how to start safari

Blazing fast. Incredibly private.

Safari is the best way to experience the internet on all your Apple devices. It brings robust customization options, powerful privacy protections, and optimizes battery life — so you can browse how you like, when you like. And when it comes to speed, it’s the world’s fastest browser. 1

Performance

More with the battery. less with the loading..

With a blazing-fast JavaScript engine, Safari is the world’s fastest browser. 1 It’s developed to run specifically on Apple devices, so it’s geared to make the most out of your battery life and deliver long-lasting power.

Increased performance

We’re always working to make the fastest desktop browser on the planet even faster.

Improved power efficiency

Safari lets you do more online on a single charge.

Up to 4 hours more streaming videos compared with Chrome 3

Up to 17 hours of video streaming 3

Best-in-class browsing

Safari outperforms both Mac and PC browsers in benchmark after benchmark on the same Mac. 4

• JetStream /
• MotionMark /
• Speedometer /

JavaScript performance on advanced web applications. 4

Safari vs. other Mac browsers

Safari on macOS

Chrome on macOS

Edge on macOS

Firefox on macOS

Safari vs. Windows 11 browsers

Chrome on Windows 11

Edge on Windows 11

Firefox on Windows 11

Rendering performance of animated content. 4

Web application responsiveness. 4

4K video streaming

See your favorite shows and films in their best light. Safari supports in-browser 4K HDR video playback for YouTube, Netflix, and Apple TV+. 5 And it runs efficiently for longer-lasting battery life.

Privacy is built in.

Online privacy isn’t just something you should hope for — it’s something you should expect. That’s why Safari comes with industry-leading privacy protection technology built in, including Intelligent Tracking Prevention that identifies trackers and helps prevent them from profiling or following you across the web. Upgrading to iCloud+ gives you even more privacy protections, including the ability to sign up for websites and services without having to share your personal email address.

Intelligent Tracking Prevention

Safari stops trackers in their tracks.

What you browse is no one’s business but your own. Safari has built‑in protections to help stop websites and data-collection companies from watching and profiling you based on your browsing activity. Intelligent Tracking Prevention uses on‑device intelligence to help prevent cross‑site tracking and stops known trackers from using your IP address — making it incredibly difficult to learn who you are and what you’re interested in.

Privacy Report

Safari makes it simple to see how your privacy is protected on all the websites you visit. Click Privacy Report in the Safari menu for a snapshot of cross-site trackers currently prevented from profiling you on the website you’re visiting. Or view a weekly Privacy Report to see how Safari protects you as you browse over time.

Customization

Putting the you in url..

Safari is more customizable than ever. Organize your tabs into Tab Groups so it’s easy to go from one interest to the next. Set a custom background image and fine-tune your browser window with your favorite features — like Reading List, Favorites, iCloud Tabs, and Siri Suggestions. And third-party extensions for iPhone, iPad, and Mac let you do even more with Safari, so you can browse the way you want across all your devices.

Safari Profiles allow you to separate your history, extensions, Tab Groups, favorites, cookies, and more. Quickly switch between profiles for topics you create, like Personal and Work.

Web apps let you save your favorite websites to the Dock on Mac and to the Home Screen on iPhone and iPad. A simplified toolbar and separate settings give you an app-like experience.

Safari Extensions add functionality to your browser to help you explore the web the way you want. Find and add your favorite extensions in the dedicated Safari category on the App Store.

Save and organize your tabs in the way that works best for you. Name your Tab Groups, edit them, and switch among them across devices. You can also share Tab Groups — making planning your next family trip or group project easier and more collaborative.

Smart Tools

Designed to help your work flow..

Built-in tools create a browsing experience that’s far more immersive, intuitive, and immediate. Get detailed information about a subject in a photo with just a click, select text within any image, instantly translate an entire web page, and quickly take notes wherever you are on a site — without having to switch apps.

Notes is your go-to app to capture any thought. And with the Quick Note feature, you can instantly jot down ideas as you browse websites without having to leave Safari.

Translation

Translate entire web pages with a single click. You can also get translations for text in images and paused video without leaving Safari.

Interact with text in any image or paused video on the web using functions like copy and paste, translate, and lookup. 6

Visual Look Up

Quickly learn more about landmarks, works of art, breeds of dogs, and more with only a photo or an image you find online. And easily lift the subject of an image from Safari, remove its background, and paste it into Messages, Notes, or other apps.

Surf safe and sound.

Strong security protections in Safari help keep you safe. Passkeys introduce a safer way to sign in. iCloud Keychain securely stores and autofills passkeys and passwords across all your devices. Safari also notifies you when it encounters suspicious websites and prevents them from loading. Because it loads each web page in a separate process, any harmful code is always confined to a single browser tab so it won’t crash the entire application or access your data. And Safari automatically upgrades sites from HTTP to the more secure HTTPS when available.

Passkeys introduce a more secure and easier way to sign in. No passwords required.

Passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and safe from phishing and data leaks, and they are stronger than all common two-factor authentication types. Thanks to iCloud Keychain, they work across all your Apple devices, and they even work on non-Apple devices.

Learn more about passkeys

Apple Pay and Wallet make checkout as easy as lifting a finger.

Apple Pay is the easiest and most secure way to shop on Safari — allowing you to complete transactions with Face ID or Touch ID on your iPhone or iPad, with Touch ID on your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, or by double-clicking the side button on your Apple Watch.

Learn more about Apple Pay

With AutoFill, you can easily fill in your previously saved credit card information from the Wallet app during checkout. Your credit card details are never shared, and your transactions are protected with industry-leading security.

Same Safari. Different device.

Safari works seamlessly and syncs your passwords, bookmarks, history, tabs, and more across Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. And when your Mac, iOS, or iPadOS devices are near each other, they can automatically pass what you’re doing in Safari from one device to another using Handoff. You can even copy images, video, or text from Safari on your iPhone or iPad, then paste into another app on your nearby Mac — or vice versa.

