How to Use Tab Groups in Safari on iPhone and Mac

With the most recent update, Safari on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac now has a feature called "tab groups" that makes it easy to manage multiple tabs. This is useful if you are doing research for more than one thing or just want to keep things in order. Let me tell you more and show you how to use tab groups in Safari on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey.

How to Use Tab Groups in Safari on iPhone and Mac

If you do research or other web browsing with Safari on Mac, you know how hard it is to keep track of tabs in multiple Safari windows. With Tab Groups in Safari on macOS 12, you can put all of your open Tabs in different groups, making it easier and faster to get to them again and again.

On Mac

How to Create a Tab Group on Mac

1. Open Safari on your Mac and click on the "Sidebar" icon in the top-left corner of the Safari window to create a Tab Group.

2. If you have, say, four tabs open in Safari, you'll see an option called "4 Tabs" in the Sidebar panel. By right-clicking the "Tabs" option in the Sidebar and choosing "New Tab Group with 4 Tabs" from the new menu, you can make a Tab Group out of the tabs that are currently open in the browser.

3. Right after you make a group, you'll be able to give the Tab Group a name. Give it a name that makes sense, and then press enter.

All done. Your new Tab Group is now made from the open tabs in your browser.

You can also make a New Empty Tab Group by clicking the "+" button at the top right of the Sidebar panel and then choosing "New Empty Tab Group" from the menu that appears.

Give your new empty Tab Group a name, and any tabs you open while this new Tab Group is selected will automatically be added to the group.

How to View all Tabs in a Tab Group in Grid View

To see a list of all the open tabs in a Tab Group, click the "Grid" icon next to the group's name in the sidebar.

You can also right-click on the Tab Group and choose "Show Tab Overview" from the list of options that pops up.

How to Move Tabs from One Group to Another

Tabs can also be moved from one group of tabs to another. To do this, right-click on the tab you want to move in the Tabs bar, move the cursor over the "Move to Tab Group" option, and then click on the Tab Group you want to move the tab to. You can also choose "Start Page" to move the tab to Safari's list of tabs that aren't grouped together.

How to Delete a Tab Group on Mac

Right-click on the tab group you want to get rid of in Safari's Sidebar and choose "Delete" from the menu that comes up.

Note: When you delete a Tab Group in Safari, all of the open tabs in that group close. So, watch out for that. It's not like the tabs you have open would go to the Start page (where ungrouped tabs live).

On iPhone

Safari has a feature called Tab Groups that works on both macOS and iOS devices. Tab Groups are just as easy to make and use on an iPhone as they are on a Mac, and they are very useful in many ways on both.

How to Create a Tab Group on iPhone

Well, you need iOS 15 on your iPhone before you can do anything else to make a Tab Group in Safari.

1. Once you have iOS 15, go to the home screen of your iPhone and open Safari.

2. At the bottom of the screen, the new Safari has an address bar. This makes it easier to get to open tabs. Tap the "Tabs" icon in the lower right corner of the screen to see a Grid view of all the open tabs in Safari.

3. Tap the "Tab Group" option in the bottom-center of the screen to open Safari's Tab Groups menu.

4. If you want to make a new Tab Group, click the "New Empty Tab Group" button. This will make a new Tab Group with just one blank tab.

If you want to make a group of all the open tabs, click the "New Tab Group from ## Tabs" button. This will make a group of all the open tabs.

5. Give the tab group a good name, and then tap the "OK" button.

You'll make a tab group, and you'll be able to see its name on the Tab Groups selector. If you tap on the selector, the Tab Groups menu will appear. From there, you can switch between all the tab groups you've made or leave a tab group.

Tap the "Start Page" option in Safari's Tab Groups menu to open a New Tab outside of the Tab Group that is currently active. Or, you can click "New Empty Tab Group" to make another group of tabs (if required).

How to Rename a Tab Group in Safari on iPhone

There may be times when you need to change the name of a Tab Group. You can always go to your Mac and do it easily there, though. Even if you never want to do it from your phone, you should still know how.

Tap the bottom-center of the bottom bar on the open tabs grid view screen to open the Tab Groups menu.

Then, in the top left corner of the Tab Groups menu, tap the "Edit" button.

Next, tap the button with three dots in a circle that says "More options" and choose "Rename."

You can also change the name of the group by swiping left on the Tab Group and tapping the "Edit" icon.

Last, give the Tab Group the name you want and click "OK" to apply the changes.

How to Delete a Tab Group in Safari on iPhone

You now know how to put together a Tab Group in Safari on your Apple device. Now, it's just as important to know how to get rid of one.

Tap the bottom-center of the bottom bar on the open tabs grid view screen to open the Tab Groups menu.

Now, tap the "Edit" button in the Tab Group pane's top-left corner. 

Next, tap the "More" button, which looks like three dots in a circle, and choose "Delete."

You can also delete the group by swiping left on the Tab Group and tapping the "Delete" icon.

Last, click the "Delete" button on the alert to make the changes take effect.

How to Move a Tab to Another Tab Group

First, in Safari, go to the Tab Group from which you want to move the page. Then, all you have to do is press and hold the page you want to move.

Tap the "Move to Tab Group" option from the list that appears in the pop-up menu.

Then, tap the "Tab Group" where you want the page to go. You can also copy the page to a different Tab Group by pressing the "Copy" button.

How to Rearrange Tabs in a Group

Safari also lets you rearrange tabs inside a Tab Group. It could be useful if you have a lot of tabs in a group.

If you want to put them in alphabetical order, just press and hold any tab in the group and choose "Arrange Tabs by Title." If not, tap "Arrange Tabs by Website" to put them in order by how often you visit each site.

How to Close All Tabs in a Tab Group

You'll probably end up with a lot of open tabs in different groups if you use tab groups. Even thinking about closing each one by hand seems like a lot of work.

Well, Safari has a way to close all of the other tabs in the group except for the one you choose.

1. Open the Tab Group whose open tabs you want to close.

2. In the Grid View of tabs, tap and hold on one of the open tabs. Tap the "Close Other Tabs" option in the menu that comes up.

This will delete all open tabs in the group except the one you pushed. Just manually close it if you want to, but then what's the point of an empty Tab Group? (just delete it).

How to Close All Tabs on iPhone

1. On your iPhone, open the Safari app. Swipe down from the middle of your iPhone's home screen and type Safari into the search bar to find the app.

2. Tap and hold the tab switcher icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen and looks like two overlapping squares.

3. Tap on Close All XX Tabs.

4. Tap Close All XX Tabs to finish.

So that's how to use Tab Groups in Safari on iPhone and Mac devices. If you have any questions relating to Tab Groups, just leave a comment below and we will help you solve it.