reopen closed tab safari mac

How to reopen recently closed tabs in Safari for Mac

Safari for Mac makes it simple to reopen any accidentally closed windows or tabs from your last browsing session , but did you know that you can also bring back one or more tabs or windows that you closed during your current session? This tutorial shows you how to do just that.

How to reopen closed Safari tabs on Mac

You can view multiple web pages in a single Safari window by opening them in tabs.

Each tab is its own process that consumes CPU time, RAM, and other system resources. Therefore, it makes sense to close any Safari tabs and windows you no longer need in order to cut down on RAM usage, conserve power, and free up CPU cycles for other tasks. But did you close one accidentally or unknowingly and wish to open it again?

Safari for Mac lets you reopen your recently closed tab(s) in three different ways.

1. Use keyboard or menu shortcut

Use the standard undo shortcut  Command + Z to bring back the last closed tab or choose Undo Close Tab from the Edit menu. If you’ve closed multiple tabs in a row, invoke the shortcut repeatedly to reopen closed tabs one by one.

The shortcut won’t execute if you perform another undoable action after closing a tab. In that case, choose the option Reopen Last Closed Tab from Safari’s History menu or press the corresponding keyboard shortcut Shift + Command + T .

Like with the undo action, you can press this shortcut repeatedly to resurrect several tabs in the order you closed them, which is really nice. If you have closed a window instead of a tab, this menu option will read Reopen Last Closed Window .

2. Use the New Tab icon

Safari’s New Tab icon has a secret: not only does it let you create a new tab, but also quickly resurrects your recently closed tab(s). To access the list of recently closed tabs in older Safari versions, click and hold the “+” icon on the rightmost side of Safari’s tab bar.

In newer versions of Safari, this button appears in the toolbar.

Up pops a menu with all of the tabs you’ve closed in this browsing session. Select a webpage you’d like to reopen, then click the mouse or trackpad to bring it back.

I prefer this method over the undo action because it reopens a closed tab right where it was. I try to keep my tab bar organized so this has been really helpful. On the downside, restarting Safari clears the list of recently closed tabs under the New Tab button.

3. Check your Safari history

Lastly, you can reopen a recently closed webpage by choosing the Recently Closed item from Safari’s History menu, then choose the webpage from a sub-menu that you want to reopen. Or, select the Reopen Last Closed Window menu option to quickly bring back the most recently closed Safari window along with all of its tabs.

The list of recently closed webpages in the History menu remains intact when Safari is restarted, unlike that under the New Tab button—even though they’re the same lists. If you just restarted Safari and want to reopen a tab that was closed during a previous browsing session, use the history method.

Don’t forget that you can quickly consolidate and convert all your Safari windows to tabs in a single window by choosing the Merge All Windows action from the Window menu.

Other browser tips:

• 3 ways to change the default web browser on Mac
• 12 Safari keyboard shortcuts you should know
• How to open multiple websites at once on Mac
• How to reopen recently closed tabs in Safari for iPhone

How to reopen a closed tab in Safari on a Mac computer in 2 different ways

• You can reopen a tab you recently closed on a Mac in Safari using a keyboard shortcut or a menu option. 
• You can also reopen tabs you closed days ago going through the History in Safari.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

It's easy to accidentally close a tab in Safari on your Mac . 

But fear not: You can also reopen your closed tabs very easily in Safari. 

Here are two ways you can do this.

Check out the products mentioned in this article: 

Macbook pro (from $1,299.99 at best buy), how to reopen a closed tab on a mac in safari using keyboard shortcuts.

You can use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Command + T to reopen your last closed tab. This works no matter what you have open in your browser.

You can also reopen a closed tab with the keyboard shortcut Command + Z . This makes the last closed tab reappear in the same spot where it last was among your open tabs. 

A caveat about Command + Z, however: This can also undo your last action in a document or spreadsheet. If you use this command while you're in a Google doc, for instance, it will undo the last edit you made and not reopen a tab in your browser. Click into a regular web page before you use the Command + Z option. If you mistakenly click on Command + Z in a doc, Command + Y will redo your last edit.

How to reopen a closed tab on a Mac in Safari using menu options

Some people prefer menu navigation over keyboard shortcuts. It's easy to access the command to reopen the last tab from the Safari menu.

1. For this example, we started with two tabs open.

2. After closing one tab, click on History in the Safari menu at the top of your screen (not the top of the browser window).

3. Select Reopen Last Closed Tab from the drop-down menu. Once you click on this, your last-closed tab will reappear in the same position it was in before you closed it. Notice that this menu also gives you the keyboard shortcut, in case you need it. 

The History menu also gives you a handy list of your recently closed tabs right in the menu, with the last-closed tab at the top. You can choose the tab you want to reopen from the menu. You can also select Recently Closed from the menu, for a longer list, or look at tabs you viewed on a different day by selecting one of the date options at the bottom of the History menu.

Related coverage from  How To Do Everything: Tech :

How to clear the cache on a safari browser to make it run more efficiently, how to reset the safari browser on your iphone in 2 different ways, how to update the safari browser on your mac computer by installing the latest version of macos, how to reset all of your safari browser's settings on a mac, including clearing your cache and removing plugins, how to block websites on a mac computer using parental controls in your safari browser.

Insider Inc. receives a commission when you buy through our links.