When you use Safari on multiple devices, your tabs carry over from one Apple device to another. So you can search, shop, work, or browse on your iPhone, then switch to your iPad or Mac and pick up right where you left off.

Save web pages you want to read later by adding them to your Reading List. Then view them on any of your iCloud-connected devices — even if you’re not connected to the internet.

iCloud Keychain securely stores your user names, passkeys, passwords, and credit card numbers and keeps them up to date on your trusted devices. So you can easily sign in to your favorite websites — as well as apps on iOS and iPadOS — and quickly make online purchases.

Designed for developers.

Deep WebKit integration between Mac hardware and macOS allows Safari to deliver the fastest performance and the longest battery life of any browser on the platform, while supporting modern web standards for rich experiences in the browser. WebKit in macOS Sonoma includes optimizations that enable even richer browsing experiences, and give developers more control over styling and layout — allowing for more engaging content.

Make Safari your default browser

Customize your start page, view your browsing privacy report, monitor your saved passwords, use apple pay in safari, view your tabs across all your devices, read the safari user guide, get safari support.

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How to use Safari on a Mac

Safari is the web browser app bundled with all Macs as part of macOS. You don’t have to use it – if you prefer to use Chrome or Firefox, for example, you can install those apps for your web surfing needs. But in our experience, Safari is a good option – and as you can see from our round-up of best web browser apps for the Mac , it’s pretty much the best you can get.

If you are new to Safari this article will help you find your way around the app. And if you are a seasoned Safari user we will reveal a few Safari tips and tricks that you might not know, including some of the fab new features in Safari 11, the latest version of Safari for Mac.

If you’d like to read about using Safari on the iPad or iPhone, read this .

How to get the latest version of Safari for Mac

First things first. You will want to make sure you have the latest version of Safari. At the time of writing the most up-to-date version is Safari 11.1.

Here’s how to find out which version of Safari you are running:

• Open Safari.
• Click on Safari > About Safari in the menu.
• The resulting window will reveal the version number.

As long as your copy of MacOS – the Mac operating system – is up to date your copy of Safari should be because Safari is bundled as part of an operating system update.

However, you don’t have to be using the latest version of macOS to have the latest version of Safari. Apple is bundling Safari 11 with High Sierra, Sierra and El Capitan versions of the Mac OS. If you need to update your version of MacOS read this: how to update your Mac operating system software .

Now that you have the latest version of Safari you can start enjoying some of the new features that we will discuss below.

Safari basics

If you are a surfing novice you might want to familiarise yourself with these tips.

We’ll start off with the basics, such as how to get into Safari, how to search, and other useful pointers. You can skip this bit if you aren’t a Safari beginner, there are plenty of tips below that you might find useful.

You can find Safari in the Dock at the bottom of your Mac’s screen. Its icon looks like a compass.

How to use Safari

The big bar at the top of the Safari window is where you can enter a website URL or a search term to either take you directly to a website, or to a list of pages that match your query.

It will automatically search in Google (but you can change it so it defaults to another search engine).

You rarely have to enter a complete URL for a website. Once you have visited a site once you only need to type a few letters of its name and it will autofill the rest of the URL.

For example, type: ‘Face’ and it will autofill the rest of the URL and when you press enter it will take you straight to Facebook.

How to make it easy to find your favourite sites in Safari

There are lots of ways of making it easy to get to websites you frequently visit.

When you open a new tab (see below for details of how to do that) you will see your Favourites view including Frequently Visited Sites. You could also choose to see a Top Sites view, set a Homepage, just see an empty page, or have the Same Page show up. These are all options you can access in Safari > Preferences > General. Just click on the menu beside New tabs open with.

If you choose the Top Sites view you can adjust it to show 6, 12 or 24 sites. To add and remove Top Sites hover over the preview until you see an x and a pin icon. Pin those sites you wish to keep and click x on those you don’t image you will want to find again. The sites that appear in Top Sites tend to be those you visit most frequently.

You can choose one of these views for every time you open a new Safari window.

How to Pin a site in Safari

In Safari you can also ‘Pin’ favourite sites to the menu bar – a simple way of adding a shortcut to Facebook, YouTube or any site you visit frequently.

When you Pin a site you will see a small icon representing that site on the left of your tabs.

To Pin a particular web page right- or control-click on the tab and choose Pin Tab. Then it’s very easy to go straight to that site.

Using tabs in Safari

Back to tabs. You can open multiple tabs in a Safari window, this means that rather than having a different Safari window open for every website you are on, you can just have one Safari window open and multiple pages accessible through that.

To open a new tab press Command + T.

There are two ways that you can see a preview of the different tabs you have open:

• You can see a short summary of the name of the web page on the tabs themselves. This might be sufficient if you only have one or two tabs open, but once you have more than eight you’ll probably find the summary is too short to be useful.
• Or, you can click on the icon that looks like two boxes on the right of the search/URL box. This will show a thumbnail view of all the web pages you have open.

While we’re on the subject of Tabs, you can close a single tab just by hovering over the tab and clicking on the x that shows up in the corner of that tab.

It’s also possible to close all but one tab. Just hold down the Option/Alt key when you click on the x to get rid of all the other tabs that are open, except for the page on that tab.

How to tell which Safari tabs are playing audio

Not everyone wants to surf the web in silence though. There is lots of very worthy audio and video content available on the web and no doubt many surfers wouldn’t want to miss out on that.

The problem is when you have multiple web pages open and more than one of them is blaring out audio.

Luckily there is another Safari tip to fix that.

You can identify which of your open tabs is playing audio by the speaker symbol that appears in the far right of the Safari tab associated with that web page.

It’s possible to mute the audio with a single click on the speaker symbol without even opening the tab.

And if more than one Safari webpage is playing audio you can choose to mute them all at once. Just click on the speaker symbol in the URL bar and choose Mute all Tabs.

Alternatively, you can Option/Alt-click on the speaker icon of the tab you do wish to listen to and mute the audio on all the other tabs.

How to reopen all windows from the last session

Here’s another useful tip. You can easily reopen all the tabs you had open last time you were using Safari.

