reopen closed tab ipad safari

How-To Geek

How to reopen closed tabs on an iphone or ipad.

Modern mobile browsers allow you to reopen tabs you've recently closed, just like desktop browsers do.

Quick Links

Safari on iphone, safari on ipad, google chrome on iphone or ipad, if your recently closed tabs don't appear in the list.

Modern mobile browsers allow you to reopen tabs you've recently closed, just like desktop browsers do . In Apple's Safari browser for iPhone and iPad, the feature is a bit hidden---but it's there. You can also reopen closed tabs in Google Chrome and other third-party browsers on an iPhone or iPad.

Related: How to Restore Recently Closed Tabs in Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge

To reopen a closed tab in Safari on an iPhone, first tap the "Tab View" button at the bottom right corner of the Safari app to view your open tabs. Next, tap and hold "New Tab" button (the plus sign).

After a second or two, the "Recently Closed Tabs" screen should appear. Tap any recently closed tab to reopen it.

Note that this feature won't work in Private Browsing Mode. Tabs you close in Private Browsing Mode are wiped away and can't be recovered for privacy reasons. That's the point!

Opening closed tabs is even easier on an iPad, as the "New Tab" button is always present on the toolbar. Just tap and hold the "New Tab" button on Safari's toolbar until the "Recently Closed Tabs" popup appears.

Tap the recently closed tab you want to restore, and Safari will reopen that web page.

In Google Chrome on an iPhone or iPad, tap the menu button, and then tap the "Recent Tabs" option. You'll see a list of tabs you recently closed under the "Recently Closed" section. Tap a tab to reopen it.

Note that you won't see Incognito tabs appear in the "Recent Tabs" list, as Chrome forgets about them right after you close them. That's the point!

If it's been a while since you closed the tab and it no longer appears in the list, you can try finding it in your browser history.

To open your Safari browsing history, tap the book-shaped icon on the toolbar, tap the book-shaped icon in the pane that appears, and then tap "History." Scroll through your browsing history or use the search box and you should be able to find the web address of the tab you had open.

To open your Chrome browsing history, you can tap Menu > History or tap "Show Full History" on the "Recently Closed" page. Dig through your history and you should be able to find the web address of the tab you had open.

It's a simple feature, but it can be really convenient for those times when you accidentally close a tab or just can't quite remember what that cool page was you were looking at recently.

Tips & Tricks

Troubleshooting, how to restore & reopen all closed tabs in safari on ipad.

If you’ve accidentally closed tons of Safari tabs on iPad or iPhone and want to restore them, or you lost all of your Safari tabs by trying to create a Safari Tab Group (a surprisingly common occurrence, what a feature bug), you are probably desperately wondering how you can recover and reopen all closed tabs in Safari and restore them all to your iPhone or iPad.

Many people use Safari tabs as an alternative to bookmarks, keeping hundreds of tabs open at a time, but forget to bookmark them. Endless hours of research, resources, etc, open in tabs, can all be gone in a flash if you encounter a hiccup with Safari on iPhone or iPad. Oops. Indeed, Safari is unforgiving on the iPad (or iPhone), and your tabs may be toast.

Worried you lost your Safari tabs on iPad? Not so fast!

There’s good news and bad news.

While there’s no official “Reopen all closed tabs” option or ‘Restore previous session’ in Safari on iPadOS or iOS, you’re not out of options.

The bad news is that if you had tons of open tabs, say 300, 400, or 500 open tabs, they might be lost for good, or at least many of them may be gone.

But the good news is you can try to recover many of them through several different options. And if you have a keyboard hooked up to the iPad in particular, you’ll be able to get quite a few of the lost tabs back.

Restoring Closed Safari Tabs on iPad with Keyboard Shortcut

If you have an external keyboard, Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard, or similar keyboard with the iPad, you can use a keyboard shortcut in Safari to restore the last closed Safari tabs.

• Hit Command + Shift + T on a keyboard repeatedly, until all tabs have been reopened

I have personally experienced catastrophic tab loss due to the Tab Groups bug, but by using the Command Shift T method I was able to recover about 200 of 500 lost Safari tabs. This is probably the most broadly useful trick, and the closest method to restoring all closed tabs in Safari on iPad.

Unfortunately, this trick is probably not available for iPhone, but you can try connecting a bluetooth keyboard to iPhone and giving it a shot anyway – let us know if it works.

Recovering Closed Tabs in Safari on iPad via New Tab Button

The plus button in Safari on iPad and iPhone is the traditional commonly used method used to recover closed tabs in iOS Safari and iPadOS too.

• On iPad: Tap and hold on the + plus button, then select the closed tabs you wish to reopen from the drop-down menu
• On iPhone: Tap the two overlapping squares icon to access tabs view, then tap and hold on the + plus button to select closed tabs you want to reopen

The + tab drop down menu that shows with a long press will reveal all tabs that have been closed recently, so repeat this process to reopen and recover closed tabs as needed.

Restoring Lost Tabs in Safari on iPad through History

You can also browse through Safari history to restore closed tabs, though if you have tons of tabs you are trying to restore you’ll be in the history menu for a while.

• Tap the sidebar menu button, then tap on “History”
• Tap on the history item(s) you want to restore the tab for

This is fairly tedious but it can be very effective if you don’t mind putting the time into restoring from browser history.

Of course if you deleted and cleared the browser history, this won’t be an option.

Restore from a Recent Backup to Recover All Lost Safari Tabs?

If your tabs were super important, perhaps you were doing tons of research and lost them all, and if you had a recent backup made from before you lost the tabs, you can also try to restore the iPad from the backup to recover those lost tabs.

However this usually does not work to recover the tabs if Safari is syncing through iCloud Tabs, so if you’re in that situation you’ll want to use the approaches above rather than the backup recovery approach.

Were you able to restore your lost Safari tabs on iPhone or iPad using these tricks? Which method worked best for you? Do you have another approach to recovering all your closed Safari tabs in iOS and iPadOS? Share with us your experiences in the comments.

