How to completely reset Safari iCloud tabs on MacOS and iOS devices?

Question

How to completely reset Safari iCloud tabs on MacOS and iOS devices?

I have two Macs, an iPhone and an iPad. Each of these devices has, for one or more of the other devices, a list of Safari iCloud tabs that does not reflect the tabs actually open on the device.

For example: My iPhone shows five tabs open on my main Mac. My iPad shows three - a different three. And my second Mac shows 30+ tabs open on my main Mac. The correct answer is one: this page I'm typing upon.

Another example: My iPad shows two tabs open on my iPhone. My Macs show one. The correct answer is one.

If I try delete one of the zombie tabs from another device, it immediately re-appears.

What I'd like to do is completely reset iCloud tabs - delete them all. There is no important data to lose here so I'm OK with this.

How can I do this?

Posted on Sep 8, 2021 9:24 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

AlanFlemingUK Author

Level 1

18 points

Sep 10, 2021 2:46 AM in response to tygb

Thanks, tygb, that wasn't it but you put me on the right track.

I'm using Big Sur, so my Safari preferences are contained in ~/Library/Containers/Safari/Data/Library/Preferences. In there I noticed another directory: ByHost, which contains another plist - which contains a key called SyncedTabsDeviceUUID. That looked promising!

I moved the plists to the desktop, and rebooted.

On restarting Safari, in iCloud Tabs, I now had two copies of my main machine. But it let me delete the zombie tabs from the original copy of my main machine and the tab from my iPhone stuck on my iPad.

So that's the solution. Delete the contents of the ByHost directory and manually tidy up your tabs from there.

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Answer 2

Sep 9, 2021 7:29 AM in response to AlanFlemingUK

Hello AlanFlemingUK.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We understand you have some syncing issues between your devices with iCloud Tabs. We have some steps that could help you clear them out to start fresh.

We'll be working from this guide:

Set up and use iCloud Tabs

One way to remove them is to disable Safari for iCloud (therefore tabs). On your iPhone or iPad go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Turn off Safari. From your Mac choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, and click Apple ID. Then click iCloud. Click to turn off Safari.

Restart your devices, then go back to that area and re enable Safari. Test a tab to see if that helps.

Next, if the issue is still present, you may need to clear Safari browsing history and cache on each device.

Clear your browsing history in Safari on Mac

Clear the history and cookies from Safari on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

We look forward to hearing how this goes.

Take care.

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Answer 3

tygb

Level 9

64,588 points

Sep 9, 2021 10:32 AM in response to AlanFlemingUK

Click on finder in Mac take cursor on top menu bar > Go > keep on holding option key > click on library from preferences folder drag and drop com.apple.safari.plist to the desktop , restart the Mac again set up home page Change your home page in Safari on Mac - Apple Support

As setting with safari will go to default , all tabs will be removed .

Note : it depends which Mac OS and version is used the .plist will be viewed in Mac OS high Sierra and previous versions .

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Answer 4

Sep 9, 2021 8:27 AM in response to Soosie_J215

Partial success. I now have:

Tabs OK from my second Mac to my iPhone and iPad, and from my first Mac to my second.

1 zombie tab from my iPhone, displaying on my iPad.

6 zombie tabs from my first Mac on my iPhone

6 different zombie tabs from my first Mac on my iPad

How best to proceed?

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Answer 5

tygb

Level 9

64,588 points

Sep 10, 2021 4:12 AM in response to AlanFlemingUK

Bt host contents are removed if major network issues are there , you need to consult apple care senior advisors , of course deleting complete contents from folder By hosts contents are recreated when Mac is restarted or sometimes the complete folder is dragged and dropped on the desktop ( only senior apple care advisors suggest , then only follow them , don't try to remove internal files by your own .

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Answer 6

MaxMori

Level 1

4 points

Sep 27, 2021 10:58 AM in response to AlanFlemingUK

Thanks! This seems to solve the problem.

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How to completely reset Safari iCloud tabs on MacOS and iOS devices?

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