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• Main content

How to Restore Recently Closed Tabs and Windows in Safari

Ever close a browser tab by accident or lost a number of tabs after Safari crashed? It happens to the best of us. Thankfully, you can quickly reopen your last closed tab or restore tabs from your last browsing session with the tips below.

Open the Last Closed Tab in Safari on the Mac

Safari lets you undo your action of closing a tab--as long as you act promptly. If you close a tab by mistake and then open a new tab, you won't be able to restore the closed tab with the shortcut below, because the undo feature only works on your last action.

In OS X, after closing a tab, press Command+Z , the standard Mac keyboard shortcut for Undo. Your lost tab will be instantly restored. Alternatively, you can go to the Edit menu and select "Undo Close Tab".

For other tabs you've closed before the last one, head to the History men u for the list of sites you've recently visited.

Reopen Closed Windows in Safari on the Mac

You can also reopen a Safari window with the tabs you had open even days after closing the window or quitting Safari.

If you have more than one Safari window open and close one by mistake, go to the History menu and select "Reopen Last Closed Window."

If you quit Safari and want to restart it with all of the tabs you had open last time, go to the History menu and select Reopen All Windows from Last Session.

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You'll be up and running with all of the windows and tabs you were using last time.

Open the Last Closed Tab in Safari on the iPad

On the iPad or iPhone , you can also quickly reopen your last tabs. Safari on iOS lets you quickly open up to five of the last tabs you closed.

Tap and hold down the new tab button (a plus icon) to bring up the list of recently closed tabs.

Tap the site to restore and the site will open in a new tab.

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How to Reopen Closed Safari Tabs and Windows and Access Past History

Quickly get back to where you were

Tom Nelson is an engineer, programmer, network manager, and computer network and systems designer who has written for Other World Computing,and others. Tom is also president of Coyote Moon, Inc., a Macintosh and Windows consulting firm.

What to Know

• Undo a closed tab: Go to Edit > Undo Close Tab , press Command + Z , or click and hold the plus sign to the right of the Tabs bar.
• Or, select History > Reopen Last Closed Tab , go to History and mouse over Recently Closed , or press Shift + Command + T .
• Restore a closed window: Go to History > Reopen Last Closed Window . Or, History > Reopen All Windows From Last Session .

This article explains how to reopen tabs or windows you may have closed by accident in the Safari web browser. You can also use the History list to reopen sites.

How to Undo a Closed Tab in Safari

You can open your lost tab using four methods. The first is to either select Undo Close Tab from the Edit menu, or press Command + Z on your keyboard.

You can restore multiple tabs you've closed by using the command repeatedly.

Another way to reopen a page you've closed is to click and hold the plus sign at the far right of the Tabs bar. Usually, you click this once to open a new tab, but holding opens a menu with a list of ones you've recently closed. Select the one you want to reopen.

The third way is to select Reopen Last Closed Tab under the History menu or press Shift + Command + T on your keyboard.

Finally, you can find a list of tabs you've recently closed under the History menu. Mouse over Recently Closed to see a list of pages you can reopen, and then click the one you want to restore.

Restoring Closed Windows

If you close a Safari window , you can reopen it just as you can reopen a closed tab, but the command is under a different menu. Select Reopen Last Closed Window under the History menu, or press Shift + Command + T on your keyboard.

The Reopen Last Closed Window and Reopen Last Closed Tab commands share the same spot in the History menu and keyboard shortcut. Which you see depends on which you closed most recently.

Reopen Safari Windows From Last Session

Besides being able to reopen closed Safari windows and tabs, you can also open all Safari windows that were open the last time you quit Safari.

Safari, like all the Apple apps, can make use of OS X’s Resume feature , which was introduced with OS X Lion. Resume saves the state of all the open windows of an app, in this case, any Safari window you have open. The idea is that the next time you launch Safari, you can resume right where you left off.

From the History menu, select Reopen All Windows From Last Session .

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5 Ways to Recover Your Safari Tabs After Restarting Your Mac

Do you keep losing all your tabs on Safari every time you restart your Mac? Here are some quick fixes to help solve that problem.

Safari offers an excellent browsing experience: it is energy efficient, works seamlessly on every Apple device, and is great at protecting your privacy. However, there is one pesky flaw you may have noticed.

Every time you restart your Mac and re-launch Safari, all the windows and tabs from your previous session will disappear. Instead, you'll see the default Safari homepage. This can be annoying if you are like many users who want to pick up right where they left off with their web browsing.

So if you've been wondering how to restart your Mac without losing your Safari tabs, here are some quick fixes you can try.

1. Pin the Tabs in Safari

If you almost always use a certain website, you can pin that tab to your Safari browser. When you pin a tab, or multiple tabs, you don't have to open them manually or worry about losing them each time you close and relaunch your browser.

When you open Safari, pinned tabs appear immediately, ready for you to access them. And even when you open a new Safari window, you never have to worry about losing your tabs. Every tab you've pinned appears the same on every window, so you don't need to worry about having different versions of the same tab on multiple windows.

Pinning a tab is not difficult. Just follow these steps:

• Start by opening the website you'd like to pin.
• Then Control-click the tab.
• A dialog should appear; choose Pin Tab from the options.
• Repeat this process for as many tabs as you'd like to pin.

Alternatively, you can place your cursor on the tab you'd like to pin and drag it to the left until the tab shrinks to the size of the website's logo.

