73 open tabs? Instead of either swiping across your iPhone for ages or giving up before you get going, find out here how to close all tabs in Safari on an iPhone with three taps.
First, When You Make a Teepee
When you make a teepee from small branches to get a fire started, it’s a good idea, I have been told, to leave a little door on one side.
Do put a wet finger up first, though, to feel the wind. The opening works best if it is oriented windward to ignite the tinder.
Now it’s time to put a proverbial fire out, though—and do it quickly: Fortunately, iOS has many a door and opening to blow out Safari browser tabs en masse:
How to Close All Tabs in Safari on an iPhone
Using macOS? How to Close All Tabs in Safari on a Mac
Time needed: 1 minute
To quickly close all Safari browser tabs on your iPhone (or iPad):
- Tap and hold the tab button in Safari.
Private tabs: Safari keeps normal and private tabs separate; from a normal tab, you can close all normal tabs and from a privat tab all private tabs.
Tab groups: In a tab group, Safari will close all tabs in the current group.
Empty, lonely tab: Note that you cannot close a tab that has no page open if it is the only tab.
Don’t want to worry about closing tabs altogether: See below for having Safari close tabs for you automatically. - Select Close All <Number> Tabs from the menu that has appeared.
Just 1: With one tab open, only the Close This Tab option is available.
Just 2: With two taps open the menu item reads Close Both Tabs.
More than 2: With three or more tabs open, the menu item will list the number of tabs.
Fastest access: For the swiftest action, don’t remove the finger from the iPhone but slide up to the menu item as soon as it appears.
- Select Close All <Number> Tabs to confirm.
Just 1: For closing just the current tab, you need not confirm.
Other Ways to Close Tabs on an iPhone
You can also close tabs with more idea of what you are closing, of course.
Swiping on Safari Tab Overview
To close Tabs using swiping in Safari on an iPhone:
- Tap the tab button in Safari.
- Swipe any tab to the left to close it.
Tapping alternative: You can also tap the ✕ button in any tab’s top right (or, with earlier versions, left) corner.
Using the Safari Tab Bar
To close tabs using the tab bar in Safari on an iPhone:
- Rotate the iPhone to landscape view.
Orientation lock: Do turn off iPhone orientation lock, if only temporarily. - Tap the tab you want to close.
- Now tap the ✕ button in its header.
Close a Different Tab Group and All Its Tabs
To remove a tab group (and close all tabs open in it):
- Tap the tab button in Safari for iPhone.
- Now tap the current tab’s name in the bottom toolbar.
- Swipe to the left over the tab group you want to close.
- Tap the deletion trashcan icon or keep swiping until the red are covers the whole length.
- Select Delete under Are you sure want to permanently delete “<Tab Group>“?.
No easy recreation: The tab group will be removed and all tabs in it closed; there is no easy way to undo this.
How to Close All Other Tabs in Safari on an iPhone
To quickly close all but the current tab in Safari on an iPhone:
- Put the iPhone into landscape view.
No tab bar: See below for enabling Safari’s tab bar. - Tap and hold the title bar of the tab you want to keep.
- Select Close Other Tabs from the menu that has appeared.
How to Close All Tabs in Safari for iPhone: FAQ
I see no tab bar no matter how much I rotate my iPhone or iPad; how can I enable it?
To enable the tab bar for Safari:
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to the Safari category.
- Turn on Landscape Tab Bar (or Show Tab Bar depending on the iOS version) in the TABS section.
Instead of me closing tabs manually (even all at once), can’t my iPhone close them for me?
Yes, in a way. You can have iOS close tabs automatically after you have not switched to that tab for a certain time.
To make Safari on iPhone and iPad close tabs automatically:
- Open Settings on the Home screen.
- Go to the Safari settings.
- Now choose Close Tabs in the TABS section.
- Choose the period after which Safari should close tabs on its own, After One Day, After One Week or After One Month.
Does Safari on iPad offer a keyboard shortcut for closing all tabs?
No.
On an iPad, type Command W to close the current tab quickly. There is no shortcut for closing all tabs, though—other than using Command W repeatedly.
Can I reopen a closed tab?
Yes.
Safari on both iPad and iPhone lets you easily reopen tabs closed recently.
(How to close all tabs in Safari for iPhone tested with iOS 14–17; updated April 2024)