Click History > Reopen All Windows from Last Session to quickly recover all the windows you were recently looking at. You might also find this helpful: How to export bookmarks from Chrome to Safari

How to show the full URL in Safari

Another handy Safari tip. In Yosemite Safari stopped showing the whole URL – a feature designed to help avoid users being taken in by phishing scams, wherein the URL is obfuscated. In other words, if you’re visiting https://macworld.co.uk/this/page/that/page then all you’ll see in the address bar is macworld.co.uk.

If this isn’t what you want, perhaps you want to see the full URL of the article you are reading, you can change things so that the whole URL is shown.

Open Safari’s preferences dialog box (Cmd+,) then click the Advanced icon and put a check alongside Show Full Website Address.

How to change how you view websites in Safari

One of our favourite features in Safari 11 is the extra control we have over the web. You can tweak the settings of specific websites so that they suit you for example.

How to change the font size on a website

You can tweak your settings so that when you visit a specific site the images and text are bigger – perfect if you are frustrated to find that the text on a favourite website is a bit too small for your eyes.

Here’s how to enlarge (or reduce) the font size on a particular website so that it stays that size whether you visit:

• Go to Safari > Preferences.
• Click on the Websites tab.
• Click on Page Zoom.
• Find the site you want to customise (any site you have open or have recently visited will be listed here).
• Choose a number bigger or smaller than 100% depending on how large you want the text and images to be.

You can do this on a per website basis, or if you frequently find that the text on websites is too small for you, you can choose to default to the percentage that suits you wherever you go on the web. Note that not all websites are created the same so some will naturally have larger type than others.

To choose the zoom percentage for all websites, click in the drop down box beside “When visiting other websites”.

Another benefit of having access to these controls that allow you to change the way you view the web is that it enables you to stop seeing ads and auto-playing videos. We’ll look at that below.

How to stop ads and auto-playing videos in Safari

Another enticing feature of Safari is the way you can choose to adjust the settings so that you never see another ad or auto-playing video again. We’ll look at how to do that next.

How to stop autoplay audio and video in Safari

Perhaps you are frustrated by auto-playing video blaring out every time you visit a website.

With Safari 11 you can disable autoplay video, so you will never again have to hear voices while you are browsing the web. Here’s what to do:

• Open the offending website.
• Click on Safari > Settings for This Website (or right-click the URL box and select Settings for This Website).
• Allow All Auto-Play
• Stop Media with Sound
• Never Auto-Play

Stop Media with Sounds is the default option, and it will essentially stop any video from starting if the sound is set to be on. If the video is set to play silently it will still run but you won’t hear it, unless you choose to.

If you would rather not let auto-playing video play, you can choose Never Auto-Play.

Remember that if you adjust the settings this way it will only apply to autoplay videos on that website. If you’d like to never see an autoplaying video again follow these steps:

• Go to Safari > Preferences and click on Websites.

And there is an option below to choose the same settings “When visiting other websites”.

We have a complete tutorial that explains how to use this feature here: How to stop autoplay video in Safari & Chrome on Mac .

We also cover how to stop Safari asking to use your location data here .

How to stop seeing ads on websites in Safari

While ads pay a part of our wage, we realise that some ads can really reduce the enjoyment of web browsing. Usually these are ads that have something wrong with the way they have been coded and aren’t behaving as intended, or even worse they are spam ads that have crept onto the ad networks. We are honestly as frustrated as you are!

One of the big changes Apple bought to Safari 11 was the ability to really manage the ads that you see – this was part of Apple’s effort to make the web work better. Effectively, if Apple can remove ads that aren’t behaving as intended and are jamming up page loading times and the like, then Safari will perform quicker, which means that the surfer has a better time surfing.

There are a few ways you can take advantage of these anti-ad related features in Safari 11.

One way is to choose to surf the web – or certain pages – in Reader mode.

Reader mode is a way of viewing webpages that Apple introduced back in 2010 in Safari 5. Reader displays just the text and images from a webpage, without any of the other page furniture. We think it is a bit like reading a Word document or a PDF. The feature hasn’t changed much over the years, but in Safari 11 it’s became possible to choose for a site to always be viewed in Reader Mode.

First, here’s how to view a site in Reader mode:

• Click on the stack of lines to the left of the URL bar.
• This will automatically change the webpage to Reader view.
• Click on the stack of lines to turn Reader view off.

It’s worth checking how a site appears in this mode before switching over to it because not all sites implement it particularly well (sometimes you will find that an article stops abruptly because only one page has been carried into Reader view). Some sites don’t have a Reader view at all (such as Apple, for example).

And here is how to customise your settings so that whenever you visit that site the pages are viewed in Reader mode:

• Click on Reader.
• Find the site you want to customise (any site you have open, or have recently visited will be listed here).
• Toggle the drop-down menu beside that site to On.

A quicker way to do this is to right-click or control-click on the stack of lines beside the URL and choose Use Reader Automatically.

Or, as long as you are on the website you wish to change the setting for, you can click on Safari > Settings for this Website, and choose Use Reader When Available.

How to surf in private using Safari

Another useful feature in Safari is the option to use a private browsing window. This doesn’t just keep your browsing habits private from someone else who has access to your Mac, it also means that you are incognito – in other words even the websites you are visiting don’t have any information about you.

Go to Safari > File > New Private Window (or shift-cmd-n). You can tell if a window is private because the search bar will be grey. Any new tabs you open in this window will be private.

Alternatively, to open a Private Browsing window you can click shift, command and N.

You can tell it’s a private window because the URL field will be greyed out.

Hold down Option/Alt while picking Private Browsing to quickly switch it on and bypass the ‘Do you want to switch on Private Browsing?’ alert window if you happen to see it frequently. We have a complete guide to private browsing on Safari here .

For even more privacy, you can choose to always search with privacy-obsessed DuckDuckGo as your default search engine. Go to Safari > Preferences > Search, and click on the Search Engine. Then select Duck Duck Go from the Search Engine dropdown list. You can choose from Google, Bing, Yahoo or DuckDuckGo.