There appears to be no limit on how many tabs you can pin on Safari at once. We tested up to 25. However, whatever the number you have, you should learn how to manage your pinned tabs in Safari .

2. Customize Safari's Settings

You may not have favorite tabs to pin. And having so many tabs permanently pinned to your Safari windows might be too much clutter for you. However, if you'd prefer to resume right where you left off whenever you open Safari, there's another simple fix in the settings.

To customize Safari's settings:

• Look to the top-left corner of your screen and click on Safari .
• In the menu that appears next, click Preferences .
• A new General window should appear; look for the Safari opens with menu.
• Click on the corresponding A new window option.
• From the list of dropdown options, you can select All windows from last session or All non-private windows from last session , depending on whichever you prefer.

Once you've completed these steps, re-launch Safari. Once you open Safari, it should open the tabs from your previous browsing session.

3. Use Safari's New Tab Button

The first two fixes are preventive strategies. If you implement them before restarting your Mac, they can prevent you from losing your tabs once you relaunch Safari. However, you may have restarted your Mac without implementing either strategy. In that case, you still don't have to worry about losing your tabs because you can use Safari's New Tab option as a corrective strategy.

You may think Safari's New Tab icon has only one purpose: to create a new tab. But it can also help you recover your recently closed tabs. Just look at the toolbar and Control-click on the New Tab icon, which looks like a plus (+) . A list of Recently Closed Tabs should appear, so you can select the one you'd like to recover.

4. Use the Undo or Reopen Action

After restarting your Mac and launching Safari, you may decide to close some tabs you no longer need. If they are a lot, you might get carried away with the monotonous task of clicking Close and accidentally closing a tab you still need.

A quick fix that can help you correct that mistake is the Undo menu or keyboard shortcut. Rather than panic when you've closed a tab or fumble with your settings, use the Undo action. It is pretty straightforward. Just follow these two steps.

Look to the top-left corner of your screen and select Edit from the options. A dialog box should appear with a list of options; click Undo Close Tab .

A quicker fix is the keyboard shortcut. To open the last tab you just closed, press this combination of keys: Shift + Cmd + T to reopen your last closed tab.

If you closed more than one tab, repeat the sequence for as many tabs as you'd like to restore. Our Safari shortcuts cheat sheet contains more keyboard shortcuts you can try on your Mac.

5. Reopen Tabs Using Your Safari History

You may have accidentally closed a window, or there may be simply too many tabs to keep pressing the combination of keys we mentioned earlier. Don't sweat it. Launch Safari and do the following. To view your history:

• Look to the top-left corner of your screen and select History from the options.
• A dialog box should appear with a list of options for you. You can choose any of these three options: Recently Closed , Recently Last Closed Tab , or Reopen All Windows from Last Session .
• Click the relevant option to reopen your recently closed tabs, or find the specific tab you're looking for in the Recently Closed dropdown.

Improve Your Browsing Experience on Safari

Losing a tab may be frustrating, but it shouldn't affect your productivity too much. With these quick fixes, you can ensure you never lose a tab on Safari if you restart your Mac. And when you close an important tab by mistake, you can always recover it.

Safari offers a brilliant browsing experience, arguably better than many other browsers, like Chrome. The experience becomes even smoother once you learn some essential Safari tricks and tips and implement them on your Mac.

How to Reopen Accidentally Closed Tabs on Mac (Safari and Google Chrome)

We’ve all been there, knee deep in our research when we accidentally close a window or tab, or even close out an application entirely using keyboard shortcuts when we clearly meant to jump between windows. All of these things have solutions to undo the catastrophe you just unleashed on your workflow.

Here’s how you reopen accidentally closed browser tabs with a keyboard shortcut for both Safari and Google Chrome.

How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Safari

It’s quite simple. Should you accidentally close a tab, all you have to do is hit a shortcut CMD+Z , or navigate to the Edit menu, then click on Undo Close Tab .

Unfortunately, this will only work for one closed tab. Should you accidentally close out multiple tabs, you won’t be able to go all the way back through your workflow. You’ll want to go digging through your history to find the items you’ve closed out. We should also point out that the Undo Closed Tab option only appears if you close a tab. The option for selecting the item in the menu is unavailable otherwise.

How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Google Chrome

Similar to Safari, Google Chrome also lets you reopen your accidentally closed tabs, but this time the keyboard shortcut is CMD+Shift+T , but, unlike Safari, Chrome is more forgiving and lets you reopen a bunch of recently closed tabs. You can also navigate to File , then Reopen Closed Tab .

Of course, you can also reopen your tabs by going to File, then clicking on Reopen Closed Tabs too.

There you go. Never lose a tab again.

Tips & Tricks

Troubleshooting, how to re-open recently closed tabs in safari for mac the easy way.

Mac users have long been able to re-open a closed Safari tab by using a keyboard shortcut , but what if some time has passed, or what if you want to re-open a specific closed tab in Safari? It turns out the latest versions of Safari for Mac OS support a menu-based option to easily browse through a list of recently closed tabs, which you can then select any closed tab from to re-open.

