How to Open a Recently Closed Tab in Safari on Your iOS Device - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Open a Recently Closed Tab in Safari on Your iOS Device

by

Accidentally close a browser tab in Safari on iOS and want to open it back up? There's a simple gesture for that, which you may not know about.


All you have to do is open up the tab view in Safari and long press on the "+" icon to get a look at all of the tabs that you've recently closed.

Even if you're aware of the gesture, it's worth a reminder that this feature exists in case someone gets ahold of your phone and checks your browser. Even if you've closed out a tab, it's still going to be visible in Safari, unless you were using a private browser window or have cleared your browsing history.

Want to close your Safari tabs all in one go? That's another hidden feature available in Safari. Make sure to check out our accompanying how to for instructions.

Top Rated Comments

scrapesleon Avatar
109 months ago
Nice didn’t know about this
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BMcCoy Avatar
109 months ago
Cool tip - i’ll use that.
Thanks.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
109 months ago
On a Mac, using Safari you can also either click and hold the + icon at the right of your tabs, or just quickly press ⌘⇧T to open your last-closed tab.

In fact, you can keep hitting that combo and it will keep opening other recently-closed tabs.
If I recall correctly, an even simpler ⌘Z (as in essentially "undo") will do the same thing basically.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
109 months ago
On a Mac, using Safari you can also either click and hold the + icon at the right of your tabs, or just quickly press ⌘⇧T to open your last-closed tab.

In fact, you can keep hitting that combo and it will keep opening other recently-closed tabs.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
109 months ago
Lol I had no idea! But iOS is so intuitive, you can even press things out of nowhere on a 3D Touch-less device!
It's basically long-press that has been around for a long time.
[doublepost=1515101414][/doublepost]
Cool! I didn’t know this :)
[doublepost=1515101359][/doublepost]
I missed that one! How do I do that?
How to Close All of Your Safari Tabs at Once on iPhone or iPad ('https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-close-all-of-your-safari-tabs-at-once-on-iphone-or-ipad.2098918/')
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kdarling Avatar
109 months ago
Handy. I've accidentally closed tabs before.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Instagram Feature 2

PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

Tuesday May 5, 2026 8:24 am PDT by
Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users from May 8, 2026. When the date comes around, Meta will potentially be able to see the contents of all messages between users on the social media platform. Encrypting messages has been an optional feature in Instagram since 2023, but in March of this year the social media platform quietly updated a help page to say ...
Apple Event Logo

Apple Just Released a New Accessory

Monday May 4, 2026 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today released a new Pride Edition Sport Loop for the Apple Watch. The band features a rainbow design with 11 colors of woven nylon yarns. The new Pride Edition Sport Loop is available to order now on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 40mm, 42mm, and 46mm sizes, and it will be available at Apple Store locations starting later this week. In the U.S., the band costs $49. There...