If you’ve upgraded to OSX 10.10 Yosemite or use any version of iOS7 or later, you’ve probably noticed that many features in Safari have been improved.

One of these is Tab View.

What Are Tabs?

Tabs let you have one browser window, with several websites open on separate tabs within that window.

This makes it easy to move quickly between websites or do side-by-side comparisons.

Safari Tabs

Safari Tab View

Any time you have more than 6 or 7 tabs open in Safari, it becomes difficult to tell one from the other.

Tab View provides an overview of all open tabs.

You can enter Tab View on a Mac in one of 3 ways:

  1. Go to the Menu Bar and Choose View > Show All Tabs or Show Tab Overview
  2. Use the Keystroke Shortcut –  Shift Command Forward Slash
  3. In Safari, using the trackpad, pinch using 2 fingers.
Safari View Menu Tabs Options

What Am I Looking At?

On A Mac:

In Tab View, you are shown all your open tabs as small tiles.

Safari Tab Overview

To exit Tab View, either click on one of the tabs or hit Esc.

Stacked tiles, indicate that you are looking at a group of tabs open from the same website.

In the example below, I have several tabs open on the BBC website.

Safari BBC stacked tabs

Click any tile and you’re taken directly to that tab.

To close a tab, hover the cursor over the tile, and click the X that appears in the top left-hand corner.

On An iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch:

Inside Safari, tap the Show All Tabs button to access Tab View.

Move your finger up and down the screen to scroll back and forth between open tabs.

iOS Tab View

On an iOS device, you can access Tab View from inside Safari by tapping the Show All Tabs icon at the bottom right of your screen.

iOS tabs

Tap on any tab that interests you.

One More Thing

Tabs open on a Mac or iOS device can be accessed from another Mac or iOS device, if both are signed in to the same iCloud account.

This is incredibly useful. If you were looking at websites on your Mac at home and had to leave to go to the office, you could easily access those same sites from your iPad or iPhone.

How Does It Work

On A Mac:

  • Enter Tab View.
  • Scroll down until you see a list of the tabs open on your Macs and iOS devices.
  • Click on any tab you wish to view.
Apple Mac iCloud Tabs

On An iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch:

  • Inside Safari, tap the multi-tab button to access Tab View.
  • Scroll down until you see a list of the tabs open on your Macs and iOS devices.
  • Tap on any tab you wish to view.
iOS iCloud Tabs List

On an iOS device, it’s easier to browse iCloud tabs in landscape view.

iOS Cloud Tabs In Landscape View

In order for iCloud Tab View to work:

  • All devices need to be signed into the same iCloud account.
  • In iCloud preferences, all devices need to have Safari checked.

That’s it… and Happy New Year 🙂

No Problem Mac Call 310-621-5679
John Carroll - No Problem Mac

Get More Answers!

Super easy tutorials for the Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Subscribe to our Newsletter.

It's literally a no-brainer!

You have Successfully Subscribed!