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iOS 15: How to Customize Your Safari Start Page and Background

First seen in macOS Big Sur, Safari's redesigned Start Page in iOS 15 is a one-stop shop for all of your Bookmarks, Favorites, Frequently Visited sites, Siri Suggestions, iCloud Tabs, Reading List, and Privacy Report.

• Launch Safari on your iPhone or iPad .
• Tap the open tabs icon in the bottom right corner of the Safari interface.

• Scroll down to the bottom of the Start Page and tap the Edit button.
• To sync your Start Page settings with other devices linked to the same Apple ID , turn on the switch next to Use Start Page on All Devices .
• Use the switches to control what you want to appear on your Start Page. Options include: Favorites , Frequently Visited , Shared with You , Privacy Report , Siri Suggestions , Reading List , and iCloud Tabs .
• You can also turn on the Background image option and choose one of the existing iOS wallpapers, or select your own from your photos by tapping the big + button.

In iOS 15, Tab Groups is another new feature in Safari that can improve your browsing experience. To learn more about Tab Groups, be sure to check out our dedicated how-to.

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How to Change Your Start Page on Safari

Last Updated: February 10, 2023 Tested

This article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido . Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 458,386 times.

Your Safari start page, or "homepage", is the page that loads whenever you start Safari. You can change this page to whatever you'd like, but if you have an adware infection it may keep getting reset. If this is the case, you can try manually removing the adware so that you can regain your control. If you use an iOS device, you can create custom shortcuts to simulate a traditional start page.

Changing Your Homepage

• If you're using Safari for Windows, click the "Edit" menu and select "Preferences". It is highly recommended that you switch to a more up-to-date browser, as Safari for Windows is no longer supported by Apple and is not receiving any security updates.

• You can also click Set to Current Page to set your new homepage to the page that is currently open.
• If your homepage keeps resetting to something else, red on to the next section.

Removing an Adware Infection

• Amazon Shopping Assistant by Spigot Inc.
• Cinema-Plus Pro (Cinema + HD, Cinema + Plus, and Cinema Ploos)
• Ebay Shopping Assistant by Spigot Inc.
• Searchme by Spigot, Inc
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• /System/Library/Frameworks/v.framework
• /System/Library/Frameworks/VSearch.framework
• /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/Jack
• /Library/InputManagers/CTLoader/
• /Library/Application Support/Conduit/
• ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ConduitNPAPIPlugin.plugin
• ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/TroviNPAPIPlugin.plugin
• /Applications/SearchProtect.app
• /Applications/WebTools.app
• /Applications/cinemapro1-2.app
• ~/Applications/cinemapro1-2.app

iPhone, iPad, iPod

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987
• ↑ http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/homepage-in-iphone-safari.398581/

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Why it feels like ads are listening to your conversations (when they aren't), the cloudstrike outage reminds me y2k all over again, quick links, how to customize safari start page sections, how to change the safari start page background.

CE Suggestions: Of the list of six Safari 14 start page sections, the "Privacy Report" section isn't described in detail like the other five. Maybe add a sentence or two about it?

With a gray background and a couple of links, Safari's start page is quite bland. But it doesn't have to be! You can add more sections and change the background. Here's how to customize the Safari start page on Mac.

Safari's customizable start page is available in Safari 14.0 or higher if you are running the latest version of macOS Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, or higher.

The start page in Safari 14 or higher is divided into different sections. In total, there are six sections available to you: Favorites, Frequently Visited, Privacy Report, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, and iCloud Tabs.

The "Favorites" section shows two rows of websites and folders that are in your Favorites bar. You can click the "Show More" button to expand the section. As expected, the "Frequently Visited" section shows some of your frequently visited websites. To remove a website from here, right-click and select the "Delete" option.

"Privacy Report" shows a rundown of websites that you've visited over the past seven days and reports how many trackers have been blocked from profiling your presence on the web. You can click into the report and view exactly what trackers on each website were blocked.

"Siri Suggestions" will show you links that you have received in Messages or in the Mail app. The "Reading List" feature shows the most recent articles from your Reading List.

And lastly, the "iCloud Tabs" section shows you open tabs from your other Apple devices.

You can enable or disable any section as you wish. You can even disable all sections and only leave a translucent gray background as the start page.

