In Safari, open the tab overview, touch and hold Done, then choose Close All [number] Tabs. Confirm if prompted. This affects the group you are viewing; other Tab Groups and Private Browsing need separate attention.
These instructions cover iPhone, including the iPhone 15 family. Safari controls depend on your iOS version and layout. Browser tabs are webpages inside an app. The cards in the iPhone App Switcher are apps, and swiping away Safari does not close its tabs. For a frozen app, see how to close and restart an iPhone app.
Before closing: submit or save unfinished forms and bookmark pages you want to keep. Reopening a page does not guarantee recovery of text you had not saved.
Close all Safari tabs at once
- Open Safari.
- Open the tab overview with Tabs (overlapping squares). If your layout shows More instead, tap it and choose All Tabs. You should see previews of your webpages.
- Touch and hold Done to display the closing menu.
- Select Close All [number] Tabs and confirm if asked. The selected group’s webpages close.
Apple documents the Done-menu method. You can check the Safari layout options under Settings > Apps > Safari > Tabs. For tablet controls, use our iPad Safari tab-closing guide.
Alternative on layouts with a Tabs button
On Safari layouts that offer this shortcut, touch and hold Tabs while viewing a webpage, then choose Close All Tabs. If that menu is unavailable, use the tab-overview method above.
Close some tabs, not all
In the overview, tap the X on a webpage preview to close only that tab. To keep several important pages, leave those previews open and close the others individually.
Close tabs automatically
- Open Settings > Apps > Safari.
- Tap Close Tabs.
- Choose After One Day, After One Week, or After One Month. Result: Safari closes tabs you haven’t viewed in that time.
Choose Manually to keep tabs until you close them yourself. On older iOS versions, Safari settings are directly under Settings > Safari. If your version does not offer Close Tabs, use the manual closing method.
Close all tabs in Chrome and Firefox
Other browsers keep their own tabs, so closing Safari tabs doesn’t touch them.
- Chrome: open the browser, tap Switch tabs at the bottom, then Close All at the bottom left. Google’s guide also explains closing separate groups, pinned tabs and inactive tabs.
- Firefox: open the tab tray, tap the trash icon, then Close all tabs. Mozilla documents these controls; holding the trash icon is not required.
Reopen a tab you closed by mistake
- In Safari, open the same tab overview used above.
- Touch and hold the + button. Result: a list of recently closed tabs appears. On an iPad, see how to restore tabs on iPad in Safari and Chrome. On a computer, see how to reopen a closed tab in Google Chrome.
- Tap the tab you want back.
Recently closed pages may be available this way, but Private Browsing does not record pages in History. Save important links before closing; this is not a backup of your browsing session.
Private browsing and Tab Groups
- Private tabs: open the overview, swipe right on the bottom tab bar to Private, unlock if needed, and repeat the closing method. Leaving Private Browsing keeps its pages open, as Apple explains. See how to leave Private Browsing on iPhone.
- Tab Groups: use the group selector at the bottom of the overview to switch groups, then repeat. Apple’s Tab Groups guide explains this selector.
Troubleshooting
- You don’t see Close All Tabs: open the overview first, then hold Done instead of tapping it briefly. Check your Safari layout if you cannot find the overview control.
- Some tabs are still open: check the Private group and any other Tab Groups; each closes separately.
- Too many tabs to scroll: use Close All Tabs or the automatic setting instead of swiping each one. To set that up, see how to automatically close Safari tabs after one week.
Frequently asked questions
Does closing tabs make my iPhone faster?
The dependable benefit is a less crowded tab list. Closing pages is not a guaranteed fix for slow performance, low storage or battery drain, and the number of browser tabs does not tell you how many apps are running.
Does closing tabs clear my history?
No. History stays until you clear it. See how to clear search history on iPhone.
Do private tabs close too?
Only if you’re viewing the Private group when you close all tabs.
Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read hundreds of millions of times.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.
His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.