How to delete your histroy in Safari

If you didn’t search using a private browsing window you can still delete your history and evidence of what you were up to.

• Click on History.
• Scroll down and click on Clear History.
• You can choose to clear history for Today, the last hour, today and yesterday, or all history.
• You’ll see a warning that Clearing history will remove related cookies and other website data. Basically this is warning you that if you go ahead and Clear History you may find that you have to log onto websites, or shopping cart information may disappear.
• If you are happy with that then click on Clear history.

We have a complete tutorial all about how to delete your browser history on a Mac here .

How to delete cookies in Safari

Another new feature that came in Safari 11 was the introduction of privacy protection, a feature that’ll stop those annoying Amazon adverts showing you products after you’ve bought them.

Safari actively tries to block the cross-site tracking data that powers targeted adverts. While it won’t completely stop it, it should have a noticeable effect when using the browser.

According to Apple this isn’t an attempt to block ads, but rather to protect your privacy.

This means that you should no longer need to delete cookies if you want to stop seeing targeted ads (cookies have also been known to affect the price for goods if you have previously shown an interest in a product so deleting cookies could avoid such practices).

If you want to go a step further regarding cookies in Safari 11 there are some preferences changes you can make.

• Beside Website tracking click on Ask websites not to track me.
• Beside Cookies and website data click on Block all cookies.

If you aren’t using Safari 11 you can still delete cookies.

• Click on the Privacy tab.
• Click on Remove All Website Data…

Here’s how to add your own background image to Safari.

Author: Karen Haslam , Managing Editor

Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld more than two decades ago. Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Having edited the U.K. print and online editions of Macworld for many years, more recently her focus has been on SEO and evergreen content as well product recommendations and buying advice on Macworld.com.

Recent stories by Karen Haslam:

• How to clear cache on a Mac
• Apple Spring event: Date, time, new product rumors for Let Loose event
• How to clear cache on iPhone & iPad

How to Use Safari Browser

Apple's Safari browser is the pre-loaded default on all of the company's desktop and mobile devices, making it the most important application on MacBooks, iPads and iPhones. Safari offers great performance and ease of use, whether you're reading Web pages on a 5-inch handset or a 15-inch laptop.

However, you can also dig deeper behind the scenes to enable new features and change settings to fit your needs. Our list of Safari tips and tricks will teach you how to block cookies, pin tabs, show a full URL while you browse and much more.

Check out the tutorials below to make the most Safari on both OS X and iOS .

Safari Browser Tips

• Previous Tip
• Manage Your Passwords in Safari
• How to Merge All Windows in Safari
• How to Block or Enable Plug-ins for Specific Sites in Safari
• Make Safari Read a Web Page Aloud to You
• Force Safari to Sync with iCloud
• How to Sync Safari Bookmarks with Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer
• Hide Top Sites in Safari
• See the Entire URL in Safari's Address Bar
• Quickly Close Open Tabs in Safari
• How to Delete Cookies and Stored Website Data in Safari
• How to Block Cookies in Safari
• How to Restore Recently Closed Tabs and Windows in Safari
• Search for Text Within a Web Page in Safari
• Pin a Tab in Safari
• How to Turn Off Website Notifications in Safari
• How to Mute Tabs in Safari
• How to Subscribe to RSS Feeds in Safari
• How to Send Safari Pages Between Devices

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Simple Steps to Change Your General Preferences on Safari

Last Updated: June 13, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 225,964 times. Learn more...

Do you want to increase your privacy on Safari or maybe make it more useful for you? To change your Safari preferences on an iOS device, you'll need to use your device's Settings app instead of the Safari app. On macOS computers, you can change the settings from Safari's Preferences menu. Both the mobile and the desktop share some similar settings, but the desktop version has many more options available.

Things You Should Know

• On an iPhone or iPad, go to your device's Settings app to change the general preferences of Safari.
• On Mac, change your general preferences in "Safari > Settings > General."
• Changing things like your search engine and preventing trackers will provide you with more privacy and increase your security.

• This method works for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
• Forgot your iPhone's password? You can reset it in 2 ways !

• The "Search Engine Suggestions" toggle will provide search suggestions from your default search engine as you type.
• The "Safari Suggestions" toggle provides search suggestions curated by Apple.

• Use the Safari app instead of Settings to change how your Home page behaves .

• You can enable or disable various search preferences underneath this menu, including using Safari Suggestions.

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265
• ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/customize-your-safari-settings-iphb3100d149/ios
• ↑ http://www.macworld.com/article/2042451/exploring-safaris-preferences.html

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Safari  - Getting Started with Safari

Safari  -, getting started with safari, safari getting started with safari.

Safari: Getting Started with Safari

Lesson 1: getting started with safari, introduction.

Safari is a free web browser from Apple. It comes pre-installed with all Apple computers, making it a popular browser for many users. It also uses significantly less power and memory than other browsers, which means it won't drain your battery as quickly if you're using it on a laptop.

In this lesson, we'll talk about how to access and use Safari .

Safari is not available for Windows . To learn about different Windows browsers, read our Choosing a Web Browser lesson.

Accessing Safari

If you want to use Safari as your main web browser, you can set it as your default browser . Review our lesson on Customizing Safari to learn how.

Getting to know Safari

Safari offers many of the same features as most web browsers. While it is fairly simple to use, you'll need to spend some time becoming familiar with some of its features.

Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn more about using Safari.

Share Button

Click here to add bookmarks , add sites to your Reading List , and share links with others.

Sidebar Button

Click here to show or hide the sidebar . From the s idebar , you can view bookmarks , items on your Reading List , and shared links .

Smart Search Field

You'll use the Smart Search field to navigate to different websites and conduct online searches. Simply enter the URL or search term, then press Enter .

Navigation Buttons

The Back and Forward buttons allow you to move among sites you've recently visited.

New Tab Button

Safari allows you to view multiple websites in the same window using tabs . Click the New Tab button to open a new tab .