Re-Open Recently Closed Safari Tabs on Mac

• From any active Safari browser window on the Mac, click and hold on the “+” plus button in the Safari tab bar

• Select the Safari tab you want to re-open

• Repeat with other recently closed Safari tabs you want to re-open if desired

This is a simple and effective way of re-opening recently closed tabs and browser windows in Safari for Mac. Perhaps the best part about this approach is that it allows you to select a specific browser tab to re-open, whereas the Command+Z keystroke to reopen tabs approach will just re-open the last closed Safari tabs in chronological order.

If this trick sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because it’s just like how you re-open closed tabs in Safari for iPhone and iPad in the iOS world.

Know of another way to reopen closed tabs in Safari for Mac? Is there a better approach? Let us know in the comments!

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Related articles:

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• How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Chrome on iPhone, iPad, Mac
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13 Comments

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I have no idea how so many people seem to be convinced this does work. It definetely doesn’t on my mac…

I’ve always used history. Like this better!

Alternative on Step 1. If you right-click on the +, you do not need to click-hold. Oddly, I didn’t know about click-hold until now.

Good to know will be useful =) btw I always used the “reopen last closed window” command from the History menu, that’s because sometimes I close the wrong window so the specific menu item comes in handy and with the cmd-shift-T shortcut

Doesn’t work on my iMac !!

Mine either. Safari 9.1.2

You need Safari 10 or later, this is a new Safari feature on Mac.

I was about to say the same but then I realized I was in Firefox. Upon switching to Safari (10.0.3), it worked for me.

You need to update Safari if you don’t have this feature.

Been on Macs for 20+ years and embarrassed to say I did NOT know this and I have my own IT business :-/ Thanks for sharing it :)

This particular ability is fairly recent addition, the other option was to use the History menu and various submenus in there.

I’ve always used History>recently closed

I use the history menu in Safari mostly too but this is a nice trick since it’s the same on Mac what it is on iPad and iPhone.

Some things are good to merge features like that.

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Home > News Tips

(5 Ways Included) How to Restore Closed Tabs in Safari?

Updated on Thursday, May 16, 2024

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5 Effective Ways to Restore Recently Closed Tabs in Safari

If you use a Mac as your workstation, then circumstances where Safari tabs are accidentally closed or Mac power failure suspends your incomplete webpages occur as commonly as a meal.

Yet don't be upset, you have 5 ways to restore closed tabs in Safari on your iPhone and Mac without issue. Just read this article from  iBoysoft  and try the way that you like.

How to restore recently closed tabs in Safari on Mac

If you think that Safari gets the better of Chrome in the  Safari vs Chrome  battle and take it as your default browser, it's not an odd thing that you close all Safari windows with one mouse click. Take it easy, you can learn 3 methods to reopen the Safari tabs on your computer running  macOS  here.

Method 1: Use the keyboard shortcuts or menu shortcuts

Just like you  undo an email on Mac , you can also undo the tab shut actions with certain keyboard shortcuts or the Safari menu shortcuts on the context menu.

You can relaunch Safari on your computer and then press the Command + Z keys to bring back the last closed tab. If you have shut several tabs in one click, you should hold down the keyboard shortcuts repeatedly to restore all the tabs one by one.

Alternatively, you are able to select the Reopen Last Closed Tab option to bring the closed Safari tab back. Let me show you how to do:

• Launch Safari on your Mac via  Spotlight Search shortcuts .
• Head to the History menu on the top toolbar of your Mac desktop.
• Select Reopen Last Closed Tab on the dropdown menu of the History. You can also hit the responding Shift + Command + T keyboards to complete the restoration.
• Then all the tabs you have closed on Safari will show up automatically.

Method 2: Utilize the add icon on Safari

Safari's new tab icon allows you to create a new tab with a left click and restore the closed tab with a right click. You will have the list of all closed tabs and windows that you have closed as long as you right-click this icon.

• Relaunch the Safari browser on your device.
• Head to the upper right corner of the Safari main interface.

• Choose the tab that you plan to restore and it will come back.

Method 3: Check the Recently Closed option

You are also allowed to recover your closed tab on Safari by checking the Recently Closed menu. Different from the Restore Last Closed Tab option, this way won't show you all the closed tabs and you can choose specific tabs to recover.

• Launch the Safari browser on your Mac.
• Locate the History tab on the top menu bar.

• Click the website that you visited and then it will appear on the Safari main window.

If you have known how to restore recently closed tabs in Safari on your Mac with the guideline, why not share it with more people?

How to restore closed tabs in Safari on iPhone

The way to reopen a recently closed Safari tab on your iPhone is pretty much the same as on your Mac. You can click the + icon or search for your Closed Tabs in the Safari history to reopen the closed tabs, though they are not as easily accessible as the Mac.

Method 1: Utilize the add icon on Safari 

• Run the Safari browser on your iPhone, and tap the Show All Tabs icon at the bottom right corner of the iPhone screen.
• Tap and hold your finger on the + (New Tab) icon for a couple of seconds.

Method 2: Search for the Closed Tabs in the Safari history

If you fail to restore the Safari tabs, you may need to browse the history and then reopen them manually. Safari saves every website you visit in the browsing history until you browse them in Private mode. 

You can easily view your history list or search for particular websites to reopen your closed Safari tabs here:

• Open Safari and tap the Book icon.
• Tap the Clock icon to view your browsing history.
• Search your closed Safari tab or scroll through your history in chronological order.

