iCloud Tabs isn’t syncing properly

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iCloud Tabs isn’t syncing properly

iCloud tabs works fine on my MacBook Pro M1 and on my iPhone 12 Mini, both update pretty instantly and display the proper open tabs. The issue is that on my phone, in addition to the tabs I have open on my mac, there is an “open” tab that has been closed for over a month. It says that I have a youtube video open which I last opened about a month ago. I have closed it from my phone many times and every time I reopen Safari on my phone, it appears again. I’ve updated my phone to iOS 15 and my mac to the newest update and it still persists. Any ideas?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Sep 26, 2021 4:32 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

lüc Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 27, 2021 5:48 PM in response to bruno75

I decided to try one last thing before reverting back to iOS 15 and it seems to have worked. I signed out of iCloud on my phone and signed back in, now it shows the correct iCloud tabs.

Thank you for your help.

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Answer 2

bruno75

Community Specialist

Sep 27, 2021 2:45 PM in response to lüc

Hi there lüc,

We wanted to help get Safari working as expected when you close a tab and expect it to remain closed.

From your post, we do see that your Mac is using macOS 12.0, which is a beta version. As you’re using beta, we recommend submitting feedback using the included Feedback assistant. Betas are meant to be test environments for potential upcoming releases, and may cause unexpected behavior. While we may need to update it to the latest official macOS 11.6 as part of troubleshooting, we only recommend that step if needed. While normally beta version affect only the device on which they're installed, you mentioned having iCloud tabs open, which links your Mac and iPhone together. We wanted to make sure you were aware of these details. Just in case you need to unenroll from beta and restore your Mac to macOS 11.6, here's the link for your reference: Unenroll Your Devices

Let's first confirm some basics:

You mentioned having iOS 15 installed on your iPhone, but which exact version? The latest official release is iOS 15.0, and you can confirm this by going to Settings > General > About.
You also mentioned that you had a Mac in addition to your iPhone, but it was unclear if the same issue occurs on your Mac. Please confirm this for us.
Have you already tried any steps, like a restart of both devices as one example?

We look forward to hearing back from you about these details. Take care until then!

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Answer 3

bruno75

Community Specialist

Sep 27, 2021 4:14 PM in response to lüc

Hello lüc,

Those are all great steps to have tried, and thanks for letting us know you're running iOS 15.1 beta on your iPhone. The details stated about macOS beta above would also apply to your iPhone, regardless of the issue occurring before or after installing the beta. We also do not recommend installing any beta versions as a valid troubleshooting step for any issue going forward.

While we recommend submitting feedback about using the beta should you wish, the next step to continue troubleshooting would be to install the latest official iOS 15 release: Unenroll Your Devices

If the same issue remains afterwards, we recommend reaching out to Apple Support here: Get Support We also recommend letting them know the steps taken when you get a hold of them.

Have a good one!

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Answer 4

lüc Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 27, 2021 3:47 PM in response to bruno75

Hi, thank you for replying.

My phone is on iOS 15.1.

The issue is not occurring on my Mac, that correctly shows the open iCloud tabs on my phone when there are tabs to show, the issue is only apparent on my phone with tabs from my Mac.

I have taken a few steps to try and stop this but to no avail. The issue was occurring on the most recent update of Big Sur and on iOS 15, so I tried updating both, which is why I’m on MacOS 12 in the first place. Additionally, I’ve tried turning off iCloud for Safari on both my phone and Mac individually and upon reactivation (no matter if I choose to keep the settings on the phone or delete them) the issue persists. Finally, I’ve tried clearing the Safari history, cookies, and cache of both my Mac and phone entirely, again with no results.

This problem has been happening for multiple iOS and MacOS updates, so I doubt that reverting either to a previous version will change anything.

Thank you for your assistance.

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iCloud Tabs isn’t syncing properly

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