Show All Tabs Button

Click the Show All Tabs button to see thumbnails of all of the tabs you currently have open.

Safari for mobile devices

This tutorial will focus on Safari for desktop and laptop computers . However, if you have an iPhone or iPad, a mobile version of Safari will be the default browser. To learn more about the mobile version, review our lesson on Browsing with Safari .

/en/safari/browsing-in-safari/content/

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How to Reset Safari to Default Settings

Restoring default settings is a multistep process

What to Know

• First, remove the browser history: Select Safari in the menu bar > Clear History , then select All History > Clear History . 
• Remove cookies: Safari > Preferences . Select the Privacy tab > Manage Website Data > Remove All .
• Clear cache: Safari > Preferences . Advanced > Select Show Develop menu in menu bar . Exit. Develop > Empty Caches .

This article explains how to reset Safari to default settings by removing Safari's history and cookies, clearing the cache, and disabling extensions. Instructions apply to Safari versions 11 through 14 and iOS.

Remove Browser History

The first step when resetting Safari is to remove your browser history. When you clear your browsing history, Safari removes data such as recent searches, the frequently visited site list, web page icons, the history of web pages you've visited, and more.

From Safari's menu bar, select Safari > Clear History

In the drop-down menu, select All History .

Select Clear History to complete the process.

To clear a particular website instead, navigate to History > Show History , select the website you want to clear, and press Delete .

Remove Cookies

When you remove all cookies from Safari, you'll lose personal registration data such as your name and address, shopping cart contents, preferred web page layouts, and more.

From Safari's menu bar, select Safari > Preferences .

Select the Privacy tab.

Select Manage Website Data .

Select Remove All .

Select Remove Now .

Select Done .

Clear Safari's Cache

When you clear Safari's cache, you're removing stored website data.

Select the Advanced tab.

Place a check next to Show Develop menu in menu bar , and then exit out of Preferences.

From Safari's menu bar, select Develop > Empty Caches .

Disable or Uninstall Extensions

Safari extensions are like mini-apps that add functionality to the browser. If you're trying to reset Safari, you'll want to disable or uninstall any extensions.

Select the Extensions tab.

Select an extension, and then deselect the checkbox next to the extension to disable it.

Many extensions have several sub-extensions, so you'll need to uncheck all of them.

After you've disabled an extension, you can uninstall it. Select Uninstall .

You'll see a message that the extension is part of an application, and that you'll need to remove the application. Select Show in Finder .

Finder will open with the app selected. Right-click on the application and select Move to Trash .

Enter your password and select OK . You've deleted the extension.

Clear Website Data on Safari for iOS

To clear Safari's settings on an iPhone or iPad:

Open the iOS device's Settings app.

Scroll down and select Safari .

Under Privacy & Security , select Clear History and Website Data .

Select Clear History and Data to confirm.

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How-To Geek

How to customize the safari start page on mac.

Bored by the same old Safari start page on Mac with the gray background and a couple of links? Here's how you can add more sections and even change the background!

Quick Links

How to customize safari start page sections, how to change the safari start page background.

CE Suggestions: Of the list of six Safari 14 start page sections, the "Privacy Report" section isn't described in detail like the other five. Maybe add a sentence or two about it?

With a gray background and a couple of links, Safari's start page is quite bland. But it doesn't have to be! You can add more sections and change the background. Here's how to customize the Safari start page on Mac.

Safari's customizable start page is available in Safari 14.0 or higher if you are running the latest version of macOS Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, or higher.

The start page in Safari 14 or higher is divided into different sections. In total, there are six sections available to you: Favorites, Frequently Visited, Privacy Report, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, and iCloud Tabs.

The "Favorites" section shows two rows of websites and folders that are in your Favorites bar. You can click the "Show More" button to expand the section. As expected, the "Frequently Visited" section shows some of your frequently visited websites. To remove a website from here, right-click and select the "Delete" option.

"Privacy Report" shows a rundown of websites that you've visited over the past seven days and reports how many trackers have been blocked from profiling your presence on the web. You can click into the report and view exactly what trackers on each website were blocked.

"Siri Suggestions" will show you links that you have received in Messages or in the Mail app. The "Reading List" feature shows the most recent articles from your Reading List.

And lastly, the "iCloud Tabs" section shows you open tabs from your other Apple devices.

You can enable or disable any section as you wish. You can even disable all sections and only leave a translucent gray background as the start page.

Customizing the sections is quite simple. Simply open the Safari app or open a new tab to see the start page. Here, click the Menu button from the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Here, select the checkbox next to a section to enable or disable it.

Alternatively, you can right-click anywhere on the start page to see quick shortcuts to show or hide a section.

Once you have customized the sections that you want to see (or rather, hide) on the start page, it's time to customize the background.

While the default gray background is minimal, you can spice things up by changing the background image. You can choose from a handful of images that Apple provides, or you can add your own.

Click the Menu button from the bottom-right corner of Safari's start page and click the checkbox next to the "Background Image" option to enable the feature.

Now, scroll horizontally to see all available background images. Click an image to make it your background.

To use your own image as a background, click the "+" button.

From the file picker window, navigate to where you have downloaded and stored the image you want to use. Safari will first open the desktop backgrounds folder, making it easy to use any of the built-in wallpapers as the start-page background.

Once you have found the image you want to use, select it and click the "Choose" button.

Now, the start-page background will be updated.

If you want to remove the current background or use another one, go back to the customization menu and click the "X" button next to the current background.

Find the text on some websites hard to read? Give your eyes some rest by setting a default zoom level for all websites in Safari for Mac.

Related: How to Set a Default Zoom Level in Safari for Mac

How to customize your start page in Safari on iPhone and iPad

• Choose sections for your start page
• Set a background image for your start page

Safari is probably one of your most used apps on your current iPhone. After all, Safari is your gateway to the wonderful world of the internet on the go. But have you ever wished you could make your mobile Safari experience a little more personal?

