How to fix Safari tabs disappearing on iPad and iPhone

In this tutorial, we’ll tell you what to do if you find that open websites and tabs in Safari often go missing on your iPhone or iPad. 

Two Safari windows on iPad

If you notice some of your open Safari tabs are missing and you can’t seem to find them, the tabs are probably still open; you just have to look for them in the right places.

Note that a few of the tips here are only available for iPad and not iPhone.

1. See all your open windows in Safari on iPad

Safari on iPad lets you open more than one window.

You might not see a Safari tab that’s open in a different window in case you have multiple active windows that you opened and forgot. Additionally, clicking some website links can force a new browser window.

In this case, you might not see a specific tab if it isn’t on your current Safari window but rather on a different one.

Go through these steps to quickly see all open Safari windows on iPad:

  1. Touch and hold the Safari app icon on the iPad Home Screen or Dock.
  2. Tap Show All Windows.
  3. Now, tap one of the windows that has the Safari tab you thought had disappeared.
Show All Windows in Safari on iPad

2. Merge all Safari windows on iPad to get back hidden tabs

With Safari open on Mac, when you click Windows from the top menu bar, you see an option called Merge All Windows. Clicking this instantly brings all the tabs of different windows in a single window.

This handy functionality is also present in Safari for iPad.

Follow these steps to see your hidden Safari tabs on iPad by merging all active windows into one:

  1. Open Safari, and touch and hold the tabs button made of two overlapping squares. On older versions of iPadOS, touch and hold the icon made up of four tiny squares.
  2. Tap Merge All Windows, and Safari will bring all the tabs of different windows to a single place. From here, you can easily find the Safari tabs that you thought were missing or hidden from plain sight. If you don’t see the Merge All Windows, that means you have just one browser window open.
Merge All Windows in Safari on iPad

3. Check the Private section or other Tab Groups

If you still can’t find the tabs, tap the tabs icon and swipe to the Private tab or other Tab Groups you have created. It’s possible that you may have opened that particular website in those places.

Switch to another Tab Group Safari iPhone

If you are on an iPad, tap the sidebar icon from the top left corner to go to the Private tab, other Tab Groups, and Profiles.

4. See other Safari Profiles

Safari on newer versions of iOS and iPadOS supports creating more than one profile so you can keep your work, personal, hobby, and other browsing separate. It may have happened that you visited the website in question in some other profile window. So, check that.

  1. Open Safari and tap the tabs icon.
  2. Tap the bullet icon.
  3. Tap the Profile section and select another.
Switch to another Profile in Safari on iPhone

5. Reopen your recently closed Safari tabs on iPad and iPhone

You may have accidentally closed a Safari tab or closed one intentionally and then forgot about it. You can easily open such recently closed Safari tabs by following these steps.

  1. Open Safari and tap the tabs button.
  2. Press and hold the plus button (+) to see Recently Closed Tabs.
  3. Tap the desired website to reopen it.
Open recently closed tabs in Safari on iPhone

For more: How to quickly reopen recently closed tabs in Safari on iPhone or iPad

6. Stop Safari from closing open tabs automatically

Safari can automatically close open tabs after one day, one week, or a month. In case you or someone with access to your iPhone or iPad enabled this option, you might be opening a tab, and the next day it closes, making you wonder, “Where has my Safari tab gone!”

To fix this, follow these steps to prevent the auto-close of Safari tabs:

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Scroll down, tap Apps, and then select Safari from the next screen.
  3. Select Close Tabs and set it to Manually. From now on, open Safari tabs won’t disappear, and you can access them as long as you don’t close them manually.
Stop Safari from automatically closing tabs

7. Restart and update

If you continue to face the same problem, make sure you get into the habit of restarting your iPhone or iPad at least once every few days.

Finally, if you’re on an old version of iOS or iPadOS, go to Settings > General > Software Update and install the newest available version of the operating system for your device. Apple regularly fixes bugs via software updates, ensuring an improved experience.

Other Safari tips for you: