Safari says I’m about to clear more tabs than I am aware of having open when I clear history and website data

I don’t have other tab groups or private tabs open. I cleared my history and had it clear all tabs, then opened safari, went to one site, went back into settings and went to clear history again and it says it’s going to clear 2 tabs. I want to know where this second tab is. Is it a glitch? Is safari opening a hidden tab somewhere else that I can’t access? Is my iPad cloned somehow and everything I do opens up on someone else’s machine? It’s freaky to see and just makes me feel like my iPad is not secure! I don’t know if you’ve tried it on your iPad but go to clear your history and website data and when that window pops up for timeframe and tabs see how many tabs it’s saying you’re about to close and see if that matches up to how many you think you have open.

Perhaps my idea of what a tab is differs from what Apple and safari do. If I clear my history and website data and say I want it to clear all tabs, I’m assuming it has done just that. Then when I open up safari after doing that there are no open tabs and I see the blank safari page with no website open and a list of my bookmarks, waiting for me to enter a site address. When I type in a site address, ESPN.com for example, then I believe I have opened 1 tab. When I go back to settings and try to clear my history and website data again it says I have 2 tabs waiting to be cleared. Does safari default to two tabs when a person goes to a website on a single page? Does private count as an open tab even if there’s no website opened in the private view? I’m racking my brain as to what could make safari think that 2 tabs are open when I’m only in one. If someone can explain this to me I’d appreciate it.

That’s not what’s happening. If a site I went to opened a pop up window in the background, you know, an actual new tab that I can see behind the window I’m actually viewing that I can click back and forth from, that’s what I would consider a new tab. Another website window that I opened with the + icon, with another web address running behind the window I’m actually viewing, that’s a 2nd tab to me. If I don’t see that or know that I have that running then how is another tab open, and where is it, how is it accessible? Where can I go in the program that will point me to this elusive open tab that I can’t see in front of me? That’s what I’m saying, it’s not giving me any way to view it and I have found no instructions online at all that tell me how to access supposed “hidden”tabs. Right now, If I exit safari and clear history and website data and close all tabs, then exit settings, then NOT go into safari, but go back to settings, click the now blue clear history and website data, I’ll see that it says I have no tabs to clear. Now, if I just open safari and then close it without going to ANY site, then go back to settings, click clear history and website data it’ll say I’ll be closing 2 tabs. I think it counts the start window, even with no website address entered, as well as the privacy window, even with no website address entered, as open tabs by default. That’s the only explanation that makes sense to me right now. And even if you close what i think is a second tab as I explained above, a window I add to my screen with the + icon, it might still be considered open to this program. It seems ridiculous to me.

ok, am I looking for anything in particular in my reading list?