iCloud tabs not syncing/working

iCloud Tabs has stopped working on all of my devices

iCloud Tabs isn't working on any of my devices. I can't see them from my MacBook Pro (macOS Catalina), nor from my iPhone X (running 14.2). I have quadruple checked and iCloud is on and Safari is checked and everything is correct on each device. It was working fine up until I noticed the issued several days ago. I haven't changed any settings or behaviors or changed any features, but for whatever reason it isn't working anymore. And if it does, my computer shows iPhone tabs from the day before and not current tabs and my phone doesn't show my computer tabs at all anymore. Although it's small, it's a feature of iCloud that I use quite often and it's a nuisance to have it not working properly.


I followed all suggestions on forums and articles to turn off iCloud, turn off Safari, etc. on each device and turn it back on but still nothing. I've restarted and rebooted a plethora of times and it's still the same issue. Does anyone have any insights on what could be causing this issue and how to fix it?

Posted on Nov 13, 2020 7:09 AM

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229 replies

Dec 15, 2020 10:26 AM in response to cng1990

Exact same problem, but this issue isn't limited to Mac OS on my 2019 MacBook Pro 13" 2-TB. Both my iPhone 11 Pro and iPad Air 4 (bought yesterday) have the same issue - neither can see currently open tabs on other devices. I've tried closing safari on all devices, disabling iCloud (deleting data on iPhone and iPad), doing a hard reboot on all three, re-enabling iCloud (first Mac, then iPad, then iPhone), then opening Safari, and still no luck. There's clearly a bug here on Apple's end.


All three devices on the very latest version of Mac OS (11.0.1) and iOS (14.3 with the new update where I can see privacy reports on App Store pages).

Dec 20, 2020 3:17 PM in response to cng1990

I've had this issue too, and am not sure if it's related to upgrading to a new iPhone, or a completely independent iCloud problem.


Today I had the most stark example that this is some sort of bug. I was using my laptop and iCloud tabs were working fine. I had a bunch of tabs open on my phone, and they showed up on my laptop. Then at one point I tried closing one of my iPhone's tabs from my laptop, and iCloud tabs disappeared. (I still had a bunch of tabs open on my phone, but my laptop simply stopped showing them.)


Maybe iCloud tabs will randomly start showing up again at some point. It's totally unreliable right now, and impossible to diagnose what's causing the problem.

Dec 21, 2020 1:26 AM in response to cng1990

iOS 14.4 is currently out for developer testing, so hopefully that may resolve it when fully released.

Having said that, when iOS 13 got released it affected the ringer tone level in AirPods, we sent bug reports in the hundreds via this forum, but it took Apple a whole iOS cycle to fix it. Yep 1 whole year, fixed with iOS 14. Lets hope this does not drag on that long.


Dec 27, 2020 1:50 PM in response to cng1990

iCloud tabs stopped working on my iPhone 12 Pro Max after a did a reset (erasing all content and settings) and restored from an iCloud backup. Since then, I cannot get it to work again, even after following the advice here and elsewhere. As a recent Android switcher, it means I need to go back to Google Chrome until this is resolved, which kinda sucks (I prefer Safari's privacy consciousness). I cannot live without this feature.

Dec 27, 2020 7:21 PM in response to WalterCarlos

The issue is now solved for me. I don’t know exactly how it got fixed but two things happened:

  • Safari received a standalone update (I saw a notification). I’m on latest Catalina with MBP2015.
  • I upgraded from an iPhone X to a 12. Both in latest iOS though.

I still moved to chrome since I haven’t seen an official statement that this has or will be looked into. It seems it might break at any time. if by late January I see no issues I’ll gladly go back to safari as my main browser.

Jan 7, 2021 11:04 AM in response to MatthiasKamper

iCloud tabs on my devices have been messed up for at least six weeks. I installed 14.3 on my iPad Pro and SE2 yesterday. After I rebooted, all the tabs disappeared. This afternoon, I saw them reappear on my SE. Yay, I thought. Maybe this is fixed. Alas, they've reappeared, but are more messed up than ever. I have tabs going back months. The ONLY iCloud tab field that's correct is the one on my iMac (10.15.3) pointing back to my iPad.


UPDATE: As I was typing this, iCloud tabs just vanished from my iPad.


Clearly, something is broken.


And yes, I tried all the "things" ... rebooting, signing out, reset network settings, etc ...

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iCloud tabs not syncing/working

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