It is incredibly easy to let your web browser spiral out of control. Over the course of a few weeks, opening links from text messages, emails, and social media can result in hundreds of open tabs running quietly in the background of your iPhone. Knowing how to close all Safari tabs at once is a fantastic way to instantly declutter your screen and improve your browsing organisation.
Rather than swiping away each individual page one by one—which can take ages if you have accumulated a massive backlog—Apple has included a highly convenient, yet slightly hidden, shortcut to clear them all simultaneously.
How to Close All Tabs Manually
You can execute this command directly from within the Safari browser in just two taps.
- Open the Safari app on your iPhone.
- Look at the bottom-right corner of the screen for the Tabs icon (which looks like two overlapping squares).
- Instead of tapping the icon normally, tap and hold it for a second until a pop-up menu appears.
- Tap the option that says Close All [X] Tabs (the X will display the exact number of tabs you currently have open).
- Confirm your decision in the secondary prompt that appears.
How to Close Safari Tabs Automatically
If you find yourself constantly hoarding tabs and having to perform this manual purge frequently, you can actually instruct your iPhone to clean up after you automatically.
- Open your iPhone’s Settings app.
- Scroll down through the list and tap on Safari.
- Scroll down to the “Tabs” section and select Close Tabs.
- By default, this is set to “Manually”. You can change this to automatically close any untouched tabs after One Day, One Week, or One Month.
Understanding how to close all Safari tabs at once is a brilliant little trick for maintaining a clean and efficient digital environment. By combining the manual long-press shortcut with an automated weekly clean-up schedule, you can ensure your browser remains fast, organised, and free from endless clutter.