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Related articles:

• How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Chrome on iPhone, iPad, Mac
• How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Safari for iPhone
• How to Re-Open Recently Closed Tabs in Safari for Mac the Easy Way
• How to Re-Open Historical Windows & Tabs in Safari on Mac with a Keystroke

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[cmd]-[shift]-T doesn’t work on german installed macbook –> opens the [sharing] menu

This article is aimed at iPad users with a keyboard case or external keyboard attached, however, for Mac; Command+Shift+Tab in Safari for Mac (US English) will reopen the last closed tab. You can see what the equivalent would be on Mac (German) by going to the Safari “History” menu and looking for the “Reopen Last Closed Tab” option to see the associated keystroke. Hope that helps!

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Have you accidentally closed an important tab in Safari? Don’t worry; we all have been there. And you’d be relieved to know that restoring closed Safari tabs on an iPhone or iPad requires little to no technical competence. There are three simple ways to do it, and I have explained them below.

How to restore accidentally closed Safari tabs on iPhone or iPad

Multitasking challenges, interface confusion, or the use of accidental gestures—whatever caused you to mistakenly close Safari tabs, these solutions will surely help.

1. Shake your iPhone or iPad to undo closed Safari tab

Believe me, the iPhone’s Shake to Undo feature is a lifesaver. For the uninitiated, this is an Accessibility feature that allows you to quickly undo or redo certain actions. For example, you can quickly undo or redo typing and restore recently closed Safari tabs.

If you are unable to use this feature for some reason, you may need to enable it manually. 

• Open Settings → Head to  Accessibility .  
• Tap  Touch  under the Physical and Motor section. 

You can use the Shake to Undo feature to restore one Safari tab. But what if you want to reopen multiple closed Safari tabs?

2. Reopen web pages from Recently Closed Tabs on iPhone or iPad

Well, there’s a secret Safari trick that helps you do that. I am sure that even the most experienced Safari users won’t know about the existence of a Recently Closed Tabs list. You can go there and reopen the web pages you closed recently.

• Open Safari → Tap the Tabs icon at the bottom right corner. 
• Tap and hold the + (plus) icon at the bottom left corner.  
• Doing so will open the list of all the Recently Closed Tabs. 

3. Restore closed Safari tabs from History

Another way to retrieve closed tabs in Safari on iPhone is to head to the browsing history and reopen the desired tab. This trick works not only in Safari but on most other iPhone browsers as well. 

• Open Safari → Tap the  Bookmark  icon below the address bar. 
• Go to the  Personal History  tab (Clock icon 🕘) at the right. 

• Alternatively, you can tap and hold the page and select one of the options that appear in the pop-up. 

Accessing your Safari browsing history can also help if you are dealing with the disappearing Safari tabs issue on your iPhone.

Yes, but only if you allowed Safari to use iCloud in the first place. If you have, then all your Safari Bookmarks , Reading List, Tab Groups , and open browser tabs are automatically backed up.

iPhones can store Safari history for up to a month. 

Conclusion:

And that’s it; this is how you restore closed Safari tabs on iPhone. By now, you must have understood that there is no need to fret when you accidentally hit the close (x) button on a Safari tab, as you can reopen it easily.

Whether you prefer to shake your iPhone or use the traditional Recently Closed Tabs menu and browsing history method, Safari has your tab revival covered.

Jignesh Padhiyar is the co-founder of iGeeksBlog.com, who has a keen eye for news, rumors, and all the unusual stuff around Apple products. During his tight schedule, Jignesh finds some moments of respite to share side-splitting content on social media.

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Disappearing Safari Tabs on iPhone or iPad? How to Find Them

Every so often, a seemingly small bug in Apple's operating systems survives the company's annual OS launches and continues to cause users huge frustration from one software update to the next.

While there isn't an accepted solution to the problem of disappearing tabs, there are cases where it might seem that your tabs are gone, when in fact they are just hidden from view. Here are some ways that you may be able to get them back or stop them from disappearing in the first place.

Reveal Hidden Tabs

On iPadOS, for example, if you press and hold the Show Tab Overview button (four squares in a quadrant) in the top-right corner of the Safari window, this will reveal a dropdown menu that includes an option to Merge All Windows .

Reveal the Shelf

Another action worth trying on iPadOS is pressing and holding the Safari icon in the Dock or on the Home Screen and selecting Show All Windows from the popup menu that appears.

Recently Closed Tabs

If you have an inkling that some of the tabs you're missing have been inadvertently closed, you can always use the Recently Closed Tabs option to re-open them. All you have to do is open up the tab view in Safari and long press on the "+" icon to get a look at all of the tabs that you've recently closed.

Turn Off Auto-Close Tabs

If you still haven't been able to find some of your tabs, make sure that Safari isn't closing them after a certain duration on your behalf: Open Settings , tap through to Safari -> Close Tabs and ensure that Manually is selected.

Bookmark All Open Tabs

If the above suggestions haven't worked for you, there is a workaround: Consider bookmarking your open tabs after each browsing session. This might sound like more hassle than it's worth, but since iOS 13 Apple has included a one-tap option to just that.

A popup menu will appear at the on the screen from which you can select Add Bookmarks for X Tabs , the X being the number of tabs open.

Once you've tapped this option, you'll be asked to save the tabs in a new bookmarks folder (remember to give it a recognizable name). Alternately, you can choose a location from the existing folder list in which to save the tabs.

To access your bookmarks in Safari at any time, simply tap the Bookmarks icon in the main browsing interface or the sidebar to reveal all of your saved favorites and folders. Press and hold on the folder of bookmarks and select Open in New Tabs , or alternatively, Open in Tab Group if you want them grouped.

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How to Reopen Closed Safari Tabs and Windows and Access Past History

Quickly get back to where you were

Tom Nelson is an engineer, programmer, network manager, and computer network and systems designer who has written for Other World Computing,and others. Tom is also president of Coyote Moon, Inc., a Macintosh and Windows consulting firm.

What to Know

• Undo a closed tab: Go to Edit > Undo Close Tab , press Command + Z , or click and hold the plus sign to the right of the Tabs bar.
• Or, select History > Reopen Last Closed Tab , go to History and mouse over Recently Closed , or press Shift + Command + T .
• Restore a closed window: Go to History > Reopen Last Closed Window . Or, History > Reopen All Windows From Last Session .