Since macOS Big Sur, Apple gave users the ability to customize the start page in Safari on the Mac . But this same feature did not make its way to the iPhone and iPad until iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, respectively. When you customize the start page in mobile Safari, you can pick your own cool background image and choose what sections you want to display when you first open a new tab. Sections can include your Favorites, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, and more. It's a simple little setting, but customizing your start page makes Safari feel more like your own.

Here's how to customize your start page in Safari on iPhone and iPad.

How to choose sections for your start page in Safari on iOS

• Launch Safari on your iPhone or iPad.
• If you are on an existing webpage, tap the Tabs button and launch a new tab .

• Scroll down to the bottom of the start page and tap Edit .
• If you prefer to use the same start page customization across all of your iPhones, iPads, and Macs, make sure the toggle for Use Start Page on All Devices is set to ON (green). This ensures that your start page appearance and settings are synced through iCloud.
• You'll see sections for Favorites , Frequently Visited , Shared With You , Privacy Report , Siri Suggestions , Reading List , and iCloud Tabs . Tap the toggles for the sections that you want to display to ON (green).
• If you want to rearrange the order that these sections appear in, just drag-and-drop with the handle into the order that you prefer.

In iOS 16 , a new section for Recently Closed Tabs will be added to the available options listed above. This section will show tabs that you've recently closed, in case you want to pull them up again.

How to set a background image for your start page in Safari on iOS

Adding a background image is a good way to spice up your Safari browsing experience while you're on the start page. Apple gives you the option to choose a preset image, or you can even pick out your own. Here's how.

• Make sure you're in a new tab so you can be on the start page .
• Scroll down to the bottom and tap Edit .
• Tap the toggle for Background Image to ON (green).
• Select one of the preset images by tapping on it.
• If you prefer to use your own, tap the large plus (+) button.
• Choose an image from your Photo Library .

If you've already set an image from your Photo Library but want to change it, just tap on the square with your custom image to browse your Photo Library again for a different image.

A personalized Safari

As you can see, it's easy to customize your start page in Safari on your favorite iPhone and iPad in iOS 15 . Doing so will give you a better experience whenever you open up a new tab in Safari, and it is a great way to add your own touch to the browser.

Master your iPhone in minutes

iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!

Updated June 2022: Updated with information from iOS 16 developer beta .

Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed. When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.

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Safari redirects to Microsoft start

MSN.com in safari redirects me to Microsoft start.

Bruce's iPhone

Posted on Jul 20, 2023 1:23 PM

Posted on Feb 15, 2024 5:55 AM

How is the Duck duck go browser on my apple phone linked to Microsoft Start? How do I get rid of the Microsoft start that has sneaked into my phone in the last 2 weeks appx?

Similar questions

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Feb 15, 2024 5:55 AM in response to Oldmanbaker

Mar 24, 2024 6:59 AM in response to John Galt

I am using Duck Duck Go and I am having the same issue. If I ask Siri to look something up, all responses are delivered through Microsoft Start. I get to read a paragraph and then it directs me to continue reading on the app. We need specific instructions on how to disable this annoying feature.

Jul 20, 2023 7:51 PM in response to Oldmanbaker

I understand that you want to load a website (MSN.com) but some other website loads instead. Is that correct?

Try resetting Safari's History and / or website data.

Clear your browsing history in Safari on Mac - Apple Support

Manage cookies and website data in Safari on Mac - Apple Support

If Safari on Mac doesn't open a webpage or isn’t working as expected - Apple Support also has a number of suggestions.

Apr 2, 2024 5:03 AM in response to Sherry434

If your search queries are ignoring your chosen Search Engine and being redirected through Microsoft Start (or whatever; it's not what you chose) then please read Removing "Search Marquis" / "Search Baron" / etc on your own - Apple Community , and post the three screenshots it describes in a reply to this Discussion.

Better yet, post a brand new question . The OP never responded to his original concern so we have to assume it's been fixed. Your problem may be different, and requires a different solution. That's the reason it's always best to create your own Discussion. To do that click the Ask the Community link above.

Your Guide to Private Browsing in Safari

Private browsing is often misunderstood, but it can be a helpful feature if you know what’s what.

Quick Links

What private browsing does in safari, how to use safari private browsing on iphone and ipad, how to use safari private browsing on a mac, how to disable safari private browsing on iphone and ipad, how to disable safari private browsing on a mac, key takeaways.

• Private Browsing in Safari hides browsing history, autofill details, downloads, and locks tabs after inactivity.
• Safari on Mac groups private and non-private tabs, while on iPhone it shows all tabs regardless of mode.
• To use Private Browsing in Safari, identify it by a dark address bar, "Private" indicator, or "Private" next to the site URL.

Most browsers offer a private browsing mode that aims to keep the websites you view off the record. But what exactly does it do in Safari and how do you get the best out of it?

First and foremost, Private Browsing keeps the website pages you visit out of your History . The aim is to prevent someone else from seeing which pages you have visited if they have access to your phone or computer.

In Safari, Private Browsing does a lot more than just hide URLs. It also:

• Prevents recent searches from showing up in your history.
• Stops remembering details you enter in forms for autofill.
• Keeps downloaded items from appearing in your Downloads list.
• Locks private tabs after a period of inactivity.
• Adds tracking and fingerprinting protection.

However, it’s important to note that Private Browsing does not stop you from being tracked altogether. Websites you visit will still be able to use various methods to track you, and will still have access to all data that you send them.

On macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, Safari groups private tabs together, and separates them from non-private tabs. On Mac, each Safari window is either private or non-private, and can have as many tabs as you want.

On iPhone, you can switch between private and non-private modes, each of which shows all tabs belonging to that mode.

You can spot when you’re viewing a private tab with these signs:

• The address bar has a dark background. This may be less noticeable if you’re using Dark Mode .
• On Mac, you’ll see a prominent Private indicator in the title bar.
• On iPhone, you’ll see Private alongside the site URL at the bottom of your screen.