Missing all Safari tabs with one accidental click or Mac power failure really drives people crazy. Fortunately, this article tells you how to restore closed tabs in Safari on your iPhone and Mac with specific instructions. Meeting this trouble, too? Read this post right now!

For more information about the Safari browser, please read the related articles:

• Safari Not Working on Mac/MacBook, How to Fix?
• How to Fix Safari Downloads not Working on Mac?
• How to Convert Chrome Extension to Safari on Mac?
• How to Fix Safari Won't Open Issue?
• 9 Ways to Speed Up Safari on Mac

If you find this article helpful and useful, please share it to help more people!

Vain Rowe is a new technical editor at iBoysoft. She spares no effort to learn tech knowledge during the training and after training. She has shared dozens of articles across iBoysoft website and other websites, providing solutions and information about file restoration, disk cleanup, work efficiency, and data security.

Jessica Shee is a senior tech editor at iBoysoft. Throughout her 4 years of experience, Jessica has written many informative and instructional articles in data recovery, data security, and disk management to help a lot of readers secure their important documents and take the best advantage of their devices.

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How to Reopen a Closed Browser Tab in Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox

Quickly get back to where you were browsing

It is annoying to accidentally close tabs and lose web pages you were browsing if you forgot to bookmark them. 

Thankfully, most, if not all browsers have features that allow you to reopen websites you viewed previously and restore the tabs you just closed by an errant mouse click.

How to Reopen Closed Browser Tabs in Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox Browsers

There are several ways you can reopen closed tabs in your web browser. These methods include:

• Using keyboard shortcuts
• Using the built-in Undo closed tab feature
• Through a hotkey
• Using a few mouse clicks
• Checking your browsing history

How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Google Chrome

There are several ways you can reopen closed tabs in Google Chrome, including keyboard shortcuts, the reopen closed tab feature, or using the browser history.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

You can reopen a closed tab in Chrome using the following combination of keys.

• On your Windows PC , press Ctrl + Shift + T .

• On a Mac , press Command + Shift + T .

Note : If you hit the keyboard shortcut once on your computer, it’ll bring up the last tab you closed. Keep hitting the keys until you get the tab you want.

Using the Reopen Closed Tab Feature

• If you’re using a Windows PC , right-click on the tab menu area and select Reopen Closed Tab . Repeat this step until you reopen the tab you’re looking for.

• On a Mac , select File > Reopen Closed Tab .

Using Your Browser History

You can go through your browser history and check the sites you visited in the past hour, day, week or month.

• On a Windows PC , select the Chrome menu and then select History .

• On a Mac , select History on the menu bar at the top and see your recently closed tabs. You can also select Show full history to see all the websites you visited last or press Command + Y on your Mac’s keyboard.

How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Safari

On a Mac, you can reopen a closed tab using a keyboard shortcut, the Undo Closed tab feature, or go through your browsing history to find the tab you’re looking for.

Using a keyboard shortcut

Use the following shortcut keys Command + Shift + T to reopen a closed tab or press Ctrl + Z .

Using the Menu Bar

The menu bar on your Mac offers several features including the Undo Closed Tab feature.

• To access the feature, select Edit > Undo Closed Tab .

• Alternatively, select History > Recently Closed or History > Reopen Last Closed tab .

Using the Browser History

• Select History in the menu bar and select Show All History .

• If you want to see all the windows from your last session, select History > Reopen all Windows from Last Session .

How to Reopen a Closed Tab in Edge

You can reopen closed tabs in the exact order in which you closed them using the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + T .

You can set up the Edge browser to open previously closed tabs each time you launch the browser. This way, you can pick up easily from where you left off.

• Select Menu > Settings .

• Right-click the Edge menu bar and select Reopen closed tab .

If you want to see your browsing history, press CTRL+H to open the History tab and find the tabs you closed recently.

Note : These steps don’t work if you’re using Incognito mode.

How to Reopen a Closed Tab in Firefox

Reopening a closed tab on Firefox is pretty straightforward. You can use a keyboard shortcut or the Undo Closed tab feature on the menu bar.

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

• On a Windows PC you can use the Ctrl + Shift + T shortcut to reopen closed tabs.
• On a Mac you can use the Command + Shift + T shortcut to reopen tabs.
• You can right-click the Firefox menu bar and select Undo closed tab .

• Alternatively, select the History tab > Recently closed tabs .

• If you want to see your browsing history and choose the tab you want to reopen, select History on your Mac’s menu bar and then select Show All History .

We hope this guide helped you reopen closed tabs on your Windows or Mac.

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Elsie is a technology writer and editor with a special focus on Windows, Android and iOS. She writes about software, electronics and other tech subjects, her ultimate goal being to help people out with useful solutions to their daily tech issues in a simple, straightforward and unbiased style. She has a BCom degree in Marketing and currently pursuing her Masters in Communications and New Media. Read Elsie's Full Bio

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Accidentally closed all Safari tabs, possible to restore?