This article explains how to reopen tabs or windows you may have closed by accident in the Safari web browser. You can also use the History list to reopen sites.

How to Undo a Closed Tab in Safari

You can open your lost tab using four methods. The first is to either select Undo Close Tab from the Edit menu, or press Command + Z on your keyboard.

You can restore multiple tabs you've closed by using the command repeatedly.

Another way to reopen a page you've closed is to click and hold the plus sign at the far right of the Tabs bar. Usually, you click this once to open a new tab, but holding opens a menu with a list of ones you've recently closed. Select the one you want to reopen.

The third way is to select Reopen Last Closed Tab under the History menu or press Shift + Command + T on your keyboard.

Finally, you can find a list of tabs you've recently closed under the History menu. Mouse over Recently Closed to see a list of pages you can reopen, and then click the one you want to restore.

Restoring Closed Windows

If you close a Safari window , you can reopen it just as you can reopen a closed tab, but the command is under a different menu. Select Reopen Last Closed Window under the History menu, or press Shift + Command + T on your keyboard.

The Reopen Last Closed Window and Reopen Last Closed Tab commands share the same spot in the History menu and keyboard shortcut. Which you see depends on which you closed most recently.

Reopen Safari Windows From Last Session

Besides being able to reopen closed Safari windows and tabs, you can also open all Safari windows that were open the last time you quit Safari.

Safari, like all the Apple apps, can make use of OS X’s Resume feature , which was introduced with OS X Lion. Resume saves the state of all the open windows of an app, in this case, any Safari window you have open. The idea is that the next time you launch Safari, you can resume right where you left off.

From the History menu, select Reopen All Windows From Last Session .

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• Identify people and pets
• Browse photos by location
• Share photos and videos
• Share long videos
• View photos and videos shared with you
• Watch memories
• Personalize your memories
• Manage memories and featured photos
• Use iCloud Photos
• Create shared albums
• Add and remove people in a shared album
• Add and delete photos and videos in a shared album
• Set up or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library
• Add content to an iCloud Shared Photo Library
• Use iCloud Shared Photo Library
• Import and export photos and videos
• Print photos
• Find podcasts
• Listen to podcasts
• Follow your favorite podcasts
• Use the Podcasts widget
• Organize your podcast library
• Download, save, and share podcasts
• Subscribe to podcasts
• Listen to subscriber-only content
• Change download settings
• Make a grocery list
• Add items to a list
• Edit and manage a list
• Search and organize lists
• Work with templates
• Use Smart Lists
• Print reminders
• Use the Reminders widget
• Change Reminders settings
• Browse the web
• Search for websites
• Customize your Safari settings
• Change the layout
• Use Safari profiles
• Open and close tabs
• Organize your tabs with Tab Groups
• View your tabs from another device
• Share Tab Groups
• Use Siri to listen to a webpage
• Bookmark a website
• Bookmark a website as a favorite
• Save pages to a Reading List
• Find links shared with you
• Annotate and save a webpage as a PDF
• Automatically fill in forms
• Get extensions
• Hide ads and distractions
• Clear your cache
• Browse the web privately
• Use passkeys in Safari
• Check stocks
• Manage multiple watchlists
• Read business news
• Add earnings reports to your calendar
• Use a Stocks widget
• Translate text, voice, and conversations
• Translate text in apps
• Translate with the camera view
• Subscribe to Apple TV+, MLS Season Pass, or an Apple TV channel
• Add your TV provider
• Get shows, movies, and more
• Watch sports
• Watch Major League Soccer with MLS Season Pass
• Watch multiple live sports streams
• Control playback
• Manage your library
• Change the settings
• Make a recording
• Play it back
• Edit or delete a recording
• Keep recordings up to date
• Organize recordings
• Search for or rename a recording
• Share a recording
• Duplicate a recording
• Check the weather
• Check the weather in other locations
• View weather maps
• Manage weather notifications
• Use Weather widgets
• Learn the weather icons
• Find out what Siri can do
• Tell Siri about yourself
• Have Siri announce calls and notifications
• Add Siri Shortcuts
• About Siri Suggestions
• Change Siri settings
• Set up Family Sharing
• Add Family Sharing members
• Remove Family Sharing members
• Share subscriptions
• Share purchases
• Share locations with family and locate lost devices
• Set up Apple Cash Family and Apple Card Family
• Set up parental controls
• Set up a child’s device
• Get started with Screen Time
• Protect your vision health with Screen Distance
• Set up Screen Time for yourself
• Set communication and safety limits and block inappropriate content
• Set up Screen Time for a family member
• Set up Apple Pay
• Use Apple Pay in apps and on the web
• Track your orders
• Use Apple Cash
• Use Apple Card
• Use Savings
• Manage payment cards and activity
• Power adapter and charge cable
• Use AirPods
• Use EarPods
• Use headphone audio-level features
• Apple Pencil compatibility
• Pair and charge Apple Pencil (1st generation)
• Pair and charge Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
• Pair and charge Apple Pencil (USB-C)
• Enter text with Scribble
• Draw with Apple Pencil
• Take and mark up a screenshot with Apple Pencil
• Quickly write notes
• Preview tools and controls with Apple Pencil hover
• Wirelessly stream videos and photos to Apple TV or a smart TV
• Connect to a display with a cable
• HomePod and other wireless speakers
• iPad keyboards
• Switch between keyboards
• Enter characters with diacritical marks
• Use shortcuts
• Choose an alternative keyboard layout
• Change typing assistance options
• Connect Magic Trackpad
• Trackpad gestures
• Change trackpad settings
• Connect a mouse
• Mouse actions and gestures
• Change mouse settings
• External storage devices
• Bluetooth accessories
• Apple Watch with Fitness+
• Share your internet connection
• Make and receive phone calls
• Use iPad as a second display for Mac
• Use iPad as a webcam
• Use a keyboard and mouse or trackpad across your Mac and iPad
• Hand off tasks between devices
• Cut, copy, and paste between iPad and other devices
• Stream video or mirror the screen of your iPad
• Use AirDrop to send items
• Connect iPad and your computer with a cable
• Transfer files between devices
• Transfer files with email, messages, or AirDrop
• Transfer files or sync content with the Finder or iTunes
• Automatically keep files up to date with iCloud
• Use an external storage device, a file server, or a cloud storage service
• Get started with accessibility features
• Turn on accessibility features for setup
• Change Siri accessibility settings
• Open features with Accessibility Shortcut
• Enlarge text by hovering
• Change color and brightness
• Make text easier to read
• Reduce onscreen motion
• Customize per-app visual settings
• Hear what’s on the screen or typed
• Hear audio descriptions
• Turn on and practice VoiceOver
• Change your VoiceOver settings
• Use VoiceOver gestures
• Operate iPad when VoiceOver is on
• Control VoiceOver using the rotor
• Use the onscreen keyboard
• Write with your finger
• Use VoiceOver with an Apple external keyboard
• Use a braille display
• Type braille on the screen
• Customize gestures and keyboard shortcuts
• Use VoiceOver with a pointer device
• Use VoiceOver for images and videos
• Use VoiceOver in apps
• Use AssistiveTouch
• Use an eye-tracking device
• Adjust how iPad responds to your touch
• Auto-answer calls
• Change Face ID and attention settings
• Use Voice Control
• Adjust the top or Home button
• Use Apple TV Remote buttons
• Adjust pointer settings
• Adjust keyboard settings
• Adjust AirPods settings
• Adjust Apple Pencil settings
• Control a nearby Apple device
• Intro to Switch Control
• Set up and turn on Switch Control
• Select items, perform actions, and more
• Control several devices with one switch
• Use hearing devices
• Use Live Listen
• Use sound recognition
• Set up and use RTT
• Flash the LED for alerts
• Adjust audio settings
• Play background sounds
• Display subtitles and captions
• Show transcriptions for Intercom messages
• Get Live Captions (beta)
• Type to speak
• Record a Personal Voice
• Use Guided Access
• Use built-in privacy and security protections
• Set a passcode
• Set up Face ID
• Set up Touch ID
• Control access to information on the Lock Screen
• Keep your Apple ID secure
• Use passkeys to sign in to apps and websites
• Sign in with Apple
• Share passwords
• Automatically fill in strong passwords
• Change weak or compromised passwords
• View your passwords and related information
• Share passkeys and passwords securely with AirDrop
• Make your passkeys and passwords available on all your devices
• Automatically fill in verification codes
• Sign in with fewer CAPTCHA challenges
• Two-factor authentication
• Use security keys
• Control app tracking permissions
• Control the location information you share
• Control access to information in apps
• Control how Apple delivers advertising to you
• Control access to hardware features
• Create and manage Hide My Email addresses
• Protect your web browsing with iCloud Private Relay
• Use a private network address
• Use Advanced Data Protection
• Use Lockdown Mode
• Receive warnings about sensitive content
• Use Contact Key Verification
• Turn iPad on or off
• Force restart iPad
• Update iPadOS
• Back up iPad
• Return iPad settings to their defaults
• Restore all content from a backup
• Restore purchased and deleted items
• Sell, give away, or trade in your iPad
• Install or remove configuration profiles
• Important safety information
• Important handling information
• Find more resources for software and service
• FCC compliance statement
• ISED Canada compliance statement
• Apple and the environment
• Class 1 Laser information
• Disposal and recycling information
• Unauthorized modification of iPadOS
• ENERGY STAR compliance statement