The steps to enter Private Browsing mode are nearly identical on an iPhone and iPad. The only difference is that the tab icon is at the bottom of the screen on iOS and the top on iPadOS.

• Long-press the tab icon (two overlapping pages) on the bottom-right (iPhone) or top-right (iPad) of your screen.
• Tap the New Private Tab menu item.
• If locked, enter your passcode to unlock Private Browsing.

You can enter Private Browsing mode on macOS using either a menu item or a keyboard shortcut:

• Open the File menu and choose New Private Window .
• Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Cmd + n .
• Use the browser as you normally would. Any tabs you open from this window will open in the same window, in private mode.

You may want to prevent users of an iPhone or iPad from using Private Browsing mode at all. To do so:

• Open the Settings app.
• Tap on Screen Time .
• Under RESTRICTIONS , click on Content & Privacy Restrictions .
• If not already enabled, press the toggle next to Content & Privacy Restrictions to enable.
• Tap Content Restrictions .
• Change the Web Content setting to Limit Adult Websites .

The option to enter private mode will now be gone.

On macOS, the wording of certain options differs slightly, but the overall process is near-identical to iOS:

• Open System Settings via the Apple menu.
• Click on Screen Time in the left panel.
• Under the Restrictions section, click on Content & Privacy .
• Click Content Restrictions .
• Change the Access to Web Content setting to Limit Adult Websites .

Private Browsing will now be unavailable in Safari, although any existing private windows will stay open.

Of course, anyone can re-enable Private Browsing using the same process, in reverse. However, you can use Screen Time’s Lock Screen Time Settings option to set a passcode and enforce the setting permanently.

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New AI Features Reportedly Coming to Safari in iOS 18

Safari will gain a series of AI-powered features and UI enhancements in iOS 18 , AppleInsider reports .

• An "Intelligent Search" browser assistant tool that leverages Apple's on-device AI technology to identify key topics and phrases on webpages for summarization purposes.
• A "Web Eraser" tool that allows users to remove unwanted portions of webpages easily. Erasure is persistent, remaining even when revisiting a site unless changes are reverted.
• A new, quick-access menu emerging from the address bar that consolidates page tools, bringing over some functions that currently sit in the Share Sheet and placing them alongside the new tools.

The iPadOS and macOS versions of Safari are also expected to align further. These new features are purportedly undergoing evaluation alongside internal builds of ‌iOS 18‌ and macOS 15 ahead of their unveiling at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in June. Earlier this month, backend code on Apple's servers suggested that a new Safari browsing assistant is in the works, corroborating this report.

Farther in the future, Apple is said to be working on a more powerful version of Visual Look Up that allows users to obtain information on products when browsing through images. The feature is expected to be released sometime in 2025.

Last week, Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman said that ‌iOS 18‌ will "overhaul" many of Apple's built-in apps , including Notes, Mail, Photos , and Fitness. Apple's next-generation operating systems are almost certain to be previewed during Apple's WWDC keynote on June 10, and the updates should be widely released in the fall.

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Top Rated Comments

A "Web Eraser" tool that allows users to remove unwanted portions of webpages easily. Erasure is persistent, remaining even when revisiting a site unless changes are reverted.

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Apple to unveil AI-enabled Safari browser alongside new operating systems

Safari getting new AI tools in iOS 18

The software — expected to debut as Safari 18 later in 2024 — is currently undergoing evaluation alongside internal builds of Apple's next-generation operating system updates, namely iOS 18 and macOS 15, according to people familiar with the matter. Should all of the new features make it to the release candidate stage, users will be treated to a new user interface (UI) for customizing popular page controls, a "Web eraser" feature, and AI-driven content summarization tools.

Intelligent Search - AI-enhanced browsing and text summarization

Engineers evaluating the latest builds of Safari 18 can find a toggle for the new page controls menu within the browser's address bar. The menu consolidates — and provides quick access to — old and new page control tools, among them being the browser's new "Intelligent Search" feature.

This feature is not automatically enabled in test builds of Safari 18 and instead requires manual activation from the page controls menu. Once enabled, it's believed the tool leverages Apple's on-device AI technology — specifically the Ajax language-learning model — to identify topics and key phrases within a webpage for which to base the summarization.

In selecting key phrases, Apple's LLM software identifies sentences that provide explanations or describe the structure of objects, depending on the text in question. Words repeated within a text and key sentences are recognized as text topics.

These early indications suggest Apple is striving to deliver text summarization alongside Safari 18 later this year, though the exact implementation of this feature remains fuzzy.

Apple's text summarization features could be a response to rival generative AI tools, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. But Apple's on-device models and technologies like Private Relay could make the experience much more secure for users. Intelligent Search is also likely to be the same AI browser assistant that one X user hinted at a couple of weeks back.

Web Eraser for better content-blocking

Also accessible from the new page controls menu is a feature Apple is testing called "Web Eraser." As its name would imply, it's designed to allow users to remove, or erase, specific portions of web pages, according to people familiar with the feature.

The feature is expected to build upon existing privacy features within Safari and will allow users to erase unwanted content from any webpage of their choosing. Users will have the option to erase banner ads, images, text or even entire page sections, all with relative ease.

The erasure is said to be persistent, rather than limited to a browsing session. This means that Safari will remember the changes even after the original tab or window has been closed.

When visiting a web page with previously erased content, Safari will inform the user that the page has been modified to reflect their desired changes. The browser will also give the user the option to revert changes and restore the webpage to its initial, unaltered state.

As for where Apple got the inspiration for Web Eraser, the company could have Sherlocked the feature from the third-party app 1Blocker. The application features a similar way of erasing ads, where users would tap ads to make them disappear.

Updated UI will move key tools into one easy location

The new page controls menu referenced throughout this article will attempt to offer Safari 18 users quick and easy access to several options previously located across different menus and the Share Sheet. Running on pre-release versions of macOS 15, for instance, the menu also pulls in the "Aa" menu common on existing iPadOS versions of the browser. These include zoom options, webpage settings for privacy controls, content blocking options, extension shortcuts, and access to the new AI and erasure tools.