Customizing the sections is quite simple. Simply open the Safari app or open a new tab to see the start page. Here, click the Menu button from the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Here, select the checkbox next to a section to enable or disable it.

Alternatively, you can right-click anywhere on the start page to see quick shortcuts to show or hide a section.

Once you have customized the sections that you want to see (or rather, hide) on the start page, it's time to customize the background.

While the default gray background is minimal, you can spice things up by changing the background image. You can choose from a handful of images that Apple provides, or you can add your own.

Click the Menu button from the bottom-right corner of Safari's start page and click the checkbox next to the "Background Image" option to enable the feature.

Now, scroll horizontally to see all available background images. Click an image to make it your background.

To use your own image as a background, click the "+" button.

From the file picker window, navigate to where you have downloaded and stored the image you want to use. Safari will first open the desktop backgrounds folder, making it easy to use any of the built-in wallpapers as the start-page background.

Once you have found the image you want to use, select it and click the "Choose" button.

Now, the start-page background will be updated.

If you want to remove the current background or use another one, go back to the customization menu and click the "X" button next to the current background.

Find the text on some websites hard to read? Give your eyes some rest by setting a default zoom level for all websites in Safari for Mac.

Related: How to Set a Default Zoom Level in Safari for Mac

• Web Browsers

How to Customize Safari Start Page

You can now customize your Safari start page (also called a Safari home page) to show the content you're most interested in. That way when you open Safari, you can access bookmarked pages and shared files with a single tap on your screen. We'll show you how!

Related:  How to Hide Apps on the iPhone & Find Them Later

Why You’ll Love This Tip

• Easily view the bookmarks, shared files, and privacy reports you're most interested in.
• Organize your Safari home page content to best suit your browsing preferences. 

How to Customize Safari Home Page

Use the steps below to learn how to customize your Safari background image and the content displayed on your customized Safari home page. To see more iOS tips and tricks, check out our free Tip of the Day newsletter!

The great news is that your customized home page settings can also be shared across Apple devices, as long as those devices are signed into the same Apple ID and have iCloud enabled for Safari. 

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Tips & Tricks

Troubleshooting, how to customize safari start page on mac.

Do you use Safari as the default web browser on your Mac? If so, you might be happy to know that Safari’s start page is now customizable, as long as you’re running a new version of Safari on the Mac.

With Safari 14 and later, start page customization allows users to set a background image, choose the sections that are displayed like Favorites or Frequently Visited, and more. These modern Safari version are available on macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, and macOS Mojave, so as long as you’re on a modern macOS release you can get started.

Let’s review how you can customize the start page in Safari for Mac.

How to Customize Safari Start Page in MacOS

Customizing your start page is actually a pretty simple and straightforward procedure, here’s what you’ll want to do:

And there you have it, you’ve customized the Safari start page to your liking.

Whether you’re using Safari 14+ that’s pre-installed on macOS Big Sur or you’re running a standalone version of Safari 14 on an older version of macOS like Catalina or Mojave, the above steps are going to be identical. As long as you have a modern Safari version you’ll have these options available.

Aside from the new customization options, newer versions of Safari also let you check the Privacy Report for websites to see how many trackers have been contacted by a specific website. These trackers are automatically blocked and prevented from tracking you across the web. Safari also has native translation with support for seven different languages, with more languages likely to be on the way.

Safari 14 also brings some performance improvements. According to Apple’s claims, Safari is now capable of loading frequently visited websites 50 percent faster on average than Google Chrome. Power efficiency has also been improved as Safari can now stream video for up to three hours longer and browse the web for an hour longer compared to third-party browsers like Chrome or Firefox.

Did you overhaul the look of your start page in Safari for Mac? What do you like about a customized Safari start page? Share with us your thoughts and relevant experiences in the comments.

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14 Comments

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On my start page I see everything you mention. But I still have a problem.

At the bottom I see the web pages open on my iPad but I don’t see the web pages open on my iPhone.

How do I add my iPhone pages to the Start Page?

I very much prefer opening Safari with my home page of choice and do not like using this extra step.

“…click on the customize button located at the bottom-right corner of the Safari window.”

No such button appears on my SAFARI page.

As the article says, if you do not see the option it likely means you’re on an older Safari version.

Or maybe you’re not on a blank new Safari start page, as it does not appear on websites.