Open and close tabs in Safari on iPad

Note: If you’re using the Compact Tab Bar layout, the menus and other items may look different from what’s described in this guide. See Change the layout of Safari .

Open a link in a new tab

Touch and hold the link, then tap Open in Background.

View a tab’s history

You can see which webpages you previously visited in this tab.

Tip: To close all tabs in this Tab Group at the same time, touch and hold Done, then tap Close All [number of] Tabs.

Open a recently closed tab

How to view recently closed tabs in Safari on your iPhone or iPad

Whether you accidentally closed a tab you were viewing or are trying to remember something from an article you just read, you should know that getting back to a closed tab in Safari is pretty simple. With just a couple of taps, you can jump right back to where you were instead of having to dig through your history.

Here's how!

How to view your recently closed tabs in Safari for iPhone

• Launch Safari from your Home screen.
• Tap the tab button (looks like two stacked squares).

• Tap and hold on the new tab button (looks like a '+').
• Tap on one of your recently closed tabs if you want to open it again.

How to view your recently closed tabs in Safari for iPad

• Open Safari on your Home screen.

Let us know in the comments below!

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Joseph Keller is the former Editor in Chief of iMore. An Apple user for almost 20 years, he spends his time learning the ins and outs of iOS and macOS, always finding ways of getting the most out of his iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac.

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How to Restore Recently Closed Tabs and Windows in Safari

Ever close a browser tab by accident or lost a number of tabs after Safari crashed? It happens to the best of us. Thankfully, you can quickly reopen your last closed tab or restore tabs from your last browsing session with the tips below.

Open the Last Closed Tab in Safari on the Mac

Safari lets you undo your action of closing a tab--as long as you act promptly. If you close a tab by mistake and then open a new tab, you won't be able to restore the closed tab with the shortcut below, because the undo feature only works on your last action.

In OS X, after closing a tab, press Command+Z , the standard Mac keyboard shortcut for Undo. Your lost tab will be instantly restored. Alternatively, you can go to the Edit menu and select "Undo Close Tab".

For other tabs you've closed before the last one, head to the History men u for the list of sites you've recently visited.

Reopen Closed Windows in Safari on the Mac

You can also reopen a Safari window with the tabs you had open even days after closing the window or quitting Safari.

If you have more than one Safari window open and close one by mistake, go to the History menu and select "Reopen Last Closed Window."

If you quit Safari and want to restart it with all of the tabs you had open last time, go to the History menu and select Reopen All Windows from Last Session.

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You'll be up and running with all of the windows and tabs you were using last time.

