turn off Search Engine Suggestions.

  11. iOS 15 Safari Guide: Tabs, Extensions, Search Bar, and Other Changes

    This guide walks through all of the features added in the iOS 15 Safari app, including those new design options. Design Changes. Safari started out with a new floating tab design that moved the ...

  12. How to Find Text on a Web Page in Safari on iPhone and iPad

    If you have a keyboard connected to your iPhone or iPad, you can use a quick keyboard shortcut to search within a web page. Press Command+F and a search bar will appear across the bottom of the screen. Once you see the search bar, click in the text input field and type in a word or phrase. The browser will highlight all occurrences of what you ...

  13. 40+ Safari tips and tricks for iPhone (iOS 17)

    Tap Quick Website Search → Toggle on Quick Website Search. 3. Advanced Private Browsing. Locking Private tabs feature is my best iOS 17 Safari tips and tricks for iPhone. Private Browsing prevents trackers on sites and deletes your browsing history. Safari will lock your private tabs when you are not using them.

  14. How to use Safari Tab Groups

    Click the down arrow in the toolbar. (It's next to the button that opens the sidebar.) Pick New Empty Tab Group. Name your tab group, then press enter. Right-click a tab you want to add to the ...

  15. Better Browsing: 30 Hidden Tricks Inside Apple's Safari Browser

    Now, here are 30 tricks to help you have a better experience when using Safari. 1. Navigate Tab Bar. (Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple) The jump to iOS 15 moved Safari's address bar to the bottom of ...

  16. How to master Safari tabs in MacOS Monterey

    Step 1: Change tab appearance. Step 2: Create a new Tab Group. Step 3: Manage your Tab Groups. Step 4: Get a bird's eye view. Step 5: Move and reorder tabs. Show 2 more items. Things get ...

  17. How do I make Safari open search results in a new tab by default?

    0. Be default, here is how I do it: With Safari open, press CMD + OPTION + F (puts cursor in search field) enter my search term. press CMD + ENTER (opens results in a new tab) Done, search results open in a new tab in 4 seconds or less.

  18. The Best Hidden Features in Safari You Need to Try

    Safari has many hidden features. These are useful features that may not be so easy to find. Our list of features includes using browser extensions, automatically closing tabs, generating beautiful ...

  19. How to Use the Hidden Search Tabs Feature in Chrome, Safari, and

    Open the Safari browser and click the Tabs button in the top-right corner of the screen (it looks like two squares, one on top of another). Then, click the " Search Tabs " text box in the top ...

  20. 14 shortcuts for Safari Views, Tab Groups, and Focus Filters to ...

    3. Open New Private Tab: Opens a new Private Tab. 4. Create Tab Group: Creates an empty Tab Group. 5. Open Tab Group: Opens the selected Tab Group. 6. Set Safari Focus Filter: Sets the behavior of the safari when the given Focus in enabled. In addition, Safari Reader actions are also now available on macOS, matching the functionality from iOS ...

  21. How to Close All Your Open iPhone Browser Tabs at Once

    To close all your tabs in Safari, open up the browser; on the bottom bar in the right corner, you should see an icon that looks like two squares. That's the Tabs icon to let you easily switch ...

  22. How to close all your Safari tabs on iPhone or iPad at once

    Open the Safari app on your iPhone.; Tap the icon with two squares in the lower right corner to view all your open tabs.; Optional: If you have any tabs that you want to keep open, press and hold ...

  23. How to delete your Safari history on Mac, iPhone, or iPad

    On a Mac: Open a Safari browser. From the top toolbar, select History > Show All History. Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut Command + Y.; Select the website entry that you wish to delete.

  24. Firefox for Android is developing a new tablet interface

    The development of a new tablet interface with a PC-like tab bar in Firefox for Android marks an important milestone in Mozilla's efforts to refine and innovate its mobile browser offering.

  25. Use Private Browsing in Safari on Mac

    In the Safari app on your Mac, choose File > New Private Window, or switch to a private window that's already open. A private window has a dark Smart Search field with white text.. When you use a private window: Browsing initiated in one tab is isolated from browsing initiated in another tab, so websites you visit can't track your browsing across multiple sessions.

  26. How to restore closed tabs: Steps to reopen on any browser

    Open Google Chrome. Click "History" in the top bar of your screen on a Mac. If you are on a PC, select the three vertical dots in the top right of the window and go to "History."

  27. How to Change Safari's Default Search Engine on Mac

    To change Safari's default search engine, launch the Safari app on your Mac and click on "Safari" in the top-left corner of the screen and select "Preferences" from the list that appears: A new window will appear. Click on the "Search" button to switch to the search engine preferences: Click on the drop-down arrow to select a search engine of ...

  28. iOS 17.4 iCloud tabs syncing bug

    If i close Safari with tabs open it works the same way it used to. My other devices, including my Mac on 14.3.1 will show those tabs as iCloud tabs on my other device. Now though, if I close all tabs and close Safari, instead of the other devices showing no open tabs on my device, it just shows the tabs that had been open.

  29. Why is there no option to open in another tab on the new tab page when

    Choose where you want to search below Search Search the Community. Search the community and support articles; Microsoft Edge; Tabs, address bar, and search; Search Community member; ... Especially since opening a new tab in Safari doesn't produce the News Feed that I get on Edge. I just want to be able to have an option to open in a new tab ...

  30. Apple Released Security Updates for Multiple Products

    Apple released security updates to address vulnerabilities in Safari, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. A cyber threat actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system. CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following advisories and apply the necessary updates: Safari 17.4 . macOS Sonoma 14.4