If it doesn’t appear on website pages, what good is it? 99.9 percent of users have a homepage set as safari default open page… a whole lotta nothing here…

To see the Start page (as opposed to the start page you’ve selected in preferences) you need to click Bookmarks in the drop down menu first then select “Show Start Page” The options box will then appear in the lower right corner. But so what? Nothing you cant do elsewhere… extra steps to get to the same thing… nothing burger…

Perhaps it’s just me, but when I open a new tab, or start Safari clean, I get the homepage I have set. I do not see the options button on any page I open.

For some reason, any background image I try to use is severely pixellated and unrecognisable in Safari on my 2012 15″ MacBook Pro. I even did a clean install of Catalina and the problem is still there. The problem isn’t there in Safari Technology Preview on the same Mac and Safari is fine on a 13″ MacBook Pro of the same vintage. Hopefully Catalina will receive the next version of Safari in the autumn and the problem might be cured. Until then, I’m stuck with a boring grey background to my Safari start page!

” if you want to remove any of the Frequently Visited websites from showing up on the home screen, right-click on it and choose “Delete”.”

Yes, OK. But having done that by mistake how do you re-instate that website so it shows on the Home Screen again?

“Whether you’re using Safari 14+ that’s pre-installed on macOS Big Sur or you’re running a standalone version of Safari 14 on an older version of macOS like Catalina or Mojave, the above steps are going to be identical. As long as you have a modern Safari version you’ll have these options available.”

I’m on OS10.14, safari Version 14.0.3 (14610.4.3.1.7)

this “click on the customize button…etc” doesn’t exist.

Try opening a new blank webpage in Safari, you’ll find the options button available in the bottom right corner, it looks like a series of dials and sliders.

Nope. Still nothing. Safari 14.0.3. Running in 10.15.7. Not the first time things on this site aren’t what they say…

Doesn’t work for me either.

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How to personalize your Safari start page on macOS Big Sur

Take control

In macOS Big Sur , Apple has added new features for the ' Safari ' app start page. Most of the new tools are designed to make it quicker to find your favorite web content. Apple also added a background feature.

First introduced with Mac OS X Panther way back in 2003, Apple's native web browser on macOS continues to receive software updates each year. In macOS Big Sur, the list of new features was much longer than other recent updates, however. 

• macOS 11 Big Sur problems : how to fix the most common issues
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Safari page settings

In recent macOS releases, the 'Safari' start page seemed more like an afterthought than actually helping you be productive. Things have changed in macOS Big Sur. You can now customize the 'Safari' start page by adding a unique background image and adjusting which sections are shown. You can also rearrange the sections to suit your tastes better. 

Your 'Safari' homepage isn't the same as the start page. The former is an external webpage you select like 'techradar.com'. The latter is the one Apple created that includes links to your most visited and favorite websites, and more, which you can adjust. 

You can set the homepage and start page by going into the 'Safari' app, then click 'Safari' on the menu bar. Choose 'Preferences' in the pull-down menu.  By default, your start page is the page that's selected every time you open a new window or tab. If you rather not use the start page, you can adjust both settings to use another page or no page. Add your homepage at the same location.

Safari adjust start page

Go into the 'Safari' start page to make changes. Click on the slider at the bottom right of the page. From here, check the items you wish to show on the start page. Options include 'Favorites', 'Frequently Visited', 'Privacy Report', 'Siri Suggestions', 'Reading List', ' iCloud Tabs', and 'Background Image'.

When 'Background Image' is checked, you can use one of the template backgrounds or select your own. Drag sections in the slider to change their locations on the start page. 

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• We show you how to reset a Mac or MacBook

Other new Safari features

A revised start page isn't the only thing new about the 'Safari' app in macOS Big Sur. The update also includes improved battery life and efficiency when web surfing, Favicons in tabs, website previews, language translations, and more. 

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Bryan M. Wolfe is a staff writer at TechRadar, iMore, and wherever Future can use him. Though his passion is Apple-based products, he doesn't have a problem using Windows and Android. Bryan's a single father of a 15-year-old daughter and a puppy, Isabelle. Thanks for reading!

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How to customize your start page in Safari on iPhone and iPad

• Choose sections for your start page
• Set a background image for your start page

Safari is probably one of your most used apps on your current iPhone. After all, Safari is your gateway to the wonderful world of the internet on the go. But have you ever wished you could make your mobile Safari experience a little more personal?

