Download Pages for Offline Access in Safari on iPhone & iPad

Cell signal drops the moment you board a plane or step onto a subway platform. Safari can keep the page you need on your iPhone or iPad, images and all, as long as you save it while you still have a connection.

Add it to Reading List, confirm offline saving is on under Settings → Apps → Safari on iOS 18, then reopen it from the bookmarks view whenever you need it. The steps below work on every tab layout.

In this guide, I have covered:

Save a Page for Offline Reading in Safari

Plane, subway, a dead zone on a road trip. Whatever the reason, you want that page to open when there is no signal. Reading List keeps the full page, text and images included, on your iPhone or iPad, so add it while you are still online.

1. Open Safari and load the page you want to keep.
2. Open the Share menu. In the Compact tab layout, the default on iOS 18, Share hides behind the Page Menu (•••) in the address bar. In the Bottom or Top layout, the Share button sits right in the toolbar.
3. Scroll through the share sheet and tap Add to Reading List.
4. Safari downloads the page in the background and stores it locally.

You’ll know it worked when the saved page opens with its images while Airplane Mode is on. A blank page usually means offline saving was off when you added it.

Confirm Offline Saving Is Turned On

Not every page you save works offline. Reading List is on by default, but if something shows up blank when you have no connection, check this setting first.

In iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, Apple moved Safari’s settings into a new Apps category, so older directions no longer match what you see.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Safari.
3. Scroll to Reading List and tap it.
4. Turn on Automatically Save Offline.

Running iOS 16 or 17? The path is shorter: Settings → Safari → Reading List → Automatically Save Offline. On older versions the toggle sits directly under Settings → Safari.

A page that came up blank has to be removed and added again while you are connected, so Safari can save a fresh offline copy.

Open a Saved Page Offline

Saved pages do not sit in your tabs or the address bar. They live in the bookmarks view, and the buttons work the same way on iPhone and iPad.

1. Open Safari.
2. Tap the book Show Bookmarks button. On iPad the same button sits in the sidebar.
3. Tap the eyeglasses Reading List button at the top of the Start Page.
4. Tap any saved page to open it.

That Start Page shows up every time you open a new tab, and both buttons sit there on the Compact layout too. If you want to choose between a regular and a private tab, see opening new and private tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad.

Delete Pages You Have Finished Reading

Every saved page sits in Safari’s local cache, so it uses storage on your device. Clear them out as you finish them and the list stays short.

1. Open the book Show Bookmarks view and switch to the eyeglasses Reading List tab.
2. Tap Edit in the bottom-right corner.
3. Tap the minus button next to each page you want to remove, then tap Delete.
4. Tap Done when you are finished.

To wipe every saved page at once, swipe down on the Reading List and tap Clear All.

RELATED: Clear Browsing Data from Safari browser on iPhone & iPad