Open the Last Closed Tab in Safari on the iPad

On the iPad or iPhone , you can also quickly reopen your last tabs. Safari on iOS lets you quickly open up to five of the last tabs you closed.

Tap and hold down the new tab button (a plus icon) to bring up the list of recently closed tabs.

Tap the site to restore and the site will open in a new tab.

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How to Restore Accidentally Closed Safari Tabs on iPhone

• If you’ve accidentally closed Safari tabs on an iPhone, you can easily recover them by using the Recently Closed Tabs list.
• Another alternative method is to restore deleted Safari tabs by accessing the History tab.
• And, finally the Shake to Undo feature also allows you to recover recently closed Safari tabs on iPhone.

Did you accidentally close all tabs open in Safari on your iPhone? If you did, you’re not alone. Several people, including myself, have encountered this issue at least once. However, it is nothing to worry about as you can easily recover any deleted Safari tab. Read along to learn how to Restore accidentally closed Safari tabs on iPhone. 

How To Recover Deleted Safari Tabs on iPhone

Since Safari is the primary web browser for most of us, we have multiple tabs open within the browser. Some of us leave these tabs open as we need to revisit them later. Now, if you accidentally delete or close all of these tabs in Safari, do not panic. Recovering accidentally closed Safari tabs isn’t all that difficult. 

Many people accidentally close tabs and you can find several posts regarding this issue on Apple’s Discussion Community page . Therefore, to solve this issue, we’ve put together some of the best troubleshooting methods to help you recover deleted Safari tabs on your iPhone.

1. Restore Accidentally Closed Tabs from Recently Closed Tabs List in Safari 

The Safari browser on iPhone has a Recently Closed Tabs list hidden in plain sight within the browser. Not many people are aware of this feature and hence panic when they accidentally close multiple Safari tabs on their iPhones. However, we will help you navigate to the Recently Closed Tabs list and reopen all the tabs you accidentally closed on Safari. 

Time needed:  1 minute

Steps to reopen websites from the Recently Closed Tabs list in Safari on iPhone. 

Once the tab opens, you can continue browsing. If you want to reopen several tabs that you accidentally closed, you will have to repeat this step multiple times. 

2. Restore Deleted Safari Tabs From Safari History

Another simple method to recover accidentally closed tabs is to restore them from History. Like most browsers, Safari also stores your browsing history in the History tab. However, note that if you accidentally closed tabs in the Private Browsing Mode, then they cannot be restored.

This is because Apple does not store browsing history for any activity in the Private Browsing Mode on iPhone. If they did, the Private Browsing Mode wouldn’t be that private. But if you’re on Mac, there’s a workaround that allows you to view Private Mode browsing history .

With that said, here’s how to recover deleted Safari tabs from Safari History on your iPhone. 

• Open the Safari browser on your iPhone. 
• Tap the Bookmarks icon located below the address bar. 
• Here, tap the History tab (clock icon). 
• Next, tap the page you want to reopen.
• Alternatively, you can also tap and hold and then select the Open in New Tab or Open in New Tab Group option if you do not want to load the link on the current tab. 

3. Shake Your iPhone To Undo Changes and Recover Accidentally Closed Tabs in Safari 

Have you ever tried the Shake to Undo feature on your iPhone? Chances are, you have used this feature to correct typing errors. However, the Shake to Undo feature offers a lot more and can help you undo several accidental changes, including the ability to restore recently closed tabs in Safari on iPhone. 

Apart from reopening accidentally closed tabs, the Shake to Undo feature also works in other apps and services. Here are a few examples of using your iPhone’s Shake to Undo feature.

• Creating, editing, renaming, or deleting files or folders in the Files app. 
• Creating, editing, or deleting events in the Calendar app.
• Editing or deleting images or videos in the Photos app.
• Rearranging apps and widgets on the Home Screen.

We understand that this feature might be helpful you right now. Because a few minutes must’ve passed since you accidentally closed these tabs. Regardless, it might come in handy in the near future. Therefore, here’s how to use the Shake to Undo feature to restore accidentally closed tabs in Safari on iPhone. 

• The moment you accidentally close Safari tabs, quickly shake your iPhone . We suggest using the hammering motion as that is what seems to work for us. 
• The iPhone will display an Undo Close Tab pop-up. Tap the Undo button. 
• The closed tab will be restored and you can continue browsing. 

If the Shake to Undo feature is not working on your iPhone, you might have accidentally disabled it. Here’s how to enable the Shake to Undo feature on iPhone. 

• Open the Settings app and tap the Accessibility option. 
• Select the Touch option located under the Physical and Motor menu. 
• On the next screen, enable the Shake to Undo toggle. 

Prevent Accidentally Closing Safari Tabs 

Why do you have multiple tabs open in Safari? Mostly, it might be because you visit those sites often and do not want to search for them every single time. However, navigating through hundreds of tabs to revisit a website isn’t very easy. While doing so, you might accidentally close all of the open tabs too. 

Therefore, in order to prevent accidentally closing Safari tabs on iPhone, we suggest bookmarking tabs you visit frequently. This will streamline the entire process of navigating websites you visit often and in turn save time. Here’s how to bookmark tabs in Safari on your iPhone. 

• Head to the website you want to bookmark.
• Now, tap and hold on the Bookmark icon below the address bar. 

• On the next screen, you can edit the Name and the Link of the website . 
• If you want to change the location of the Bookmark, tap the option below Location and select the Bookmark Folder of your choice. 

Conclusion 

We hope you were able to restore all the accidentally closed Safari tabs on your iPhone. I can completely relate to your pain of losing all the open tabs. It has happened to me in the past too. If you have any other doubts or are aware of other methods that can help restore accidentally deleted tabs in Safari, please let us know in the comments below. 

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How to Reopen Closed Tab on Safari

It's free and super easy to set up

Safari is a popular web browser for Apple devices, used by millions of people worldwide. One of the most commonly encountered issues while browsing is accidentally closing a tab with valuable information. Fear not, as there are several ways to reopen closed tabs on Safari.