Since macOS Big Sur, Apple gave users the ability to customize the start page in Safari on the Mac . But this same feature did not make its way to the iPhone and iPad until iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, respectively. When you customize the start page in mobile Safari, you can pick your own cool background image and choose what sections you want to display when you first open a new tab. Sections can include your Favorites, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, and more. It's a simple little setting, but customizing your start page makes Safari feel more like your own.

Here's how to customize your start page in Safari on iPhone and iPad.

How to choose sections for your start page in Safari on iOS

• Launch Safari on your iPhone or iPad.
• If you are on an existing webpage, tap the Tabs button and launch a new tab .

• Scroll down to the bottom of the start page and tap Edit .
• If you prefer to use the same start page customization across all of your iPhones, iPads, and Macs, make sure the toggle for Use Start Page on All Devices is set to ON (green). This ensures that your start page appearance and settings are synced through iCloud.
• You'll see sections for Favorites , Frequently Visited , Shared With You , Privacy Report , Siri Suggestions , Reading List , and iCloud Tabs . Tap the toggles for the sections that you want to display to ON (green).
• If you want to rearrange the order that these sections appear in, just drag-and-drop with the handle into the order that you prefer.

In iOS 16 , a new section for Recently Closed Tabs will be added to the available options listed above. This section will show tabs that you've recently closed, in case you want to pull them up again.

How to set a background image for your start page in Safari on iOS

Adding a background image is a good way to spice up your Safari browsing experience while you're on the start page. Apple gives you the option to choose a preset image, or you can even pick out your own. Here's how.

• Make sure you're in a new tab so you can be on the start page .
• Scroll down to the bottom and tap Edit .
• Tap the toggle for Background Image to ON (green).
• Select one of the preset images by tapping on it.
• If you prefer to use your own, tap the large plus (+) button.
• Choose an image from your Photo Library .

If you've already set an image from your Photo Library but want to change it, just tap on the square with your custom image to browse your Photo Library again for a different image.

A personalized Safari

As you can see, it's easy to customize your start page in Safari on your favorite iPhone and iPad in iOS 15 . Doing so will give you a better experience whenever you open up a new tab in Safari, and it is a great way to add your own touch to the browser.

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Updated June 2022: Updated with information from iOS 16 developer beta .

Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed. When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.

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How to use the new Safari Start Page in macOS 11 Big Sur

If you're someone who likes Safari to start up with your own website already loaded, or your company's one, or a particular news site, you can carry right on. But if you're up for a change, or if you just never gave the start page a thought, the new improvements in macOS Big Sur are very appealing.

Let's not overplay this. What's really changed is that you can add a background, and that there are more options for what you see on that start page.

Yet don't underplay it, either. That start page can hold your most-used bookmarks, and it can take you quickly to your most-used sites. It can be where you go to catch up on articles you've saved, too.

And it can be where you go on your Mac to open that webpage you were reading on your iPad earlier.

How to customize Safari's start page

• If Safari always opens to a particular site, go to Safari , Preferences , General
• Click on the option New windows open with
• Choose Start Page
• Click on the option New tabs open with
• Again, choose Start Page
• Close the preferences window
• Open a new Safari window
• At bottom right, click on the Settings icon
• Tick on or off sections you want on the page
• Then scroll the page to see each section and over to the right of the title
• Optionally, choose Show More or Show Less

This is all you need to do to make any changes to the page that Safari starts up with, or opens a new tab with. The Settings icon is what you'll use to include or exclude particular sections and the odds are that you may only do that occasionally.

Whereas you'll probably end up adjusting the Show More and Show Less options as you work, choosing today to expand or contract what's offered.

Change the background image

By default, if you have Safari open to its Start Page, that page will be on a plain background. You can change it to anything you like, though, by clicking that Settings icon at bottom right.

Click once to tick that feature as on, and then you'll see buttons for choosing an existing image, or adding a new one. When you've changed the image once, though, the first thing that ticking this feature on does is switch to that image.

Apple's default options

Apple assumes that if you're using a Start Page, you want quick access to your Favorite sites. It's also going to track where you go so that it can show you all of your most Frequently Visited sites.

Favorites are shown as icons, but Frequently Visited sites get a thumbnail preview of their contents as they were the last time you went to them. By default, Safari will show you six of your most frequently visited sites, but if you over to the right of the title Frequently Visited, you get an option to show more.