I use iPhone 13 Pro for research and tend to have a lot of tabs open. Now I accidentally hit "close all tabs". With

"recently closed tabs" I could restore but I had 112 tabs open

Is there a way to get the tabs back? And is there a way to undo the "close all tabs" if possible

Posted on Nov 1, 2022 5:35 PM

Posted on Nov 2, 2022 6:31 AM

This user has recovered the tabs that seemed to have disappeared --> My Open Safari Tabs Have Disappeared! - Apple Community

Similar questions

• all my tabs disappeared hello, i still had my safari opened but i left safari without closing the tab and when i came back all my opened safari tabs have disappeared even tho i had my “close tabs” on manually. is there any way to restore them? (iphone) 7141 1
• Accidentally closed all my Safari tabs iPhone 6s Hi, I haven’t managed to find any information anywhere as to how I might restore all the (useful :)) tabs I had open earlier. Is it possible to do so without having to do them one by one from the history…? 2369 6
• Restore tabs I closed over 400 safari tabs on iPad, how do I restore? 3322 1

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How to Reopen Closed Tab on Safari

It's free and super easy to set up

Safari is a popular web browser for Apple devices, used by millions of people worldwide. One of the most commonly encountered issues while browsing is accidentally closing a tab with valuable information. Fear not, as there are several ways to reopen closed tabs on Safari.

Understanding Safari's Tab Management

Before we dive in, let's take a brief look at how Safari handles tab management. Tabs are an essential feature of any modern web browser, allowing users to browse multiple web pages simultaneously under one window. Safari organizes tabs horizontally, allowing users to switch between them with ease. When you close a tab, Safari moves it to a temporary closed tabs section, where you can reopen it for a certain period.

The role of tabs in web browsing

Tabs are an integral part of web browsing, helping users multitask more efficiently. They allow users to open multiple web pages simultaneously, save time and minimize the clutter on the screen. Safari, like other web browsers, offers several options to manage tabs.

For example, you can drag and drop tabs to rearrange them in a specific order, or group them together for easy access. You can also pin tabs that you frequently use, so they stay open and easily accessible even when you close and reopen Safari. Additionally, Safari provides a feature called "Tab Overview" that allows you to view all your open tabs in one place, making it easier to find the one you need.

How Safari handles closed tabs

Safari saves closed tabs in a temporary section for a certain period, ensuring users don't lose valuable information. If you need to reopen a closed tab, you can access it from this section easily.

Furthermore, Safari allows you to customize how long closed tabs remain in the temporary section. You can set it to a specific time period or choose to keep them indefinitely. This feature is especially useful when you accidentally close a tab or need to revisit a page you recently closed.

In conclusion, Safari's tab management system provides users with several options to manage their tabs effectively. From organizing tabs to customizing how closed tabs are handled, Safari ensures a seamless browsing experience for its users.

Reopening Closed Tabs on Safari for Desktop

If you accidentally closed a tab on Safari for desktop, don't worry. There are several ways to reopen it.

Whether you were browsing the latest news, online shopping, or streaming your favorite show, accidentally closing a tab can be frustrating. Fortunately, Safari offers a few options to restore your tabs quickly and efficiently.

Using keyboard shortcuts

One of the quickest ways to reopen a closed tab on Safari for desktop is by using keyboard shortcuts. To reopen the last closed tab, press Command + Shift + T on a Mac or Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows. This shortcut will restore the tab that you closed most recently, saving you time and effort.

Keyboard shortcuts are an excellent way to streamline your browsing experience. They can help you navigate your tabs and windows with ease, making it easier to find what you're looking for.

Accessing closed tabs through the History menu

If you prefer using the menu, you can access the closed tab by clicking on 'History' in the top menu bar and selecting 'Recently Closed.' From here, you can choose which tab to reopen. This option is helpful if you closed a tab a while ago and can't remember which one it was.

The History menu is also useful for finding websites that you've visited recently. You can use it to revisit a page that you forgot to bookmark or to clear your browsing history if you need to keep your browsing private.

Restoring closed tabs from the Tab Bar

You can access the Tab Bar by clicking on the button at the top-right corner of the Safari window. It reveals all of your open tabs, along with any closed tabs, allowing you to reopen them by clicking on the 'X' icon. This option is useful if you want to restore multiple tabs at once.

The Tab Bar is an excellent tool for managing your tabs. You can use it to switch between tabs quickly, organize your tabs by topic, or close tabs that you no longer need.

In conclusion, Safari offers several options for reopening closed tabs on desktop. Whether you prefer using keyboard shortcuts, the History menu, or the Tab Bar, you can restore your tabs quickly and easily, ensuring that you never lose your place when browsing the web.

Reopening Closed Tabs on Safari for iPhone and iPad

If you are using Safari on iPhone or iPad, you can still easily reopen closed tabs.

Utilizing the Tab Switcher

Safari for iOS has a feature called the Tab Switcher, which allows users to view all open tabs in a grid view. To access the Tab Switcher, tap and hold the tabs button located at the bottom right of the screen, revealing all open tabs and closed tabs. You can reopen a closed tab by tapping on it here.

You can also access closed tabs on Safari for iOS through the History menu. Tap on the 'Bookmarks' button located at the bottom of the screen, select 'History,' then 'Recently Closed Tabs.' From here, you can reopen any closed tabs.

Restoring closed tabs using gestures

If you prefer using gestures, you can swipe to reopen a recently closed tab on Safari for iOS. Swipe left with two fingers to reveal all open tabs and swipe right with two fingers to see recently closed tabs. Once you see the tab you want to reopen, tap on it to restore it.

Tips for Managing Tabs in Safari

Organizing tabs with tab groups.

