Close Safari Tabs on iPhone and iPad

Close Safari tabs

Safari is the most used web browser on the iPhone, and it’s also one of the most user-friendly. But if you want to prevent Safari from slowing down your iPhone, it’s important that you regularly close your unused tabs. That can happen faster than you think. In this tip we explain several ways to close your Safari tabs:

• All tabs
• Certain tabs
• Close automatically
• Loose tabs
• More tips

#1 Close all Safari tabs

A simple operation makes it possible to close all tabs in the Safari browser on your iPhone or iPad at once. this works like this:

1. Open the Safari browser on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Place your finger on the tab icon at the bottom right.
3. Indicate that you want to close all tabs.

You can also close one tab. Another option is to first tap the tab icon and then put your finger on the Done link. The option to close all tabs will also appear. This has the advantage that you can first see which tabs you have opened. Optionally, you can close the tabs individually. Accidentally closed a Safari tab when you didn’t mean to? No problem, you can easily find your recently closed tabs.

#2 Close certain tabs in Safari

You can also close specific tabs. For example, if you have searched for a certain keyword and you are done with your search, you can close all tabs about it at once. You do a search for this. This can be useful, for example, if you have searched for a scary disease and want to close all tabs about it.

That is how it works:

1. Open Safari on the iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap the button in the bottom right to show all tabs (it looks like two overlapping squares).
3. Swipe down to reveal the Search tabs search box.
4. Enter the search term whose tabs you want to close.
5. Now hold your finger a little longer on Cancel, top right.
6. You will now see the option to close all tabs with the keyword.

You can also hold your finger on the found tab to see a few more options. For example, this gives you the option to close all other tabs, while keeping the selected tab open.

#3 Automatically close all tabs

You can also choose to close Safari tabs automatically. This has been possible since iOS 13 and is hidden in the settings. For example, you can choose to close tabs after a week:

1. Go to Settings > Safari.
2. Scroll down a bit to the Tabs section. Now tap Close Tabs.
3. Choose Manually, After one day, After one week or After one month.

You can read more information in our tip about automatically closing tabs in Safari, in which we explain the steps in detail.

#4 Close loose Safari tabs

To close separate tabs, you do something else:

1. Open Safari and tap the tabs button at the bottom right.
2. You now see an overview of all open tabs in a tiled view. In older iOS versions, you’ll see a browse view.
3. Tap the cross next to the tab you want to close. You can also swipe the tab to the left.

All of these options also apply when you are browsing privately.

More tips on Safari tabs

Also check out these other tips on using your Safari tabs:

• How to close Safari tabs automatically
• Accidentally closed a Safari tab? This is how you open it again
• Using favicons in Safari: this is how you get icons on tabs
• This way you can quickly search for tabs in Safari
• Safari: Switch tabs between iPhone, iPad and Mac
• Group your tabs: This is how tab groups work in Safari
• Change the view of Safari tabs on Mac and iPad