Accidentally closed all open tabs on iPad safari

This solution does not work. When I did that, it only showed the one window that was open the other window with multiple tabs that somehow got closed was not visible and none of the other items described in. Those pictures were visible on my iPad mini.

This is another very annoying feature that Apple needs to fix. The fact that you can somehow close multiple tabs if you have two windows open and have no way of regaining them. This has happened to me numerous times. And I never did anything like closing any of the windows for it to happen.

In your Safari window, you need to touch-and-hold the “+” (the one you use to open a new tab); it will offer your list of recently closed tabs.

If you closed a Safari Window - and all associated tabs - you can reopen a Recently Closed Window for a limited period of time…

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 (iPadOS16/17) you will 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 left too long, you may have lost the opportunity to recover the closed window - and with it the tabs and related tab history.

I can’t find the reopen closed windows button? I’m doing it on an iPad Pro and can’t find it. Can you upload sever photos where you get there or a video ?

From prior question regarding restoring lost tabs on my iPad, the answer give was to go “menu”. There is no “menu” in an iPad. How can I restore my tabs to where they used to be please?

This is the ONLY thing that actually worked for me. The easiest and quickest way to restore closed tabs on a Mac for any browser is reopen the browser and hold the "shift+command+T" keys. Remember, you need to repeat hitting these keys to restore each tab. So, if you had 50 tabs that you want to restore, you will need to do this 50 times. Hope this helps ☺️

I turned on Stage Manager, and the "Reopen closed window" option never appears. This really is a poor implementation of a feature. I have now inadvertently closed multiple tabs many times, leaving just the one tab I didn’t intend to close. Most annoying Apple.

For anyone using iPadOS 17 you need to turn on stage manager to see the "reopen closed window" button.

Are you certain that you closed all your tabs - and have not, perhaps, opened a new Safari Window? Each Safari Window has its own self-contained set of open tabs.

When you open Safari, you may see the Shelf at the bottom of the screen - within which you will see each of your open Safari Windows; simply tap the thumbnail corresponding with the Safari Window (with associated tabs) that you wish to view.

If you closed a Safari Window - and all associated tabs - you can reopen a Recently Closed Window…

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 (or top-left for iPadOS16) you will 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 left too long, you may have lost the opportunity to recover the closed window - and with it the tabs and related tab history.

If you have accidentally closed all you your open tabs associated with a Safari Window, this User Tip may be helpful in recovering your tabs. While I have not [yet] updated the document to reflect changes in iPadOS15/16 (having been written for an earlier version of iPadOS), much of it is still relevant - as are the outlined strategies:

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

This worked for me, thank you so much! 🙏 I was able to recover my accidentally closed window with my *very* important 1,647 tabs 😝

This has happened several times before and I was working on something that disappeared without me closing or touching anything. I left it open, returned and poof, gone! History only shows another random page. None of the advice works. I am using an iPad mini without an external keyboard. This NEVER happens on my Windows based devices or Edge, Chrome, or Firefox browsers as my entire history is saved and easily restored.

Hi,

I believe there are other answers but to re-open closed tabs in safari on iPad, hold the + sign in the top right. You’ll see a drop down of all the recently closed tabs in the window you’re currently using. But if you go to a different window from the one with the closed tabs, it won’t give you the list of closed tabs. I hope I’ve made myself clear. Feel free to send questions in return. Hope this helps.

DC

This worked for me, thank you!

Thank you very much!!

For MacOS just try with CMD+SHIFT+T.

For iOS and iPadOS try the same by connecting a bluetooth keyboard. Make sure you keep safari opened. Tried and worked on iPadOS 17.3. :)