Understanding Safari's Tab Management

Before we dive in, let's take a brief look at how Safari handles tab management. Tabs are an essential feature of any modern web browser, allowing users to browse multiple web pages simultaneously under one window. Safari organizes tabs horizontally, allowing users to switch between them with ease. When you close a tab, Safari moves it to a temporary closed tabs section, where you can reopen it for a certain period.

The role of tabs in web browsing

Tabs are an integral part of web browsing, helping users multitask more efficiently. They allow users to open multiple web pages simultaneously, save time and minimize the clutter on the screen. Safari, like other web browsers, offers several options to manage tabs.

For example, you can drag and drop tabs to rearrange them in a specific order, or group them together for easy access. You can also pin tabs that you frequently use, so they stay open and easily accessible even when you close and reopen Safari. Additionally, Safari provides a feature called "Tab Overview" that allows you to view all your open tabs in one place, making it easier to find the one you need.

How Safari handles closed tabs

Safari saves closed tabs in a temporary section for a certain period, ensuring users don't lose valuable information. If you need to reopen a closed tab, you can access it from this section easily.

Furthermore, Safari allows you to customize how long closed tabs remain in the temporary section. You can set it to a specific time period or choose to keep them indefinitely. This feature is especially useful when you accidentally close a tab or need to revisit a page you recently closed.

In conclusion, Safari's tab management system provides users with several options to manage their tabs effectively. From organizing tabs to customizing how closed tabs are handled, Safari ensures a seamless browsing experience for its users.

Reopening Closed Tabs on Safari for Desktop

If you accidentally closed a tab on Safari for desktop, don't worry. There are several ways to reopen it.

Whether you were browsing the latest news, online shopping, or streaming your favorite show, accidentally closing a tab can be frustrating. Fortunately, Safari offers a few options to restore your tabs quickly and efficiently.

Using keyboard shortcuts

One of the quickest ways to reopen a closed tab on Safari for desktop is by using keyboard shortcuts. To reopen the last closed tab, press Command + Shift + T on a Mac or Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows. This shortcut will restore the tab that you closed most recently, saving you time and effort.

Keyboard shortcuts are an excellent way to streamline your browsing experience. They can help you navigate your tabs and windows with ease, making it easier to find what you're looking for.

Accessing closed tabs through the History menu

If you prefer using the menu, you can access the closed tab by clicking on 'History' in the top menu bar and selecting 'Recently Closed.' From here, you can choose which tab to reopen. This option is helpful if you closed a tab a while ago and can't remember which one it was.

The History menu is also useful for finding websites that you've visited recently. You can use it to revisit a page that you forgot to bookmark or to clear your browsing history if you need to keep your browsing private.

Restoring closed tabs from the Tab Bar

You can access the Tab Bar by clicking on the button at the top-right corner of the Safari window. It reveals all of your open tabs, along with any closed tabs, allowing you to reopen them by clicking on the 'X' icon. This option is useful if you want to restore multiple tabs at once.

The Tab Bar is an excellent tool for managing your tabs. You can use it to switch between tabs quickly, organize your tabs by topic, or close tabs that you no longer need.

In conclusion, Safari offers several options for reopening closed tabs on desktop. Whether you prefer using keyboard shortcuts, the History menu, or the Tab Bar, you can restore your tabs quickly and easily, ensuring that you never lose your place when browsing the web.

Reopening Closed Tabs on Safari for iPhone and iPad

If you are using Safari on iPhone or iPad, you can still easily reopen closed tabs.

Utilizing the Tab Switcher

Safari for iOS has a feature called the Tab Switcher, which allows users to view all open tabs in a grid view. To access the Tab Switcher, tap and hold the tabs button located at the bottom right of the screen, revealing all open tabs and closed tabs. You can reopen a closed tab by tapping on it here.

You can also access closed tabs on Safari for iOS through the History menu. Tap on the 'Bookmarks' button located at the bottom of the screen, select 'History,' then 'Recently Closed Tabs.' From here, you can reopen any closed tabs.

Restoring closed tabs using gestures

If you prefer using gestures, you can swipe to reopen a recently closed tab on Safari for iOS. Swipe left with two fingers to reveal all open tabs and swipe right with two fingers to see recently closed tabs. Once you see the tab you want to reopen, tap on it to restore it.

Tips for Managing Tabs in Safari

Organizing tabs with tab groups.

Safari offers a useful feature called Tab Groups, allowing users to organize their open tabs by topic, project, or relevance. To create a Tab Group, right-click on a tab and select 'Add to Tab Group.' You can also create a new Tab Group by clicking the '+' button in the Tab Bar.

Pinning frequently visited websites

If you frequently visit a website, you can pin it to the Tab Bar for quick access. To pin a site, right-click on the tab and select 'Pin Tab.' The pinned website will remain on the left side of the Tab Bar, even when you close Safari.

Closing multiple tabs at once

If you have multiple tabs open and need to close them quickly, you can do so by using the 'Close Other Tabs' option. Right-click on the tab you want to keep open and select 'Close Other Tabs.'

Wrapping Up

Reopening closed tabs on Safari is quick and straightforward, and with these tips, you can manage your tabs more efficiently. Remember to use keyboard shortcuts and gestures, organize tabs with Tab Groups, and pin frequently visited websites to streamline your web browsing experience.

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How to fix Safari tabs disappearing on iPad and iPhone

While using Safari, have you noticed that some of your open tabs are missing and you can’t seem to find them? The tabs are most likely still open, you just have to look for them in the right places. Let’s show you how.

1. See all your open windows in Safari on iPad

Unlike iPhone, but like Mac, Safari on iPad lets you open more than one window.

You might not see a Safari tab that’s open in a different window in case you have multiple active windows that you opened and forgot. Secondly, clicking some website links can force a new browser window.

In these situations, you might miss seeing a specific tab if it isn’t on your current Safari window but on a different one.

Here’s how to quickly see all open Safari windows on iPad:

• Go to your iPad Home Screen or pull up the Dock.
• Press and hold the Safari app icon.
• Tap Show All Windows .

Now, tap one of the windows that has the Safari tab you thought had disappeared.

