iCloud Tabs Reappearing on Mac (Ghost/Zombie Tabs)

I noticed a couple other unsatisfactory closed threads, but has anyone else experienced ghost iCloud Tabs on Mac?

My Safari iCloud Tabs on Mac were repeatedly showing tabs that I had already closed on my iPhone. Even after closing all tabs on both devices, some “ghost” tabs kept reappearing on the Mac. This didn’t affect bookmarks or the Reading List, but it was persistent and annoying.

I recommend a full back-up, especially any tabs, bookmarks, or any important data before attempting these steps. Here’s what I tried to fix it (Mac OS 26.2/iPhone OS 26.2).

• Stop session restoration: Safari → Settings → General → set new windows/tabs to open with Empty Page.
• Quit/reopen Safari to verify iCloud tabs are persisting
• Turn off iCloud Safari sync on Mac
• Turn off iCloud Safari sync on the iPhone
• Delete local CloudTabs database: Finder → Go → Go to Folder →

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Safari/

• Clear Safari caches: Delete contents of:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Caches/
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/

• Reboot Mac and iPhone
• Re-enable iCloud Safari sync on the iPhone and confirm empty tabs
• Re-enable iCloud Safari sync on the Mac and select OK to merge bookmarks/Reading List when prompted
• Verify if iCloud links still persist