The Cluttered Start Page
Whenever you tap the “Tabs” icon in Safari on your iPhone and hit the “+” button to open a new page, you are presented with the Safari Start Page. By default, this page features a prominent section titled “Frequently Visited.” This area displays a grid of large square icons representing the websites you navigate to most often. While Apple designed this to save you a few taps, it is often a privacy nightmare. If you hand your phone to a friend to show them a funny picture and they accidentally open Safari, they will instantly see your most frequented banking portals, social media profiles, or news sites. For a cleaner, more private browsing experience, you can disable this section completely.
How to Remove the Frequently Visited Section
You customize this layout directly from the Safari Start Page itself, not from the main iOS Settings app.
- Open the Safari app on your iPhone.
- Open a new, blank tab (tap the two overlapping squares in the bottom right, then tap the + icon).
- Scroll all the way down to the very bottom of the Start Page.
- Tap the Edit button.
- A “Customize Start Page” menu will slide up from the bottom of the screen.
- Locate the toggle switch labeled Frequently Visited.
- Tap the switch to turn it Off (the green background will disappear).
- Tap the X in the top right corner of the menu to close it.
Enjoying the Clean Layout
The change takes effect instantly. The grid of frequently visited website icons will vanish from your screen. Your choice is saved automatically and will apply to every new tab you open in the future. If you want a truly minimalist experience, you can return to that Edit menu and disable every single toggle (Favorites, Privacy Report, Siri Suggestions), leaving you with a completely blank, distraction-free grey background every time you start a new browsing session.