How to Open a New Tab in Safari on iPhone

To open a new tab in Safari on iPhone, tap the Tabs button (two overlapping squares), then tap the New Tab button (+) in the bottom-left corner of the Tabs screen. The Tabs button is also where you find all of your open tabs, close them, and reopen tabs you closed by mistake.

These steps follow Apple’s iOS 27 iPhone User Guide pages Open and close tabs in Safari, Organize your tabs in Safari, and Change the layout in Safari, and they also match iOS 26. If the controls appear in a different place on your screen, it’s because of your Safari layout, which is covered below.

How to Open a New Tab in Safari on iPhone

1. Open the Safari app.
2. Tap the Tabs button. Previews of your open tabs appear.
3. Tap the New Tab button (+) at the bottom left of the screen. A blank start page opens with your Favorites and other start page sections.
4. Type a search or web address in the search field, then tap Go.

The new tab loads the page, and your other tabs stay open in the background.

Using the Compact layout? The Tabs button isn’t always on screen. Tap the More button (…) next to the address bar, then tap New Tab. You can also swipe up on the address bar to open the Tabs screen, then tap the New Tab button (+).

Open a link in a new tab

Touch and hold a link on any webpage, then tap Open in New Tab. To stay on the page you’re reading when you do this, go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Open Links and choose In Background.

Faster Ways to Open a New Tab

You don’t have to go through the Tabs screen every time. Each of these opens the same blank start page:

• Swipe past your last tab. In the Bottom and Compact layouts, swipe left along the address bar to move through your tabs. When you swipe past the last one, Safari opens a new tab. This gesture doesn’t work in the Top layout.
• Touch and hold the Tabs button. A menu appears with New Tab and New Private Tab, plus options to close tabs.
• Use the Safari icon. Touch and hold Safari on the Home Screen or in the Dock, then tap New Tab. Safari opens straight to a blank tab.

Open a Private Browsing Tab

A Private Browsing tab doesn’t save the pages you visit to your history, and it doesn’t sync to your other devices.

1. Tap the Tabs button.
2. Swipe right on the tab bar at the bottom until you reach Private. If Private Browsing is locked, unlock it with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.

3. Tap the New Tab button (+).

To go back to normal tabs, open the Tabs screen and swipe left to your regular tabs or a Tab Group. When you’re done, here is how to turn off Private Browsing on iPhone. If the Private option is missing, Screen Time restrictions are the usual cause, as explained in why you can’t create a Private Browsing tab in Safari.

Where Are My Safari Tabs?

Tap the Tabs button to see previews of every open tab. Tap a preview to switch to that tab.

• Tab Groups: If you use Tab Groups, tap the Tab Group names at the bottom center of the screen to move between them. Tabs in other groups won’t show until you switch.
• Topics: On an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, Safari can group related tabs into suggested topics. Tap a topic to see its tabs. To turn this on or off, tap the Organize button on the Tabs screen and choose Automatically Create Topics or Never.
• Rearrange tabs: Tap the More button and choose Arrange Tabs By, or touch and hold a tab and drag it.
• Pin a tab: Touch and hold a tab, then tap Pin Tab to keep it at the top of the Tab Group.
• Tabs from your other devices: Open a new tab and scroll down the start page to iCloud Tabs. Your iPad or Mac needs to use the same Apple Account with Safari turned on in iCloud settings. If the section is missing, tap Edit at the bottom of the start page and turn it on.

Create a Tab Group to keep tabs organized

Tab Groups let you keep related tabs together, such as work, shopping, or a trip you’re planning.

1. Tap the Tabs button.
2. Touch and hold a tab, tap Move Tab, then tap New Tab Group.
3. Enter a name, then tap Done.

To rename a group later, open it, tap the More button, and tap Rename Tab Group. A new tab always opens in the group you’re viewing.

How to Close Tabs in Safari on iPhone

• Close one tab: Tap the Tabs button, then tap the Close button (X) in the upper-right corner of the tab.
• Close all tabs: On the Tabs screen, touch and hold the Done button, then tap Close All [number] Tabs.

Apple notes that Close All closes the tabs in the current Tab Group, so switch groups and repeat if you want to clear others too. There are a few other ways to close all open tabs on iPhone. You can also have Safari close tabs automatically after a set time.

How to Reopen Recently Closed Tabs

1. Tap the Tabs button.
2. Touch and hold the New Tab button (+).
3. Choose the page from the list of recently closed tabs.

The page reopens in a new tab. You can also touch and hold the Back or Forward button to see a tab’s own history.

Find a Previously Visited Safari Page

To find a page you visited earlier, tap the Tabs button, tap + to open a new start page, then tap History and choose the page. Apple’s Safari guide shows this start-page access. Cleared history and pages you opened in Private Browsing do not appear in the list.

Why Your Safari Buttons Are in a Different Place

Safari has three tab bar layouts. To change it, go to Settings > Apps > Safari, scroll to Tabs, and choose:

• Compact: A smaller tab bar below the webpage, with extra controls on both sides of it.
• Bottom: A full-width tab bar below the webpage, with controls at the bottom of the screen.
• Top: A full-width tab bar above the webpage, with controls at the bottom of the screen.

None of these options limit how many tabs you can open. Prefer the address bar at the top? You can move the Safari address bar to the top.

If a New Tab Doesn’t Open the Way You Expect

• New tabs open as private tabs. You’re in the Private group. Open the Tabs screen and swipe left to your regular tabs, then tap +.
• The new tab landed in the wrong group. Safari adds it to the Tab Group you’re viewing. Switch groups first, or move the tab with Move Tab.
• Swiping doesn’t open a tab. You’re probably using the Top layout. Use the Tabs button, or switch to Bottom or Compact.
• Your tabs disappeared. Check Settings > Apps > Safari > Close Tabs. If it’s set to close after a day, week, or month, Safari closes tabs you haven’t viewed in that time.
• Safari is missing entirely. It may be hidden from the Home Screen or blocked by Screen Time. Either way, you can get Safari back on your iPhone.

For a few more time-saving shortcuts, see these iPhone Safari tips you might not know.

Related Safari Tips

• Set Google as the default search engine on iPhone
• Add a Safari link to your Home Screen
• Use Chrome instead? Chrome has its own way to open a new tab on iPhone.

Frequently Asked Questions