How to Use Tab Groups in Safari on Mac, iPhone, and iPad

The macOS Monterey update brought about a few new changes to some system apps, including Safari 15. The overhaul brought new privacy features, a design facelift, and Tab Groups. As you may already know, Tab Groups on Chrome exist since mid-2020. Finally, Safari plays catch up with the feature.

Tab Groups in Safari

The best part is that Tab Groups feature in Safari is available on Mac, iPhone and iPad. When you shuffle between these three Apple devices and have multiple tabs open, it’s best to group them together for organizing them easily. Here’s how you can use Tab Groups in Safari on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

What Are Tab Groups

Let’s say you have ten tabs open in your browser. And they’re spread across different categories. You may have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which are social media websites. There may also be some content streaming websites open like YouTube and Netflix. With several tabs open, it may get confusing to navigate between them.

Tab groups

This is where Tab Groups come in handy. As the name suggests, you can group tabs under the same category to organize all your open tabs in a decluttered manner. One Tab Group can be Social Media, where all relevant tabs live. Similarly, there can be Tab Groups for email, entertainment, blogs, etc.

Use Tab Groups in Safari on Mac

Here’s how you can create and delete tab groups in Safari on your Mac.

Create Tab Groups

Step 1: Open Safari on your Mac. Open all the websites you want to create a Tab Group for in individual tabs.

Safari on Mac

Step 2: Once you have opened all the desired tabs, select the File option in the menu bar at the top. Click on ‘New Tab Group with X Tabs’ where X denotes the number of tabs you have opened.

Create tab group

Step 3: The Tab Group will be created and added to the panel on the left. You will be asked to rename it. You can enter any relevant name. We’re going to name it Social since the Tab Group consists of social media apps.

Enter name for tab group

Your Tab Group has now been renamed and saved. Here’s how you can access it.

Social tab group

Step 4: Open Safari and click on the Show Sidebar button in the top-left corner of the window.

Sidebar button in Safari

Step 5: The sidebar will now appear on your screen, and you can see all your Tab Groups listed. Click on the one you want to open, and all the tabs in that particular group will be opened in Safari.

All tab groups in Safari

Add a Tab to an Existing Tab Group

Step 1: If you’ve opened a new tab and want to add it to any of your existing Tab Groups, right-click on that particular tab.

Right click on tab

Step 2: Hover your mouse over ‘Move to Tab Group’ and select the Tab Group you want to add it to.

Move to tab group

Delete Tab Groups

Step 1: Open Safari and click on the Show Sidebar button in the top-left corner of the window.

Sidebar button in Safari

Step 2: The sidebar will now appear on your screen, and you can see all your Tab Groups listed.

All tab groups in Safari

Step 3: Right-click on the Tab Group you wish to delete and select the Delete option.

Delete tab groups

Use Tab Groups in Safari on iPhone

With iOS 15, you can create Tab Groups in Safari on your iPhone. Here’s how to do it.

Create Tab Groups

Step 1: Open Safari on your iPhone. Now, open all the websites you want to create a Tab Group for in individual tabs.

Safari on iPhone

Step 2: Select the tabs icon in the bottom-right corner of the app.

Tabs in Safari

Step 3: Tap on the text at the bottom that shows the number of tabs open with a small downward arrow.

Open tabs

Step 4: Choose the ‘New Tab Group from X Tabs’ option to create a new Tab Group with the tabs that are open.

Create new tab group

Step 5: You will now be asked to name the Tab Group. Enter a name of your choice and tap on Save.

Name new tab group

The Tab Group will be created and saved on your iPhone. Here’s how to access it.

Step 6: Open Safari on your iPhone and tap on the tabs button in the bottom-right corner.

Tabs button in Safari

Step 7: Tap on the Start Page text at the bottom with a small downward arrow.

Start page

Step 8: Here, you will see all your Tab Groups listed. Select the one you want to open.

Select tab group

The selected Tab Group will now open in Safari on your iPhone.

Add a Tab to an Existing Tab Group

Step 1: If you’ve opened a new tab and want to add it to any of your existing Tab Groups, tap on the tabs button again with the corresponding website open.

Tabs button

Step 2: Tap and hold on to the tab preview to bring up additional options.

Tab preview

Step 3: Select ‘Move to Tab Group.’

Move tab group

Step 4: Select the Tab Group you want to add the website to and it will be added.

Select tab group

Delete Tab Groups

Step 1: Open Safari on your iPhone and tap on the tabs button in the bottom-right corner.

Tabs button in Safari

Step 2: Tap on the Start Page text at the bottom with a small downward arrow.

Start page

Step 3: Here, you will see all your Tab Groups listed. Tap on the Edit button.

Edit button

Step 4: Select the three dots next to the Tab Group you want to delete.

three-dot menu

Step 5: Now, tap on Delete.

Delete tab group

Step 6: Confirm by choosing Delete again. The iPhone will delete your Tab Group.

Delete tab group

Use Tab Groups in Safari on iPad

Like on the iPhone, you can use Tab Groups in Safari on your iPad as well with iPadOS 15. Here’s how.

Create Tab Groups

Step 1: Open Safari on your iPad. Open all the websites you want to create a Tab Group for in individual tabs.

Safari on iPad

Step 2: Once you have opened all the desired tabs, tap on the Sidebar button in the top-left corner of the app.

Sidebar button

Step 3: Select the Create Tab Group button in the Sidebar.

Create tab group

Step 4: Tap on ‘New Tab Group from X Tabs’ where X denotes the number of tabs you have opened.

create new tab group

Step 5: Safari will ask you the name the tab Group. Tap on Save after which it will be added to the Sidebar in Safari.

Name tab group

Every time you want to access the Tab Group, just open the Sidebar in Safari and select the Tab Group you wish to open.

Open tab group

Add a Tab to an Existing Tab Group

If you’ve opened a new tab and want to add it to any of your existing Tab Groups, just drag the tab from the top and drop it onto the Tab Group in the Sidebar.

Add new tab

This will move the tab into the desired Tab Group.

Delete Tab Groups

Step 1: Open Safari on your iPad and tap on the tabs button in the top-right corner.

tabs button on Safari

Step 2: Tap on the Edit button.

Edit button

Step 4: Select the three dots next to the Tab Group you want to delete.

three dot menu

Step 5: Now, tap on Delete.

Delete button

Step 6: Confirm by choosing Delete again. The iPad will delete your Tab Group.

Delete

Group Tabs on Safari for an Organized Browsing Experience

Creating Tab Groups is a great way to keep your browsing experience clean and organized. You won’t have to deal with many open tabs. Create Tab Groups based on various categories and use them according to your workflow. If Safari is your primary browser, you might also want to check out how to clear cache and cookies on Safari and fix Safari crashing on your Mac.

Last updated on 04 May, 2022

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