If you choose that, Safari will now always show you a dozen frequently visited sites. If you don't want to see any at all, click on Settings and you can untick the whole section.

Reading List is also on by default and you may not have realised that you have this many pages in your list. At first, it will show you six, but clicking Show More expands that out to very many.

If you have an iPad, and you haven't switched off iCloud Tabs in the Start Page's settings, you'll see more websites. This time it's the web pages that are open on your iPad.

What Apple doesn't include

There is no point having a Start Page that gives you all your iPad's tabs, your entire reading list, a dozen frequently visited sites and 40-odd favourites. The point of a Start Page is to get you quick access to what you need.

So even Apple doesn't switch on every option. What it leaves off, though, is useful enough that you should still take a look at it.

Siri Suggestions is perhaps the most productive. It will offer you websites that you typically go to right about now.

Whereas Privacy Report is a one-line entry on the Start Page, which lets you click through for more detail.

What we don't get from Apple

Microsoft Edge has a similar feature, but it lets you see news headlines. That would be a convenient use for the Start Page, no doubt, except if you wanted to see news, you could set the New York Times as your start page.

What would be more useful would be a way to re-order the elements on the Start Page. Perhaps you rarely bookmark favorite sites and never go to them anyway, but you do rely on the Reading List.

It would be good to be able to rearrange the sequence instead of solely being able to switch them on or off.

Similarly, it would be good to have more control over how information is displayed on the page. You can't change the frequently visited section's thumbnails to icons, for instance, nor can you show thumbnails instead of icons in the Favorites section.

Thumbnails are handy, but often what you see is a quite large box around a quite short line of text. Being able to change those icon boxes into straight lines of text would let you get more on the Start Page.

Revolutionary

The Start Page is not revolutionary, except that you may come to look back on previous versions of Safari and wonder how you got by without it.

For instance, while everyone's mileage will vary, some AppleInsider writers found that they'd accrued many favicons that they stored as tabs in Safari. With the new Start Page, it was easy enough to move these favorites into the page and free up room on the tab bar.

Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube , Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.

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How to customize Safari start page on iPhone or iPad

Updated on:

Written By:

Rolled out in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Apple allows you to edit the Safari welcome page to your heart’s content. Like  Safari on Mac , you can set a background image and also add or remove display sections like website icons, reports, and more. Besides, different Tab Groups can have different start page settings. Let me show you how to customize the start page in Safari on iPhone and iPad.

How to edit Safari start page on iPhone

• How to add a background image to Safari start page

The start page is the first screen you see when you launch Safari or open a new empty tab. Here, you’ll see bookmarked sites, frequently visited websites, privacy reports, items in the reading list, Siri-suggested sites, open tabs on your other Apple devices, etc.

You may want to organize things better or include more useful options and sections here. For example, I do not like privacy reports and reading lists on my Safari start page, so I don’t keep them. Your preferences may be different.

Here’s how to enable or disable sections from Safari’s start page:

• Open  Safari  and stay on the start page. If an existing web page opens, hit the tabs icon and launch a  new tab .
• Scroll down and tap  Edit .
• Toggle off the options you do not want on the Customize Start Page .
• You may also rearrange the order by touching the  three lines icon  and dragging it up or down.

Anytime you change your mind, follow the same steps to remove or add more sections.

Note: If you toggle on Use Start Page on All Devices , your customized start page settings will be applied across all your Apple devices. However, you must sign in with the same Apple ID while two-factor authentication is enabled.

How to add a background image to Safari start page on iPhone

Traditionally, browsers have been plain white backgrounds. But with this edit option, Apple has tried adding a pinch of glamor to it. What’s more, seeing elements you like keeps you fresh, motivated, and focused on the task.

You can use one of Apple’s wallpapers or choose a custom image from your Photos app. Here’s how.

• Open  Safari .
• Toggle on  Background Image .
• Tap a wallpaper or the  plus icon  to choose an image from the iPhone Camera Roll.
• Tap  X  to close this screen. You will see the selected image as the background for Safari’s start page.

How to change background for Safari Tab Group in iOS 16

From iOS 16, the start page customization option will not be applied to all the Tab Groups . So, if you have multiple Tab Groups in action, you’ll have to change them individually.

• Go to the desired Tab Group start page . 
• Tap the edit button.  
• Customize the page with the steps mentioned above. 

