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How to Create and Manage Tab Groups in Safari Mac

Learn how to create and manage the tab groups within the Apple Safari browser on MacOS. The tabs can be moved, closed and we can delete groups from Safari.

Apple Safari browser introduces the tab grouping feature, saving active browsing tabs within a group. It helps in decluttering the open tabs hence making tab management easier. We can add or remove tabs from groups and also move the tabs between the tab groups. Safari browser also allows deleting tabs and the no longer needed group.

Create and Manage Tab Groups on Safari browser

If you have many opened tabs in the Safari browser, it might become quite challenging to manage them efficiently. This is where Safari’s Tab Grouping feature will come in handy.

As is evident from its name, it allows you to place your tabs under separate groups to identify and get a hold of them quickly. For example, you could create a tab for professional works, others for personal ones, etc.

Apart from that, it also gives you the complete customization option for these groups, like adding and removing tabs from the group, changing the hierarchy of the tabs, or renaming and deleting these groups in just a few clicks.

This tutorial will show you the detailed steps to create and manage tab groups in the Safari browser on your Mac.

Before trying out this feature, just ensure your Safari browser is updated to the latest version.

Create a New Tab Group

One of the easiest ways is to create a new tab group with the already opened tabs and, later, new tabs to that group.

However, you can also create an empty tab group and add the tabs later. You can choose either way to set up a group. Here are the simple steps to create tab groups:

  1. Launch the Safari browser on your Mac.
  2. Click on File in the Menubar.
  3. Select New Empty Tab Group sub-menu.
    Create New Empty Tab Group in Safari MacIt will open the hidden sidebar bar pane with a new tab group under the Tab Groups section.
  4. Give the group a name and hit Enter key to save.
    Safari New Tab Group in Sidebar pane
  5. Click on Hide Sidebar sidebar icon to continue browsing.

That’s it. The tab group is created and now selected as active. Any tabs opened within this new tab group will be available under it.

Moreover, you could also preview the sites that are opened in a particular group. For that, click on the Show Sidebar sidebar icon and right-click on the tab group of your choice, and select the Show Tab Overview option.

Safari Tab Group open Tabs Overview

You can create multiple tag groups and add the tabs according to your way of categorization.

Switch the Tab groups

You can easily switch between the groups from the sidebar panel if you’ve created multiple tab groups. Select the tab group, and it will make the switch.

If the sidebar panel is hidden, click on the tab group name with a down arrow in the Safari toolbar and select the desired group.

Safari Mac Tab Groups Switching Option

Rearrange Tabs and Tab Groups

We can rearrange a tab in a particular group from the sidebar panel and select and drag the tab group to the desired position. You may drag and drop the tab group above or below a particular group to change their order along the same lines.

Drag and Drop Tab group to rearrange the order in Safari Mac

Move a Tab between Groups

You could also transfer tabs from one group to another, all in a matter of a few clicks. Here is how you can do that:

  1. Launch the Safari browser on your Mac.
  2. Open the tab that you want to move.
  3. Right-click the tab bar and hover on the Move to Tab Group option.
  4. Choose the desired group from the list.
    Move Tab to Another Tab Group in Safari MacOS

That’s it; this will move the tab over to the selected tab group. Safari will also remove the tab from the existing group.

Rename Tab Group

If you want to change the name of a particular tab group, then open the sidebar sidebar icon panel, right-click on the tab group, and select Rename command. Fill in the desired name and hit Enter key to save it.

Rename Tab Group from Safari Mac Sidebar panel

Delete Tab Groups

Open the sidebar sidebar icon panel in Safari, right-click on the desired tab group, and select Delete to remove that tab group from the browser.

Delete the Tab Group from Safari Sidebar Panel in Mac

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Note: Deleting the tab group will also delete all the active tabs within the group. It is an irreversible action; hence proceed with caution.

Bottom Line

If you have a knack for dealing with multiple opened tabs simultaneously, this feature will streamline your workflow and make it relatively easy to handle the multiple tabs at your disposal.

Then the underlying customizations, including the ability to rearrange tabs and their groups, rename these groups, send tabs from one group to another, or remove when no longer needed, are some of the other worthy additions to this feature.

It’s worth noting that tab groups created on the Safari Mac are also synced with Safari on iOS or iPadOS if signed in with the same iCloud account. The cloud sync will automatically make the groups available across all the devices.

That said, we round off this guide on creating and managing the tab groups on your Safari Mac.

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Sadique Hassan

Sadique is a Bachelor of Computer Application in Computer Science and an MBA professional. He became a tech writer by choice and has continued pursuing it for the last 7+ years. He is keenly interested in open-source technology like Android and also loves troubleshooting the tech. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

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