2. Merge all Safari windows on iPad to get back hidden tabs

With Safari open on Mac, when you click Windows from the top menu bar, you see an option called Merge All Windows. Clicking this instantly brings all the tabs of different windows in a single window.

The same handy functionality is in Safari for iPad.

Here’s how to see your hidden Safari tabs on iPad by merging all active windows into one:

• Inside Safari, press and hold the button made up of four tiny squares.
• Tap Merge All Windows .

Now, Safari will bring all the tabs of different windows to a single place. From here, you can easily find the Safari tabs that you thought were missing or hidden from plain sight.

3. Reopen your recently closed Safari tabs on iPad and iPhone

Sometimes, it’s likely that you accidentally closed a Safari tab or closed one intentionally and then forgot about it.

You can easily open such recently closed Safari tabs by following these steps:

• Inside Safari, tap the tab button (made of two overlapping squares).
• Press and hold the plus button (+) to see Recently Closed Tabs.
• Tap the desired website to reopen it.

For more: How to quickly reopen recently closed tabs in Safari on iPhone or iPad

4. Stop Safari from automatically closing open tabs

With iOS 13 and later, Safari can automatically close open tabs after one day, one week, or a month. In case you or someone with access to your iPhone or iPad enabled this option, you might be opening a tab, and the next day it closes, making you wonder, “Where has my Safari tab gone!”

To fix this, follow these steps to prevent the auto-close of Safari tabs:

• Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
• Tap Safari .
• Select  Close Tabs .
• Choose  Manually .

From now, open Safari tabs won’t disappear, and you can access them as long as you don’t close them manually.

Fixed: Safari tabs hiding or missing on iPhone or iPad

This is how you can fix the issue of Safari tabs hiding or disappearing from plain sight on your iPhone or iPad. Besides this, if you continue to face such inconveniences, make sure you inculcate the habit of restarting your iPhone at least once every three days.

Finally, if you’re on an old version of iOS or iPadOS, go to Settings > General > Software Update and install the newest available version of the operating system for your device. Usually, such bugs are fixed by Apple via software updates, ensuring an improved experience.

Safari tips for you:

• 11 tips to customize and personalize Safari on iPhone and iPad
• How to allow pop-ups in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
• How to stop name, address, email, and payment autofill suggestions in Safari

How to Restore Recently Closed Safari Tabs on iPhone

What to know.

• Reopen closed tabs in Safari to quickly revisit pages you thought you were done with.
• To open recently closed tabs, open Safari, tap the Tabs icon, then long-press the plus icon.

If you're an avid user of Safari, you've probably accidentally closed a tab before when you were still in the middle of reading. As a result, you wished you had a way to open closed tabs so you could get it back. Luckily, there are two simple ways to reopen closed tabs in Safari on your iPhone! We'll show you how.

How to Reopen a Closed Tab in Safari on iPhone

Reopening closed tabs from safari's history.

In the steps below, we'll show you how to reopen recently closed Safari tabs. To learn more about cool Safari features, check out our free  Tip of the Day newsletter. 

Your recently closed tab will open in a new Safari tab, and you can pick up where you left off.

Related:  How to Quickly Close All Tabs in Safari on iPhone

Another way to restore closed tabs is to go to the History tab in Safari. The History tab lists the recent and past pages that you've browsed. Here's how to reopen tabs from History.

If you currently have no tabs open, the steps are the same! You'll simply be starting from a blank page instead of a current tab. Safari can hold a fairly long list of recently closed tabs, so even if your child is playing around and deletes all open Safari tabs, you should be able to recover them quickly.

• How do I find recently closed tabs on Safari iPhone? When you go to open a new tab, unless you have already changed Safari's settings, you will open to the new tab page. From there, simply scroll down. You'll find a list of all your recently closed tabs at the bottom.
• Why did my Safari tabs disappear on iPhone? Sometimes, if the app crashes or accidentally gets deleted you can lose all your open tabs in the Safari app. This can also occur due to a software update. Follow the steps above to go above getting them back.
• How do I get my Safari back to normal? In 2022, Apple released an update to Safari that altered where the search address bar and other small changes appeared. You can adjust this by going into Safari Settings.

If you're frustrated with the Safari layout, you may be interested in learning how to get the Safari search bar back to the top  and  how to stop the status bar from hiding your icons . If you ever find your Safari tabs disappearing, find out how to get them back .

Author Details

Jim Karpen holds a Ph.D. in literature and writing, and has a love of gizmos. His doctoral dissertation focused on the revolutionary consequences of digital technologies and anticipated some of the developments taking place in the industry today. Jim has been writing about the Internet and technology since 1994 and has been using Apple's visionary products for decades.

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(5 Ways Included) How to Restore Closed Tabs in Safari?

Updated on Friday, May 10, 2024

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5 Effective Ways to Restore Recently Closed Tabs in Safari

If you use a Mac as your workstation, then circumstances where Safari tabs are accidentally closed or Mac power failure suspends your incomplete webpages occur as commonly as a meal.

Yet don't be upset, you have 5 ways to restore closed tabs in Safari on your iPhone and Mac without issue. Just read this article from  iBoysoft  and try the way that you like.

How to restore recently closed tabs in Safari on Mac

If you think that Safari gets the better of Chrome in the  Safari vs Chrome  battle and take it as your default browser, it's not an odd thing that you close all Safari windows with one mouse click. Take it easy, you can learn 3 methods to reopen the Safari tabs on your computer running  macOS  here.

Method 1: Use the keyboard shortcuts or menu shortcuts

Just like you  undo an email on Mac , you can also undo the tab shut actions with certain keyboard shortcuts or the Safari menu shortcuts on the context menu.

You can relaunch Safari on your computer and then press the Command + Z keys to bring back the last closed tab. If you have shut several tabs in one click, you should hold down the keyboard shortcuts repeatedly to restore all the tabs one by one.

Alternatively, you are able to select the Reopen Last Closed Tab option to bring the closed Safari tab back. Let me show you how to do:

• Launch Safari on your Mac via  Spotlight Search shortcuts .
• Head to the History menu on the top toolbar of your Mac desktop.
• Select Reopen Last Closed Tab on the dropdown menu of the History. You can also hit the responding Shift + Command + T keyboards to complete the restoration.
• Then all the tabs you have closed on Safari will show up automatically.

