Opened Safari to be greeted with a page cluttered with useless links and needless information? Want to start with a blank sheet of the world white web — every time? Find out here how to start Safari with a blank page ⤓, both on a Mac using macOS and, with certain limitations, on iPhone and iPad.
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How to Start Safari with a Blank Page (“about:blank”)
Time needed: 2 minutes
To have Safari open with a blank page on a Mac using macOS:
- Open Safari settings.
Here’s how: Select Safari | Preferences from the menu.
Keyboard shortcut: You can also press Command , (comma) to open Safari settings. - Go to the General tab.
- Select Empty Page for New windows open with:.
- Choose Empty Page for New tabs open with: as well.
Optional: Both choices are, of course, optional. You can choose to have Safari open new windows with an empty page but new tabs with a duplicate of the same page (Same Page), for instance.
Alternative: See below for an alternative (using about:blank) that has Safari open with a true page that is blank. - Optional: Select A new window for Safari opens with:.
With “All windows from last session”: If All windows from last session or All non-private windows from last session is selected here, Safari will open the windows and tabs that were open when you quit Safari; only if you close all windows before quitting Safari will it really start with a blank page in that case.
No “A new window”: If A new window is not an option you can choose, first make macOS close windows for you as you quit applications in System Settings; see below. - Close the General preferences.
Their word: Apple include information on general Safari settings in the Safari User Guide.
Tab…ula rasa achieved?
Tips help fuel these email and tech how-tos.
Enable Starting Safari with a New Window (Instead of Restoring the Last Session)
To make macOS close windows as you quit applications and allow Safari to start with new, blank window every time:
- Open System Settings on the Mac.
Here’s how: Select System Settings (or System Preferences…) from the (Apple logo) menu on your Mac, for example. - Go to the Desktop & Dock category.
macOS Sequoia and earlier: Open the General category. - Under Prefer tabs:, check Close windows when quitting an app.
More Safari privacy:
How to Clear Cookies in Safari on a Mac
How to Clear Cookies on iPhone and iPad
How to Remove AutoFill Suggestions in Safari for Mac
How to Start Safari with a Blank Page (“about:blank”) on iPhone and iPad
To make Safari on iPhone and iPad open to a — just about entirely — empty page:
- Open a new page in Safari.
- Tap Edit at its bottom.
- Turn off Use Start Page on All Devices.
Not mandatory: You can leave this setting enabled, of course, and have your blank start page synchronize with other devices. - Turn off everything.
The choices: Disable Favorites, Frequently Visited, Shared with You, Privacy Report, Siri Suggestions, Reading List and iCloud Tabs.
- Swipe down to save the setting.
Safari will now open new tabs with a blank page.
How to Start Safari with a Blank Page (“about: blank”): FAQ
Can I make “about:blank” the home page for Safari?
Yes.
You can set the empty, white page as your Safari home page on macOS. This will open a blank browser tab as a “real” page — that means you can right-click on its tab and close other tabs, for instance.
To set up the blank browser page (about:blank) as the Safari home page:
- Open Safari settings; see above.
- Choose Homepage for New windows open with and New tabs open with as you see fit.
- Type
about:blankunder Homepage:.
- Close the preferences window.
Can I set “about:blank” as the home page on iPhone and iPad?
No.
On iOS and iPadOS, you can only edit the start page (see above) to be just about empty or use a Safari plug-in that lets you set a different home page.
Starting fresh:
How to Close All Safari Tabs on iPhone in Seconds
How to Close All Tabs in Safari on a Mac
Why would I set up Safari to start with a blank page?
Having Safari open a blank — or no — page at startup has a host of advantages:
- Startup will be minimally faster.
- You avoid potential distractions when you open Safari with a specific intention.
- Your privacy is preserved from auto-loading content on a startup page.
(Tested with macOS Tahoe 26.0–26.5, Sequoia 15.1–15.5, Sonoma 14.2, Ventura 13.1, Monterey 15.3, and iOS 15–18 as well as 26; first published April 2022, last updated May 2026)