Apple had a habit of hiding advanced features behind long presses. For example, long pressing the tab button in Safari browser brings up the option to close all tabs at once. Many Safari buttons have extra features like that. Let’s check out some hidden Safari tips settings.
Table of Contents
1. Background Removal Made Easy
Long press any image and select Copy Subject. This instantly copies the subject of the image with the background removed. Perfect for creating memes, profile pictures, or sharing interesting visuals without distractions.
2. Close All Tabs in a Flash
Holding down the Tab button (the one with two overlapping squares) brings up the option to Close All Tabs with a single tap. Useful when you’ve got too many tabs open and want a fresh start. Tip: You can close the tab automatically by going to Settings > Safari > Close Tabs and specifying a timeframe (I have it set to 1 day).
3. Switch quickly between tabs
You can quickly switch between tabs by sliding left and right across the URL bar, and if you’re on the last tab, sliding to the left will open a new one instead.
4. Jump to the Top
To instantly jump to the top of a website, Simply tap the top of the screen to instantly return to the beginning of any webpage.
5. Customize Reader Mode
You can make the site reader-friendly by long pressing the AA button on the URL. It removes all ads, and sidebars from the website, and if you hit AA again adjust font size, typeface, and background color for optimal reading comfort.
6. Find Text on a Page
Looking for something specific on a webpage, you can type a phrase into the URL bar, scroll to the bottom, and select Find. This highlights all instances of the phrase on the page, just like using Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F) on a computer.
7. Full-Page Screenshots
If you take a screenshot of a page, tap the thumbnail preview and select Full Page. This will take a screenshot of the whole web page, not just what’s visible on your screen.
8. Close Specific Tabs
Want to quickly close multiple tabs from the same category, like news articles you’ve already read? Simply swipe up on the URL, scroll to the top, and use this search bar to filter to the sites you want to close like “news”. Long press the Cancel button and you’ll be able to close only the filtered tabs and keep the rest of them
9. Tab Groups
Your tabs are cluttered, making it hard to find what you’re looking for. Swipe up from the URL bar and then right to access them. Create groups with names like Work or News, and add tabs by long-pressing their URLs and selecting Move to Tab Group. This keeps your work separate from personal browsing, organizes projects, and conveniently groups your go-to sites. Plus, new tabs opened within a group automatically join it.
10. Custom Background
You can set a custom background by opening a new tab, scrolling to the bottom, hitting Edit, and turning on the background image. If you long-press the Tab button, you can Close All Tabs.
11. Hide the Tab Bar
In landscape mode, tap the aA button in the address bar and select Hide Toolbar. This maximizes screen space for viewing content, which is especially helpful for reading articles.
12. Drag and Drop Tabs Between Devices
If you have multiple Apple devices with Safari open, you can drag a tab from one device and drop it onto another device running iOS/iPadOS 15 or later. This seamless transfer is great for continuing your browsing on a different screen.
