How to organize your tabs with Tab Groups in Safari

Learn how to create and use Tab Groups in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac to organize your open tabs from an improved browser experience.

Imagine you’re working on a college paper and have opened several tabs of Wikipedia, Encyclopedia, ResearchGate, and ScienceDirect in Safari. Things can get chaotic with dozens of tabs, but the good news is you can organize relevant tabs into groups. You can choose to put tabs of all specific websites in Tab Group. Another approach can be to group tabs based on sub-topics or something else that works for you.

Websites organized in groups should make it easy to keep track of and help switch between these groups of related websites with ease.

You can also use Tab Groups for your everyday browsing to keep things organized. For instance, I have a Tab Group called “iDB” where I open sites related to my work.

Note that Tab Groups sync across all your Apple devices, making them accessible everywhere.

Use Tab Groups in Safari on iPhone and iPad

We’re using an iPhone for the steps below. If you’re on an iPad, remember to use the left sidebar to access the various options.

Create a blank Tab Group

1. Open Safari and tap the tabs icon (made of two overlapping squares) to view the open tabs. You can also swipe up from the bottom URL address bar and hold to see all open tabs. Remember this step, as you will need it in several other points below.
2. Tap the bullet list icon.
3. Select New Empty Tab Group.
4. Give a name from your Tab Group and hit Save.

You just created a Tab Group with no existing websites. You can now go to the empty tab or hit the plus button on this Tab Group screen to visit desired websites. Additionally, you can also move open websites to this Tab Group (explained below).

Create a Tab Group of all existing open websites

Follow the above process and select New Tab Group with n Tabs in step 3. Now, give a name to this Tab Group and hit Save.

Add websites to a Tab Group or move it from one Tab Group to another

Irrespective of which Tab Group a website is currently open in, you can move it to another Tab Group. Note that you can’t move a Private tab to a non-private Tab Group.

1. Open Safari and tap the tabs icon to view your open tabs.
2. Touch and hold the tab tile and select Move Tab.
3. Now, pick an existing tab or add it to a new one.

In addition to the above steps, you can also touch and hold the tabs icon, tap Move to Tab Group, and select an existing tab or create a new one.

Switch between Tab Groups

Moving between Tab Groups couldn’t be easier. Note that your open tabs/websites don’t close when you switch from an existing Tab Group to another.

1. Go inside Safari and tap the tabs icons.
2. Swipe left or right on the bottom Tab Groups bar to switch between them.

Reorder tabs in a Tab Group

1. Open Safari and tap the tabs icon.
2. Now, touch and hold a tab and drag it to another position.
3. Alternatively, you can touch and hold the Tab Group name and then use the Arrange Tabs By option to reorder them based on the title or website.

Pin a tab in Tab Group

After you pin a tab, it stays stuck at the top of all the existing tabs of a Tab Group. You can pin different important tabs in all your Tab Groups.

1. Go to Safari and tap the tabs icon to see all open tabs.
2. Touch and hold a tab and select Pin Tab.
3. Now, scroll to the top of the tabs view, and you will see your pinned tab here. Touch and hold a pinned tab to unpin, move, or close it.

Rename a Tab Group

1. Open Safari and tap the tabs icon.
2. Tap the bullet list icon.
3. Swipe left on your Tab Group and tap the pencil icon.
4. Now, give it a new name and hit Save.

Delete a Tab Group

If you no longer need a Tab Group, follow the initial steps under the above section to access them. Now, swipe left on a Tab Group and tap the red delete icon.

Use Safari Tab Groups on Mac

Tab Groups work similarly on macOS like how they do on iOS; however, accessing them is a little different.

See your existing Tab Groups

As mentioned earlier, the Safari Tab Groups you have created on your iPhone or iPad will also appear on Mac, provided you’re using the same Apple Account on both devices.

Follow these steps to access your existing Tab Groups on Mac.

1. Open Safari and click the little arrow next to the sidebar icon in the top left corner.
2. You will see your Tab Group here. Click one to switch to it.

If you’re using Safari profiles, click the profile button icon from the top left corner and then select a Tab Group.

Create Tab Group

Open Safari and click File from the top menu bar:

• Now, select New Empty Tab Group to create a blank Tab Group.
• You can also select New Tab Group with n Tabs to create a Tab Group with all your existing open tabs.

Add websites to Tab Group

You can switch to a Tab Group and open the website there. Additionally, you can right-click over an existing open website tab in another Tab Group and choose Move to Tab Group > select a Tab Group.

Manage your Tab Group

1. Open Safari on your Mac and click the sidebar icon from the top left corner. You should see your Tab Groups there. If something else like Bookmarks or Reading List is open, click the arrow before its name to see the Tab Groups.
2. As mentioned, you will see a Tab Groups or Safari Profile name Tab Groups heading here. Hover the pointer on its name and click its arrow to reveal all Tab Groups.
3. Now, click the three dots menu button next to a Tab Group to rename it, delete it, see its open tabs, and more.

In addition to the above procedure, you may also get the option to manage Tab Groups in other spots in Safari on Mac.

To sum up, Tab Groups in Safari is definitely a useful feature, especially on the iPad and Mac. You can use it to create different groups and access those particular tabs with ease. At first, you may find the whole Tabs Group a little confusing, but you get used to it very quick.

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