Safari offers a useful feature called Tab Groups, allowing users to organize their open tabs by topic, project, or relevance. To create a Tab Group, right-click on a tab and select 'Add to Tab Group.' You can also create a new Tab Group by clicking the '+' button in the Tab Bar.

Pinning frequently visited websites

If you frequently visit a website, you can pin it to the Tab Bar for quick access. To pin a site, right-click on the tab and select 'Pin Tab.' The pinned website will remain on the left side of the Tab Bar, even when you close Safari.

Closing multiple tabs at once

If you have multiple tabs open and need to close them quickly, you can do so by using the 'Close Other Tabs' option. Right-click on the tab you want to keep open and select 'Close Other Tabs.'

Wrapping Up

Reopening closed tabs on Safari is quick and straightforward, and with these tips, you can manage your tabs more efficiently. Remember to use keyboard shortcuts and gestures, organize tabs with Tab Groups, and pin frequently visited websites to streamline your web browsing experience.

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How to make safari always open your previous tabs on mac.

Tired of losing all your browser tabs when you close or restart Safari on Mac? Here's how to make Safari restore your session every time you start the app.

It can be frustrating when you need to restart Safari on your Mac and you lose what you've been working on because all of your tabs and windows close. Luckily, there's an easy way to make Safari restore your session every time you start the app. Here's how to set it up.

First, launch Safari on your Mac. At the top of your screen, click the "Safari" menu and select "Preferences."

When the "Preferences" window appears, click the "General" tab, then locate the "Safari opens with" option. In the drop-down menu beside it, select "All windows from last session" if you want all of your windows---including your Private Browsing windows ---to be restored.

If you only want your non-Private windows to be restored, select "All non-private windows from last session" in the drop-down menu.

After that, close Preferences. The next time you restart Safari, it will remember your browsing session, and all the windows and tabs you had open last time will reopen automatically. Happy browsing!

Related: How to Always Start Safari in Private Browsing Mode on a Mac

Safari User Guide

• Get started
• Go to a website
• Bookmark web pages to revisit
• See your favourite websites
• Use tabs for web pages
• Import bookmarks and passwords
• Pay with Apple Pay
• Autofill credit card info
• View links from friends
• Keep a Reading List
• Hide ads when reading
• Translate a web page
• Download items from the web
• Add passes to Wallet
• Save part or all of a web page
• Print or create a PDF of a web page
• Interact with text in a picture
• Change your home page
• Customise a start page
• Create a profile
• Block pop-ups
• Make Safari your default web browser
• Hide your email address
• Manage cookies
• Clear your browsing history
• Browse privately
• Prevent cross-site tracking
• See who tried to track you
• Change Safari settings
• Keyboard and other shortcuts

Use tabs for web pages in Safari on Mac

When you’re surfing the web or researching a subject, avoid cluttering your desktop with multiple windows. You can instead view multiple web pages in a single Safari window by using tabs.

Open Safari for me

Preview a tab

Open a new tab.

To change the webpage that opens in new tabs, choose Safari > Settings, click General, click the New tabs open with pop-up menu, then choose an option. See Change General settings .

Open a webpage or PDF in a new tab

Command-click a link on a webpage or a Favourites icon.

Type in the Smart Search field , then Command-click an item in the search suggestions, or press Command-Return.

Tip: To use these Command-key shortcuts to open webpages in new windows instead of new tabs, choose Safari > Settings, click Tabs, then deselect ⌘-click opens a link in a new tab. See Change Tabs settings .

Open a webpage in a new tab from the bookmarks sidebar

Control-click a bookmark, then choose Open in New Tab from the shortcut menu.

Control-click a bookmarks folder, then choose Open in New Tabs.

Each bookmark in the folder opens in a new tab.

Open a tab in another window

You can also drag the tab of one Safari window to the tab bar of another.

Note: Tabs in private windows can only be moved to other private windows. Tabs in non-private windows can only be moved to other non-private windows.

Automatically open webpages in tabs

Click the “Open pages in tabs instead of windows” pop-up menu, then choose an option:

Never: Links designed to open in new windows open in new windows.

Automatically: Links designed to open in new windows open in new tabs.

Always: All links designed to open in new windows open in new tabs, including links designed to open in specially formatted separate windows.

Reopen a recently closed tab

You can also reopen a closed tab or window.

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How to Open a Recently Closed Tab in Safari on Your iOS Device

Accidentally close a browser tab in Safari on iOS and want to open it back up? There's a simple gesture for that, which you may not know about.

Even if you're aware of the gesture, it's worth a reminder that this feature exists in case someone gets ahold of your phone and checks your browser. Even if you've closed out a tab, it's still going to be visible in Safari, unless you were using a private browser window or have cleared your browsing history.

Want to close your Safari tabs all in one go? That's another hidden feature available in Safari. Make sure to check out our accompanying how to for instructions.

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Top Rated Comments

Lol I had no idea! But iOS is so intuitive, you can even press things out of nowhere on a 3D Touch-less device!

Cool! I didn’t know this :) [doublepost=1515101359][/doublepost] I missed that one! How do I do that?

On a Mac, using Safari you can also either click and hold the + icon at the right of your tabs, or just quickly press ⌘⇧T to open your last-closed tab. In fact, you can keep hitting that combo and it will keep opening other recently-closed tabs.

