How to Open a Recently Closed Tab in Safari on Your iOS Device - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Open a Recently Closed Tab in Safari on Your iOS Device

by

Accidentally close a browser tab in Safari on iOS and want to open it back up? There's a simple gesture for that, which you may not know about.


All you have to do is open up the tab view in Safari and long press on the "+" icon to get a look at all of the tabs that you've recently closed.

Even if you're aware of the gesture, it's worth a reminder that this feature exists in case someone gets ahold of your phone and checks your browser. Even if you've closed out a tab, it's still going to be visible in Safari, unless you were using a private browser window or have cleared your browsing history.

Want to close your Safari tabs all in one go? That's another hidden feature available in Safari. Make sure to check out our accompanying how to for instructions.

Top Rated Comments

scrapesleon Avatar
107 months ago
Nice didn’t know about this
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BMcCoy Avatar
107 months ago
Cool tip - i’ll use that.
Thanks.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
107 months ago
On a Mac, using Safari you can also either click and hold the + icon at the right of your tabs, or just quickly press ⌘⇧T to open your last-closed tab.

In fact, you can keep hitting that combo and it will keep opening other recently-closed tabs.
If I recall correctly, an even simpler ⌘Z (as in essentially "undo") will do the same thing basically.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
107 months ago
On a Mac, using Safari you can also either click and hold the + icon at the right of your tabs, or just quickly press ⌘⇧T to open your last-closed tab.

In fact, you can keep hitting that combo and it will keep opening other recently-closed tabs.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
107 months ago
Lol I had no idea! But iOS is so intuitive, you can even press things out of nowhere on a 3D Touch-less device!
It's basically long-press that has been around for a long time.
[doublepost=1515101414][/doublepost]
Cool! I didn’t know this :)
[doublepost=1515101359][/doublepost]
I missed that one! How do I do that?
How to Close All of Your Safari Tabs at Once on iPhone or iPad ('https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-close-all-of-your-safari-tabs-at-once-on-iphone-or-ipad.2098918/')
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kdarling Avatar
107 months ago
Handy. I've accidentally closed tabs before.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4. There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...