Before you start using Safari Tab Groups, please note:
- Tab groups are available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac running iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and later.
- Tab groups are automatically synced across multiple Apple devices. This way, if you create tab groups in Mac Safari, they will sync with your iPhone and vice versa.
Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac has a Tab Group feature that makes it easy to manage multiple tabs. This is useful when you’re researching a few things or just want to keep everything organized. Let me walk you through this in more detail and show you how to use tab groups in Safari on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey and later.
How to Use Tab Groups in Safari on iPhone and iPad
Safari tab groups have different functions. Because there are so many, let’s take a look at each feature available for tab groups in Safari on iPhone and iPad.
Make a Tab Group in Safari
- Open a new Safari tab and tap on the icon with two squares. You can also swipe up on the redesigned bottom address bar.
- Click Start Page. (If you have tabs open, you will see the number of tabs. Click on it.)
- Click “New Empty Tab Group”to create a tab group with one empty tab (Safari start page). You can open or add tabs to it later.
- Click “New Tab Group”from [number] tabs to create a tab group with all open Safari tabs.
- Give the tab group the desired name and click OK.
Add or move a Safari tab to another tab group- In Safari, tap the double-square icon in the bottom right corner, or swipe up on the address bar. You will see all open tabs as thumbnails.
- Press and hold a thumbnail and then tap Move to Tab Group.
- Click on the name of an existing tab group to add that web page to that tab group. If you select “Start Page”, this tab will be ungrouped.
Arrange Safari Tabs in a Tab Group
- Tap the two-square icon in the bottom right corner of Safari.
- Press and hold the thumbnail of any tab.
- Select “Organize tabs by name”or “Organize tabs by website”.
Close Tab Group in Safari
- Make sure one of the tabs in the tab group is open in Safari.
- Press and hold the double-square icon and select “Close all [number] tabs.”
- Optional: You can also tap the double-square icon or swipe up on the address bar. Then press and hold the Done button and click Close all [number] tabs.
- Optional: Tap the double-square icons to see thumbnails of all tabs. Press and hold on any thumbnail and select Close Other Tabs. All tabs in the tab group except this one will close.
Rename Safari Tab Group
- Tap the two-square icon in the bottom right corner of Safari.
- Tap what’s written in the middle of the address bar to see your tab groups.
- Press and hold on a tab group and select Rename. Or swipe from right to left on the tab group name and tap the edit icon (pencil icon).
- Name it and click OK. In iOS 16, you will see Save.
- Open Safari.
- Tap Tabs.
- Select the tab group you want to share.
- Click the Share button.
From here, you can choose where you want to share your tab groups.
Pin tabs in Safari on iPhone with iOS 16
This is a life-saving feature if you’re someone with a lot of Safari tabs running. You can pin your most important tabs to save time.
- Open Safari and tap the Tabs icon.
- Press and hold a tab to pin.
- Select the Pin tab.
- Pin the tabs you want, and then click Done.
Create Favorites in Safari Tab Groups
- Open the Safari tab group.
- Open the start page or create a new one.
- Scroll down and click “Edit”
- Turn on Tab Group Favorites.
- Exit the page.
Now, whenever you create a new start page in tab groups, you will see your favorite tab groups.
Delete Tab Group in Safari on iPhone
- Tap the two-square icon in the bottom right corner of Safari.
- Tap the text in the middle of the address bar.
- Press and hold on a tab group and press Delete. Or swipe from right to left and tap the red trash icon.
- Important: When you delete a tab group, all of its open tabs are immediately closed.
How to Use Tab Groups in Safari on Mac
Like the Safari tab groups available for iPhone and iPad, the Safari app on your Mac also has some cool features. So let’s check them out.
Create Tab Group in Safari
- Launch the Safari app and click the sidebar icon in the top left corner.
- Click New Empty Tab Group.
- If you have multiple tabs open, click New Tab Group with [number] of tabs.
Rename Tab Group in Safari
- Click the sidebar icon in the top left corner of Safari.
- Right-click the desired tab group and select Rename. You can also click the three dots next to the tab group on Ventura to select Rename.
- Enter a new name of your choice. This will help you organize tab groups and label them.
Move Safari tabs from one tab group to another in macOS
- Right-click on a tab and select Move to Tab Group.
- Then select one of the other tab groups.
- If you select Start Page, the tab will be moved to the standard ungrouped tabs.
Reorder Safari Tab Groups
- Click the sidebar icon in the top left corner to see the tab groups.
- Press and hold one of the tab groups and drag it up or down to where you want it.
View all tabs of a tab group in grid view
Wondering how you can see all the tabs in a group in a grid view? Here’s how.
- Click the sidebar icon in the top left corner to see the tab groups.
- Right-click one of the tab groups and select Show Tab Overview.
- Or click the grid icon (four tiny squares). For Ventura, click two squares.
Remove Safari Tab Group on macOS
- Click the sidebar icon in the top left corner of Safari.
- Right-click the tab group and select Delete.
- Important: All open tabs in this group will also close.
Here’s how you can use tab groups in Safari across different Apple devices on the latest versions of their respective operating systems. I hope this guide was helpful and you will now have no problem using this new feature. If you need further assistance, please express your concern in the comments and I will get back to you as soon as possible.