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Stop Tab Auto-close in Safari browser app

Do you want to stop autoclosing tabs after inactivity in Safari on iPhone and Mac? Learn how to prevent tabs from closing automatically.

The Safari browser is optimized for Apple devices, which autokills the dormant and inactive processes.

If the browsing tab is not running, Safari will stop allocating the process thread, freeing up the memory space for the active tasks.

You can set to stop the auto close tab by setting it to the manual option.

In this guide, we have shared the steps to stop tab auto-closing in the Apple Safari browser.

Turn off the ‘Close Tab’ feature for Safari on iPhone

The Safari browser has a built-in tab management feature that automatically closes all the tabs after a specific period. It is mainly done to preserve the battery life and free up memory for other active tasks. However, we can disable this feature from settings. Here are the steps to do so:

  1. Launch the Phone Settings app on the iPhone.
  2. Scroll and select the Safari app from the settings list.
  3. Scroll to the Tabs section and choose to open the Close Tab option.
    Close Tabs option in Safari Settings on iPhone
  4. Set the option to Manually from the list.
    Manually Close Tabs in Safari iPhone browser settings

The auto-closing of the inactive tabs will be immediately disabled. The tabs will be closed only when you manually close them using the X from the tabs menu.

You can read details about tab management in Safari on iPhone or iPad. If you’ve mistakenly closed a tab, you can quickly reopen the recent tab.

Open Safari with All Windows in Previous Sessions on Mac

When we close Safari on Mac, all the tabs are automatically terminated, and when relaunched, the homepage or startup page appears by default.

However, we can make a simple change to help relaunch the same tabs after reopening the browser. Here are the steps:

  1. Launch the Safari app on your Mac.
  2. Click on the Safari menu and select Settings from the drop-down.
    Apple Safari Settings menuIt will open the Settings window.
  3. Switch to the General tab in the Preferences window.
  4. Under Safari opens with settings, select All windows from the last session drop-down option.
    Safari opens with all windows from last session preference
  5. Relaunch the Safari Mac browser.

Next time when you launch the browser, all the tabs will automatically start loading.

Bottom Line

Even if the browser is forced to quit or abruptly closed due to any memory issue, it isn’t a cause of concern, as the browser shall automatically load those tabs the next time you launch the Safari browser.

The close tab feature within Safari is helpful for users who forget to close the inactive tabs. If you’re one of those people, set the preferred time to close tabs.

Lastly, if you've any thoughts or feedback, then feel free to drop in below comment box. You can also report the outdated information.

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Kushal Azza

Kushal Azza

Kushal Azza is a Google Certified IT Professional, Digital Content Creator, and Go-To Digital Marketer with Engineering Degree. He has over a decade of experience solving tech problems, troubleshooting, and innovating digital solutions. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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