How to open and close tabs in Safari on iPhone

Use tabs to help you navigate between multiple open webpages.

You can open a link in a new tab, view a tab’s history to see which webpages you previously visited in it, close tabs, and even open a recently closed tab. And to stay on the current webpage when you open new links, you can have them open in a separate tab in the background, right in Safari on iPhone.

Open a link in a new tab

1. Open the Safari app on your iPhone.
2. Touch and hold the link. Then tap Open in New Tab.

To stay on the current webpage when you open new links in a separate tab, go to the Settings app , tap Apps, then tap Safari. Tap Open Links, then tap In Background.

View a tab’s history

In this tab, you can see which webpages you’ve previously visited.

1. Open the Safari app on your iPhone.
2. Touch and hold the Back button or the Forward button.

Close tabs

1. Open the Safari app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the Tabs button. Then tap the Close button in the upper-right corner of a tab to close it.

Quick tip: You can close every tab in this Tab Group at the same time. Just touch and hold the Done button and tap Close All [number of] Tabs.

Open a recently closed tab

1. Open the Safari app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the Tabs button.
3. Touch and hold the New Tab button. Choose from the list of recently closed tabs.