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How to Restore Accidentally Closed Safari Tabs on iPhone

• If you’ve accidentally closed Safari tabs on an iPhone, you can easily recover them by using the Recently Closed Tabs list.
• Another alternative method is to restore deleted Safari tabs by accessing the History tab.
• And, finally the Shake to Undo feature also allows you to recover recently closed Safari tabs on iPhone.

Did you accidentally close all tabs open in Safari on your iPhone? If you did, you’re not alone. Several people, including myself, have encountered this issue at least once. However, it is nothing to worry about as you can easily recover any deleted Safari tab. Read along to learn how to Restore accidentally closed Safari tabs on iPhone. 

How To Recover Deleted Safari Tabs on iPhone

Since Safari is the primary web browser for most of us, we have multiple tabs open within the browser. Some of us leave these tabs open as we need to revisit them later. Now, if you accidentally delete or close all of these tabs in Safari, do not panic. Recovering accidentally closed Safari tabs isn’t all that difficult. 

Many people accidentally close tabs and you can find several posts regarding this issue on Apple’s Discussion Community page . Therefore, to solve this issue, we’ve put together some of the best troubleshooting methods to help you recover deleted Safari tabs on your iPhone.

1. Restore Accidentally Closed Tabs from Recently Closed Tabs List in Safari 

The Safari browser on iPhone has a Recently Closed Tabs list hidden in plain sight within the browser. Not many people are aware of this feature and hence panic when they accidentally close multiple Safari tabs on their iPhones. However, we will help you navigate to the Recently Closed Tabs list and reopen all the tabs you accidentally closed on Safari. 

Time needed:  1 minute

Steps to reopen websites from the Recently Closed Tabs list in Safari on iPhone. 

Once the tab opens, you can continue browsing. If you want to reopen several tabs that you accidentally closed, you will have to repeat this step multiple times. 

2. Restore Deleted Safari Tabs From Safari History

Another simple method to recover accidentally closed tabs is to restore them from History. Like most browsers, Safari also stores your browsing history in the History tab. However, note that if you accidentally closed tabs in the Private Browsing Mode, then they cannot be restored.

This is because Apple does not store browsing history for any activity in the Private Browsing Mode on iPhone. If they did, the Private Browsing Mode wouldn’t be that private. But if you’re on Mac, there’s a workaround that allows you to view Private Mode browsing history .

With that said, here’s how to recover deleted Safari tabs from Safari History on your iPhone. 

• Open the Safari browser on your iPhone. 
• Tap the Bookmarks icon located below the address bar. 
• Here, tap the History tab (clock icon). 
• Next, tap the page you want to reopen.
• Alternatively, you can also tap and hold and then select the Open in New Tab or Open in New Tab Group option if you do not want to load the link on the current tab. 

3. Shake Your iPhone To Undo Changes and Recover Accidentally Closed Tabs in Safari 

Have you ever tried the Shake to Undo feature on your iPhone? Chances are, you have used this feature to correct typing errors. However, the Shake to Undo feature offers a lot more and can help you undo several accidental changes, including the ability to restore recently closed tabs in Safari on iPhone. 

Apart from reopening accidentally closed tabs, the Shake to Undo feature also works in other apps and services. Here are a few examples of using your iPhone’s Shake to Undo feature.

• Creating, editing, renaming, or deleting files or folders in the Files app. 
• Creating, editing, or deleting events in the Calendar app.
• Editing or deleting images or videos in the Photos app.
• Rearranging apps and widgets on the Home Screen.

We understand that this feature might be helpful you right now. Because a few minutes must’ve passed since you accidentally closed these tabs. Regardless, it might come in handy in the near future. Therefore, here’s how to use the Shake to Undo feature to restore accidentally closed tabs in Safari on iPhone. 

• The moment you accidentally close Safari tabs, quickly shake your iPhone . We suggest using the hammering motion as that is what seems to work for us. 
• The iPhone will display an Undo Close Tab pop-up. Tap the Undo button. 
• The closed tab will be restored and you can continue browsing. 

If the Shake to Undo feature is not working on your iPhone, you might have accidentally disabled it. Here’s how to enable the Shake to Undo feature on iPhone. 

• Open the Settings app and tap the Accessibility option. 
• Select the Touch option located under the Physical and Motor menu. 
• On the next screen, enable the Shake to Undo toggle. 

Prevent Accidentally Closing Safari Tabs 

Why do you have multiple tabs open in Safari? Mostly, it might be because you visit those sites often and do not want to search for them every single time. However, navigating through hundreds of tabs to revisit a website isn’t very easy. While doing so, you might accidentally close all of the open tabs too. 

Therefore, in order to prevent accidentally closing Safari tabs on iPhone, we suggest bookmarking tabs you visit frequently. This will streamline the entire process of navigating websites you visit often and in turn save time. Here’s how to bookmark tabs in Safari on your iPhone. 

• Head to the website you want to bookmark.
• Now, tap and hold on the Bookmark icon below the address bar. 

• On the next screen, you can edit the Name and the Link of the website . 
• If you want to change the location of the Bookmark, tap the option below Location and select the Bookmark Folder of your choice. 

Conclusion 

We hope you were able to restore all the accidentally closed Safari tabs on your iPhone. I can completely relate to your pain of losing all the open tabs. It has happened to me in the past too. If you have any other doubts or are aware of other methods that can help restore accidentally deleted tabs in Safari, please let us know in the comments below. 

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