iOS tips: Reopen recently closed tabs in Apple's mobile Safari browser

By AppleInsider Staff

Apple's Safari browser for iPhone and iPad features a somewhat hidden but incredibly useful feature, allowing users to quickly reopen tabs they recently closed. Here's how to access it.

When using Safari, users can tap the tab button, located in the bottom right of the display on an iPhone running iOS 8, or the upper right of an iPad screen. From there, a list of currently open tabs can be seen.

Then, to open a new tab, users simply press the plus button at the bottom of the iPhone screen. Tabs can be closed by tapping the 'X' in the upper left corner of a tab, or by swiping the tab to the left off of the screen.

But if you accidentally close a tab, or wish to reopen one you recently accessed, simply press and hold the plus button in the tabs view. This will pull up a list of recently closed tabs in Safari.

On an iPad running iOS 8 or later, the list is even more accessible, as the new tab button is permanently displayed at the upper right corner of the Safari browser. Here again, users can simply press and hold the plus button to invoke a pop-over menu that will display recently closed tabs.

Selecting a recently closed tab will open it in a new tab.

The long-press input method can also be used to reorder tabs in iOS. Open up the tab view on an iPhone or iPad and tap and hold on the tab you want to move, then simply drag your finger to reorder the browser tabs accordingly.

For more, see AppleInsider's extensive list of iOS 8 tips.