And that’s it.

This is how you can customize the start page in Safari on your iPhone. I hope this brief guide was helpful. If you have any further related queries, drop them in the comments section below.

You may also like:

• Safari tips and tricks for iPhone
• How to prevent websites from tracking you in Safari on iPhone
• Customize and share website settings in Safari on iPhone

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Foam Ear Tips Surprisingly Made My AirPods Pro So Much Better

Google's ai test kitchen lets you create unique images, music, and poetry, customizing outlook: how to make it look the way you want.

Safari's start page is the first thing you see when you open a new window. But many users don't realize how customizable it is. For starters, you can get rid of its bland look by adding sections and changing its background.

We'll show you how to spruce up Safari's start page on your Mac to get it just how you want it.

How to Change the Background for Safari's Start Page

By default, the start page's gray background is the first thing that'll grab your attention when you launch Safari. You can jazz it up with a couple of stock images that Apple bundles with Safari. Or you can upload a custom image to use as the start page background instead.

For that, click on the menu icon in the bottom-right corner of Safari's start page and enable the Background Image option. Next, you can pick one of the stock images from the Background Image label by scrolling from left to right.

Click the plus (+) icon to navigate to an image you want to upload for the start page's background in Safari. There are also plenty of other Safari tips and tricks for customizing your start screen.

How to Add Favorites to the Start Page in Safari

Safari manages Bookmarks and Favorites differently than the other browsers. While Bookmarks appear in the sidebar, you can pin a handful of your frequently visited websites as Favorites on the start page in Safari.

That'll save you from the chore of opening Bookmarks or keeping the Bookmarks sidebar active. Open Safari, click on the menu in the bottom-right corner, and select the checkbox to enable Favorites .

All the links you've added to your Favorites list will appear on Safari's start page.

How to Put Your Reading List on Safari's Start Page

If you like an article on a site, you can hit Shift + Cmd + D to add it to your Reading List. It's a good idea to add all the articles you want to read on the start page itself by enabling your Reading List.

Open the menu in the bottom-right corner of the Safari start page, then enable the checkbox for Reading List .

This way, you get quick access to the articles you want to read, instead of throwing them deep in the Bookmarks or cluttering your Favorites.

How to Sync Safari Tabs Across Devices Using iCloud

With Safari on your Mac, you can access open tabs on your other Apple devices. This lets you pick up reading a website exactly where you left off. Apple syncs your Safari tabs between devices using iCloud.

On your iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app. Then tap on [Your Name] > iCloud and enable the toggle for Safari from the list of Apps Using iCloud .

Now open Safari on your Mac, click on the menu in the bottom-right corner and select the checkbox for the iCloud Tabs .

You can start syncing tabs between Mac and other Apple devices, as long as the iCloud service is active on all of them.

How to Display a Privacy Report on Safari's Start Page

Safari's privacy features block third-party tracker cookies and generates a privacy report for you to view on the start page. The privacy report shows the numbers of trackers blocked along with the list of websites that tried tracking you.

Again, you'll have to enable the checkbox for Privacy Report from the menu on Safari's start page to see this.

Over time, you can figure out which websites use the most trackers so you can be careful which ones you visit.

Spice Up Safari's Start Page to Improve Your Browser Experience

Safari's start page is customizable to your needs, allowing Favorites, synced tabs, privacy reports, a personalized background, and more. Thankfully, there are no news feeds to clog it or cause it to consume data unnecessarily.

After dressing up the start page, you can still tweak other Safari settings for browsing the web more efficiently.

• Safari Browser

6 tips to personalize your Safari Start Page on Mac

Discover ways to customize the Safari Start Page on your Mac by selecting just the sections you want to see, using a personal background image, and more.

Note: The tips here work on Mac running macOS Big Sur or later.

Related: How to customize and personalize Safari on iPhone and iPad

1. Select the sections you want to see on Safari Start Page

1) Open Safari , and you should be on its Start Page . If not, open a new tab to see the Start Page.

2) Click the Settings icon from the bottom right.

