How to close all Safari tabs on iPhone

ios 15 beta hands-on review
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Whether you've just picked up an iPhone 13 or have been using iOS for a while, iPhones and iPads have a whole bunch of features that you may not know about. But here's one particularly handy trick that everyone should be aware of — being able to close all of your Safari tabs at once.

Quickly racking up browser tabs and forgetting about them is something we're all guilty of. And while iOS 15 is a highly optimized and efficient operating system, it's probably not a good idea to have endless tabs sitting around in the background.

Thankfully, there's a quick and easy way to close down every tab in Safari on your iPhone or iPad. Here's how to do it.

How to close every tab in Safari on iPhone or iPad

1. To instantly close every tab in Safari on your iPhone or iPad, simply tap and hold the tab icon, then tap "Close all [X] tabs."

Screenshot from an iPhone showing how to close Safari tabs — this screen shows the pop-up enabling you to close tabs

(Image credit: Apple)

2. To confirm, tap "Close all [X] tabs."

Screenshot from an iPhone showing how to close Safari tabs — this screen shows the pop-up asking if you definitely want to close all tabs

(Image credit: Apple)

3. Safari also has the option to automatically close unused tabs after a set period of time. To do this, tap one of the time periods that appears, or tap "Don't Close Automatically" if you don't want Safari to shut your tabs automatically.

Screenshot from an iPhone showing how to close Safari tabs — this screen shows the automatic closing options

(Image credit: Apple)

Now you know how to shut all your tabs in Safari, you might also want to find out how to move the Safari address bar back to the top on iOS 15. You could also check out another hidden iPhone trick that will save you a ton of time, and find out how to recover deleted messages on iPhone, how to zoom with one hand in Apple Maps or a trick that boosts your headphone volume instantly.

Dale Fox
Freelance Journalist

Dale Fox is a freelance journalist based in the UK. He's been a tech nerd ever since childhood, when he used the money from his first job as a paperboy to buy a subscription to GamesMaster magazine. Dale was previously a presenter and editor in China, where he also worked as a copywriter for OnePlus at its Shenzhen HQ.