You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

support safari just lost all my tabs and I can’t restore them

I’m using iOS 16.2. I’m really upset I just closed safari and all my tabs are gone with no way to find them. I’ve tried pressing the + key on top right of the screen and they don’t show up in recently closed tabs. I’ve clicked “show all windows” and they don’t show up.


what happened is I clicked merge windows, then all my tabs were there, I closed safari and suddenly all my tabs are gone. If I repeat those steps I lose all my tabs, it makes safari unusable and I hate this bug.

iPad Pro, 12.9-inch, 6th Gen, Wi-Fi

Posted on Dec 19, 2022 10:43 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 21, 2022 5:33 AM

You can usually Reopen Recently Closed Windows.


Starting from a Home Screen, assuming that Safari is visible in the Dock, touch-and-hold (i.e., long touch) the Safari icon; an Action Menu will appear.


From the menu, select Show All Windows; you will now see a screen that closely resembles the Task Switcher - but you will only see preview windows for your open Safari Windows. At top-right (iPadOS15) or top-left (iPadOS16) of the screen you may see the Reopen Closed Window(s) button.




You should note that the Reopen Closed Window(s) button allows you to reopen a window for a limited period of time. If you have previously followed poor advice in attempting recovery, or have taken too long, you may have lost the opportunity to recover the closed window - and with it the tabs and related tab history.


This article, written a while ago, hasn’t yet been updated for iPadOS16. While there are some differences, much of the content remains relevant:

iPadOS - Safari - Lost Windows, Lost Tabs… - Apple Community


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 21, 2022 5:33 AM in response to Celeste Pickron

You can usually Reopen Recently Closed Windows.


Starting from a Home Screen, assuming that Safari is visible in the Dock, touch-and-hold (i.e., long touch) the Safari icon; an Action Menu will appear.


From the menu, select Show All Windows; you will now see a screen that closely resembles the Task Switcher - but you will only see preview windows for your open Safari Windows. At top-right (iPadOS15) or top-left (iPadOS16) of the screen you may see the Reopen Closed Window(s) button.




You should note that the Reopen Closed Window(s) button allows you to reopen a window for a limited period of time. If you have previously followed poor advice in attempting recovery, or have taken too long, you may have lost the opportunity to recover the closed window - and with it the tabs and related tab history.


This article, written a while ago, hasn’t yet been updated for iPadOS16. While there are some differences, much of the content remains relevant:

iPadOS - Safari - Lost Windows, Lost Tabs… - Apple Community


support safari just lost all my tabs and I can’t restore them

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.