3) You’ll see a list of items that you can display on your Start Page. Just check the boxes for those you want to use:

• Favorites : Important websites you have marked as your favorites and folders you might have created to manage your favorite bookmarks.
• Recently Closed Tabs: Web pages you were viewing earlier but closed recently.
• iCloud Tabs: Sites you have open in Safari on your other devices like iPhone and iPad.
• Frequently Visited: Websites you visit on a regular basis.
• Shared with You: Links people have shared with you in apps like Messages.
• Privacy Report: A snapshot of the Privacy Report . You can click it for more details.
• Siri Suggestions: Websites Siri finds in Mail, Messages, and other apps.
• Reading List: Items at the top of your Safari Reading List . Click Show More on the top right corner of this section to see more.
• Background Image: Explained later below.

Note: In addition to using the settings icon, you can also right-click on a blank spot on your Safari Start Page and select or unselect the desired options.

2. Reorganize the Start Page sections

By default, Favorites is shown on the top of the Safari Start Page, followed by Recently Closed Tabs, iCloud Tabs, and so on. But you can easily change their position by clicking the settings icon and then dragging the options up or down .

3. Change the Start Page background

Another thing you can do to personalize the Safari Start Page is to use a background image. Apple gives you almost ten to pick from, or you can choose an image of your own.

Pick a pre-provided wallpaper

Click the Settings icon on your Safari Start Page, check the box for Background Image , and pick one of the wallpapers. You can view them all by scrolling through them to the right.

Use your own image

To use a picture or other image on your Mac, click the plus sign on the left of the wallpaper choices. Locate the image you want to use, click Choose , and your new Start Page wallpaper will appear.

Drag from Photos or Finder

Open Photos  or Finder , select the picture and drag it onto your Safari Start Page. You’ll see the background image change immediately.

Choose a different image

If you use one of your own photos or images and want to change it later, it’s easy. Hit the Settings icon on your Safari Start Page and click the tiny X on the upper left corner of the image you picked. The background will be removed, and you can click the plus sign to pick a different one, select one of the built-in options, or leave the background gray.

4. Remove items from the Start Page

Suppose you don’t like one of the sites that appear under Recently Closed Tabs on your Safari Start Page. In that case, you can right-click over that site’s name and remove it. Similarly, you can easily remove items from Reading List or Favorites.

5. View frequently visited sites as thumbnails

Frequently visited sites appear as icons, but you can right-click over this section and show them as big thumbnails.

6. Set your Start Page for tabs and windows

Remember, your Safari Start Page is different than the Homepage that you can configure in your Safari Settings. And if you did make a switch away from your Start Page for new tabs and windows and want to change it back, here’s a reminder for how to do it.

• Open Safari and click Safari > Settings or Preferences from the menu bar.
• Select the General tab.
• Choose Start Page in the drop-down boxes for New windows open with and/or New tabs open with .

If you’re like me and love options to customize your apps, then you’ll enjoy these ways to personalize your Safari Start Page on Mac.

How do you feel about the customizations for the Start Page in Safari on Mac? Will you take advantage of them, and if so, which are you happiest to see?

Check out next:

• How to create and use profiles in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
• How to have Siri read web articles to you on iPhone and iPad

Safari’s Distraction Control is a game changer for web browsing — here's how to enable it right now

This is one of the best Safari features in the macOS Sequoia developer beta

Apple has launched the fifth macOS Sequoia developer beta, which lets people test features coming to the best MacBooks and Macs this fall. This update introduces a handy new feature called Distraction Control for Safari, which is also available for the latest developer betas of iPadOS 18 and iOS 18 .

What’s special about Distraction Control? It temporarily removes distracting elements from websites, such as pop-up ads. This isn’t an ad blocker, so you don’t have to feel guilty about taking away a website’s ad views. Distraction Control lets you manually select what items you want to hide on a website, and the changes last through page refreshes/reloads so long as the item you hid hasn’t changed. This way, you can have a more pleasant web browsing experience with less distractions.

Using Distraction Control on Safari is a relatively straightforward process. Below, I’ll show you how to enable Distraction Control and how to use it.

How to turn on Distraction Control in Safari for macOS Sequoia 

Before getting started, you’ll want to be sure your Mac can install and run macOS Sequoia. Here’s a list of compatible Macs:

• MacBook Air: 2020 and later 
• MacBook Pro: 2018 and later
• Mac mini: 2018 and later
• iMac: 2019 and later
• iMac Pro: 2017
• Mac Pro: 2019 and later
• Mac Studio: 2022 and later

Lastly, we recommend backing up your Mac. Apple's built-in Time Machine feature or a reputable third-party service like Backblaze are good for the task. Check out our guide to the best cloud storage solutions for more recommendations.

