In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to open multiple websites at once in Chrome and Safari on Mac to save time every day.
Every morning, when I start iDB’s work, there are several websites that I open without fail. This includes Slack web (to communicate with my editor), Trello (to keep track of things), Grammarly (to check and correct my writings), iDB’s WordPress (to create posts), Google (to research), and iLoveImg (to compress images).
Opening these half a dozen websites one by one can take several clicks. And since I have to open them daily, the tricks mentioned here help me load all of them at once, making the process as seamless as it can be!
Open several websites at once in Chrome
The trick behind this is to bookmark the required websites and add them to a bookmark folder. When you right-click on the bookmarks folder, you see the option to open all the sites listed in this folder.
1) Visit the website, and after it loads, click the star icon. You can optionally give the website a short name before saving it as a bookmark
2) Click the Folder dropdown menu and Choose Another Folder.
3) Click New Folder, give it a name, and hit Save. You have successfully created a bookmarks folder and added the first website to it.
4) You will see the bookmark folder in the top bookmarks bar. If you don’t, press Command + Shift + B or click the three dots icon from the right end and select Bookmarks and List > Show Bookmarks Bar.
Now, visit the second website and bookmark it to the same folder you created in step 3. Repeat this process to add all the required websites to this bookmarks folder.
5) Everything is now set. Right-click on the bookmarks folder from the bookmarks bar and choose Open All to open all these websites. You can also click the bookmarks folder while holding the Command key to open all sites at once.
Handy Tip: I like to keep Slack on the leftmost tab, Grammarly next to it, then WordPress, and the remaining sites after that. To set the order in which these tabs open, click once on the bookmark folder to see all added websites. Now, drag them up or down to re-arrange their position. The one at the top will open in the leftmost tab.
Open many websites quickly in Safari
1) Open Safari and click Bookmarks > Add Bookmark Folder from the top menu bar.
2) Give the folder a desired name.
3) Visit the website, place the mouse pointer on the website address, and drag it to the bookmark folder on the left.
If you can’t do that, click the share icon > Add Bookmark.
Under “Add this page to,” click the dropdown menu, choose the folder you just created in step 2, and click Add.
4) Repeat step 3 to add more websites to this folder.
5) To open all these websites together, click the tiny rectangle icon from the top left to show the Safari sidebar.
6) Click Bookmarks > right-click on the folder and choose Open in New Tabs.
7) Pro Tip: Steps 5 and 6 may seem a lot to do each time. So, open the Safari start page (a new tab) and drag the folder from the sidebar to the Favorites section. From here, just right-click to open all the websites. You can also click the bookmark folder while pressing the Command key to open all the sites added to it.
Note: This bookmarks folder will sync to your iPhone and iPad, too. On these devices, you can press the bookmarks folder and choose Open in New Tabs to load them all at once.
Use Shortcuts on Mac
You can build a simple shortcut that will open all the added websites in your default web browser in just two clicks. You can even have them open automatically when the Mac powers on or restarts — no need to click a single button (more on it later)!
1) Open the Shortcuts app on your Mac and click the plus icon.
2) Click Web from the right side and then double-click or drag the Open URLs action to the left.
3) Copy the website link from your browser and paste it into the URL section. You can also manually type the site address here.
4) In my testing, I found that you can separate several URLs with a comma inside the same Open URLs action. But for an easy, clean look and effortless future editing, it would be better to add the Open URLs action again. Do that and add the second URL. Repeat this for as many URLs as you like. (See the image below)
5) To test, click the tiny triangle. It’ll ask your permission to open the default Mac browser. Click Allow.
6) Come back to the Shortcuts app screen and give the shortcut a name you like.
7) Next, click the info button ⓘ or the settings icon from the top left. From here, you can choose to pin the shortcut in the top menu bar, use it as a quick action when you right-click on something, or add it to the Touch Bar, Finder, and Services Menu.
I like the Add Keyboard Shortcut option. I have configured Command + Option + A to open this shortcut. It works from practically anywhere. You can set any key combination you like. Just ensure that the key combination doesn’t already perform an action.
8) Click the red close button to save your shortcut and exit this screen. You have successfully built the shortcut.
Depending on the places you enabled in step 7, press the keyboard shortcut, Shortcuts app icon in the menu bar, Shortcuts icon in the Touch Bar or from other place you have added it. All the websites of the shortcut will open instantly in your Mac’s default browser.
Open websites automatically when you power on or restart your Mac
1) Create the shortcut we explained above.
2) Select the shortcut, click “File” from the top menu bar, and select Add to Dock.
3) Right-click on this shortcut icon from the Dock > Options > Open at Login.
From now on, whenever you switch on or restart your Mac, all these websites will automatically open in the default browser.
Now you know how to use this helpful trick to open your routine websites quickly. Just make sure that you don’t add unnecessary sites to this folder, as they, too, will open every time.
On a related note: How to automatically play music at startup on Mac