These various options existed previously on macOS, but were found by navigating through the Safari settings menu. Having all of these controls in one central location in the Address Bar will make these options more discoverable for end users. Other options like on-page text search and reader mode are also in this menu.

This all suggests Apple intends to unite the iPadOS and macOS Safari UI paradigms when it unveils its new OS releases during its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

AI-enhanced Visual Lookup feature could be available in 2025

Simultaneously, Apple is also working on a much more powerful visual search feature scheduled for integration sometime in 2025 that will allow users to obtain information on consumer products when browsing through images. People familiar with the tool say it's similar to the Visual Lookup feature, through which Siri can identify plants, pets and landmarks from photos.

Visual Search could be implemented as a system-wide feature. So, instead of surfacing search results in the Photos app, the user may be able to use Visual Search directly in Safari by selecting an image.

Given development of this tool is in the earlier stages, it remains unclear how Apple will ultimately go about implementing it. It also remains to be seen whether or not the feature will make it through internal testing.

The iPhone maker has expressed significant interest in artificial intelligence and more recently published research related to on-device language learning models. This goes hand in hand with widespread rumors about several other AI-powered software features, many of which are expected to make their debut later this year with iOS 18.

Another big year for Safari

From its inception, Safari was always meant to rival existing web browsers.

Safari was originally added to macOS as a means of replacing Microsoft's Internet Explorer for Mac, which was the default browser. Over the years, the app made its way to the iPhone , and has since received various upgrades over the years.

More recent versions of Safari provide users with personalized web suggestions, and allow for greater privacy protection with features such as iCloud Private Relay.

This latest set of enhancements only serves to better position Safari against the competition, in an ever-increasing landscape of generative AI tools and third-party ad-blockers.

While Apple tests many such features during different development stages, it is important to remember that not all of them make it to release. Apple has been known to delay features or cancel them entirely, so there's always a chance we may not see these new Safari features after all.

Along with Safari 18 and its associated improvements, we should also see a revamped Calculator with Math Notes make its way to iPadOS 18. Freeform Scenes and Adaptive Voice Shortcuts are new OS features, which are also expected to debut later this year.

Apple is expected to introduce various AI-related enhancements as part of iOS 18 and macOS 15, both of which should be announced at the company's annual WWDC on June 10.

35 Comments

"As for where Apple got the inspiration for Web Eraser, the company could have Sherlocked the feature from the third-party app 1Blocker. The application features a similar way of erasing ads, where users would tap ads to make them disappear." They may also have been inspired by Simplified Page....

As long as I can turn it off/hide it they can knock themselves out. 

Will the web eraser feature remove pop up videos, such as the ones that appear on this site?

I use the 'Reader' function in Safari quite a bit, but sometimes it doesn't work very well. Seems like something that AI could help make better. 

Web ads suck but how else do you think your favorite websites will stay in business? Are you prepared to pay a subscription to every site? I doubt it…

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How to watch Apple’s May iPad event (with a different start time)

Apple’s “Let Loose” event is almost here and we’re expecting the official launch of the new iPad Pro, iPad Air, and more. Here’s how to watch the iPad event (including below), plus a reminder that the start time is three hours earlier than most of the company’s events.

We’re going on two years since Apple launched a new iPad Pro and Air so there’s pent-up interest in this May “Let Loose” iPad event.

Get caught up on everything we’re expecting in our full guides:

• A new iPad Pro is coming: Here are four things to expect
• A new iPad Air is coming soon: Here are five things to expect
• M4 iPad Pro: Will Apple put a brand new chip in its next iPad? Evidence suggests so

How to watch the iPad event and set a reminder

Apple’s “Let Loose” iPad event is set for Tuesday, May 7 at 7 am PT / 10 am ET . That’s earlier than Apple’s typical event time so setting a reminder could be helpful 😁.

Here are three ways to watch the iPad event:

• If you’re signed into YouTube, click the  “Notify me”  button to get a reminder ahead of the event
• Add a reminder by clicking the  “Add to your calendar”  button
• Or with the Apple TV app on any compatible device (on May 7 look for the “Let Loose” event)

What are you most excited about for the event? Are you planning to upgrade your iPad? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Thanks for reading our guide on how to watch the iPad event!

More 9to5Mac tutorials:

• How to improve iPad battery life: Why your battery is draining and 8 tips to boost it
• iOS 18 release date: When to expect the betas and public launch
• Here’s how to protect against iPhone password reset attacks [U]
• Apple Studio Display vs Samsung ViewFinity S9

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Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.

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Safari User Guide

• Change your homepage
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• Change Safari preferences
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• Troubleshooting

Customize a start page in Safari on Mac

You can put everything from the web that’s most important to you in one convenient place, the start page.

Open Safari for me

Select options for your start page.

Use Start Page on All Devices: Select this to use the same start page settings on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You must be signed in to your other devices with the same Apple ID as on your Mac and have Safari turned on in iCloud preferences .

Tab Group Favorites: Show websites you’ve added as favorites to the selected Tab Group.

Recently Closed Tabs: Show websites from tabs you’ve recently closed in the selected Tab Group.

Favorites: Show websites from the bookmarks folder you’ve chosen in General settings. See Change General settings .

Frequently Visited: Show websites you’ve visited often or recently.

Siri Suggestions: Show suggested websites found in Messages, Mail, and other apps. If Siri Suggestions isn’t listed, you can turn it on. See “Customize Siri suggestions” in Ways to use Siri .

Reading List: Show webpages you’ve selected to read later.

Privacy Report: Show a privacy summary, which you can click for details about who was prevented from tracking you.

iCloud Tabs: Show webpages open on your other devices.

You must be signed in to your other devices with the same Apple ID as on your Mac and have Safari turned on in iCloud preferences .

You can also drag a photo onto the start page.

Drag start page options into the order you want them to appear.

Click in the Safari window.

You can have the start page appear whenever you open a new window or tab. See Change General preferences . You can also see the start page by clicking in the Smart Search field . See View your Favorites .