Method 2: Utilize the add icon on Safari

Safari's new tab icon allows you to create a new tab with a left click and restore the closed tab with a right click. You will have the list of all closed tabs and windows that you have closed as long as you right-click this icon.

• Relaunch the Safari browser on your device.
• Head to the upper right corner of the Safari main interface.

• Choose the tab that you plan to restore and it will come back.

Method 3: Check the Recently Closed option

You are also allowed to recover your closed tab on Safari by checking the Recently Closed menu. Different from the Restore Last Closed Tab option, this way won't show you all the closed tabs and you can choose specific tabs to recover.

• Launch the Safari browser on your Mac.
• Locate the History tab on the top menu bar.

• Click the website that you visited and then it will appear on the Safari main window.

If you have known how to restore recently closed tabs in Safari on your Mac with the guideline, why not share it with more people?

How to restore closed tabs in Safari on iPhone

The way to reopen a recently closed Safari tab on your iPhone is pretty much the same as on your Mac. You can click the + icon or search for your Closed Tabs in the Safari history to reopen the closed tabs, though they are not as easily accessible as the Mac.

Method 1: Utilize the add icon on Safari 

• Run the Safari browser on your iPhone, and tap the Show All Tabs icon at the bottom right corner of the iPhone screen.
• Tap and hold your finger on the + (New Tab) icon for a couple of seconds.

Method 2: Search for the Closed Tabs in the Safari history

If you fail to restore the Safari tabs, you may need to browse the history and then reopen them manually. Safari saves every website you visit in the browsing history until you browse them in Private mode. 

You can easily view your history list or search for particular websites to reopen your closed Safari tabs here:

• Open Safari and tap the Book icon.
• Tap the Clock icon to view your browsing history.
• Search your closed Safari tab or scroll through your history in chronological order.

Missing all Safari tabs with one accidental click or Mac power failure really drives people crazy. Fortunately, this article tells you how to restore closed tabs in Safari on your iPhone and Mac with specific instructions. Meeting this trouble, too? Read this post right now!

For more information about the Safari browser, please read the related articles:

• Safari Not Working on Mac/MacBook, How to Fix?
• How to Fix Safari Downloads not Working on Mac?
• How to Convert Chrome Extension to Safari on Mac?
• How to Fix Safari Won't Open Issue?
• 9 Ways to Speed Up Safari on Mac

If you find this article helpful and useful, please share it to help more people!

Vain Rowe is a new technical editor at iBoysoft. She spares no effort to learn tech knowledge during the training and after training. She has shared dozens of articles across iBoysoft website and other websites, providing solutions and information about file restoration, disk cleanup, work efficiency, and data security.

Jessica Shee is a senior tech editor at iBoysoft. Throughout her 4 years of experience, Jessica has written many informative and instructional articles in data recovery, data security, and disk management to help a lot of readers secure their important documents and take the best advantage of their devices.

No. 308, 3/F, Unit 1, Building 6, No. 1700, Tianfu Avenue North, High-tech Zone

Copyright© 2024 iBoysoft ® . All Rights Reserved.

How to close all your Safari tabs at once on iPhone

There are two types of iPhone users: those that religiously close out their Safari tabs and those that have hundreds of tabs open at any given moment. At some point, there comes a time when you need to clear out all of your open Safari tabs and declutter your browsing experience. It can be a pain to close out every single tab individually, but luckily you don't have to. In iOS 17, there's a hidden button that'll let you close out all the tabs in a given Tab Group simultaneously. If you've been manually closing out tabs, you need to learn this crucial iPhone trick for Safari.

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How to close tabs in safari on iphone.

Recent versions of Safari split up tabs into Tab Groups , and this is something to keep in mind when trying to clear all your tabs. All iPhone users will have at least two Tab Groups: Start Page and Private . If you've created custom Tab Groups — either on your iPhone or on a device synced with iCloud — you'll have to repeat the steps below for each Tab Group.

• Open Safari on your iPhone.
• Tap the Tabs button in the bottom right corner of the toolbar (it looks like two squares stacked on one another).
• Press the X button to close an individual tab.
• Hold the Done button and press Close all tabs to clear all your tabs simultaneously.
• Repeat the process as needed throughout your Tab Groups in Safari on iOS. Close

Why you should clear Safari tabs regularly

Safari won't let you open more than 500 tabs in a single Tab Group, so all iPhone users will have to close out old tabs eventually. However, there's a case to be made for closing Safari tabs far more frequently than that. Having minimal Safari tabs in a Tab Group can make it easier to go back and forth between the ones you really need. Plus, you may notice a slight performance benefit to running Safari with fewer tabs, although it isn't as big of a deal on the newest iPhones . Still, it's a pain to close out Safari tabs on iPhone individually, so using the hidden Close all tabs button is incredibly helpful.

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Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Can I restore a closed tab group in Safari?

I accidentally deleted a tab group which contained important tabs. I don't remember which tabs were there exactly, and I'd like to restore the whole group.

I tried pressing "+" to see recently closed tabs, but I don't see the tabs from my group there.

I don't see them in the history either.

Moreover, I created a new tab group, opened a page in a tab, closed it, pressed "+" in that tab (!) and did not find it in the list of the recently closed tabs. I cannot see in the list of the recently closed tabs in the main / default tab group either. So, it appears that tabs closed in tab groups do not appear in the list of the recently closed tabs.

I would appreciate it if anyone could suggest a way to restore my tab group or at least to improve Safari in the future making it possible to restore closed tab groups or at least individual tabs from closed tab groups.

Posted on Apr 21, 2022 10:45 AM

Posted on Apr 22, 2022 11:05 AM

Hi mysunglasses,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We understand why you'd want to bring those tab groups back and want to help.

There doesn't seem to be a way to restore those tab groups. You can, however leave feedback for Apple and request a feature here:

Product Feedback

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Apr 22, 2022 11:05 AM in response to mysunglasses