Downloading the developer beta requires signing up for an Apple Developer account through the Apple developer portal . Standard accounts cost $100/year, but there's a free tier where you just get access to beta software and not the developer tools available to paying members. You may be better off waiting for Distraction Control to arrive as part of the public macOS Sequoia beta — public betas usually follow shortly after the developer beta release and provide a more stable environment for testing upcoming features.

With all that out of the way, here’s how to turn on and use Distraction Control in Safari for macOS Sequoia.

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1. Open Safari

To start, click on Safari to open it . You’ll find Safari on your Mac’s Dock, typically at the bottom of the screen. Conversely, you can find Safari within Launchpad, which is also on the Dock.

2. Click the Page Menu icon

With Safari open, click the Page Menu icon located to the left of the website’s URL.

3. Hide Distracting Items

From the dropdown menu, click Hide Distracting Items .

4. Choose what to hide

Next, select an element on the page that you want to hide . This can be a banner ad, a pop-up, or what have you. The item you select (highlighted in blue) will automatically disappear. You can do this on as many items as you want.

5. Select "Done"

Click Done if you’re happy with the changes or click Cancel to revert the page .

And that’s how you turn on Distraction Control in Safari for macOS Sequoia! This is a great option if you don’t like seeing a bunch of distractions on a page but don’t want to use an ad blocker. Remember that changes are temporary and you can always revert pages to their original form.

For more macOS Sequoia guides, be sure to read our posts on how to record audio in macOS Sequoia Notes and how to set up iPhone Mirroring in macOS Sequoia . 

More from Tom's Guide

• 5 Apple Intelligence features to try in iOS 18
• Is Apple Intelligence a game changer or gimmick?
• iOS 18 public beta hands-on

Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.

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Safari keeps opening up to first tab on iPhone

How do I fix my safari from opening up to my first tab on my iPhone? It use to open up to my most recent tab used but now it always skips to my first one.

iPhone XR, iOS 15

Posted on Feb 10, 2022 12:46 AM

Posted on Apr 30, 2022 6:26 AM

yes!!! This is happening to me too and I absolutely hate it. Whenever I open safari on my iPhone12, it’s opening up my first tab by default rather than my latest tab. I can’t seem to find a fix for this. It’s super annoying and I can see that others are experiencing this too and are equally frustrated.

@Apple you need to fix this!!

Similar questions

• How do I get Safari on my iPhone to open on previous tab? How do I get safari on my phone to open on previous tab rather than opening a new one each time I open it? Thanks. [Re-Titled by Moderator] 171 5
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• every time i open safari there are tabs at bottom of screen When I open safari on iPad mini, tabs of most recent websites appear at the bottom. How do I get rid of this feature? 5557 7

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Apr 30, 2022 6:26 AM in response to Safaritabissue

Apr 30, 2022 7:06 PM in response to Missqliu

Same issues with my safari… sure would be nice if apple could reply with a solution. It truly is so annoying to have to scroll down 100’s of tabs, every time I want to get to the last tab I had used..

Jun 3, 2022 11:48 AM in response to Safaritabissue

Here’s what I did to fix it:

• Go to Settings
• Scroll all the way down to Safari and click on it
• Once you click on it go to the Search options and check if you have the option “Preload Top Hit” turned on.
• If you do make sure to turn it off and you should be good to go

Feb 11, 2022 6:09 AM in response to Safaritabissue

Hello Safaritabissue,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

We understand that Safari on your iPhone is opening to the first tab instead of the most recent tab used. You would like it to open to the most recent tab as it used to. We would recommend starting by reviewing the following article: Set up and use iCloud Tabs .

If you continue to have issues, you may need to Clear the history and cookies from Safari on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch . Keep in mind that this action would clear all Safari browsing history from your device and would have to be recreated afterwards.

Best regards.

Jul 16, 2022 10:18 PM in response to Safaritabissue

No solutions so far that will work (in the end).

The only workaround for me is still:

• Goto the tabs view (two square icons)
• Open a new tab (+ icon)
• Goto the tabs view again
• Delete the new tab

That brings me to the end of my latest tabs.

Apr 28, 2022 3:30 PM in response to Safaritabissue

Same, I like to keep important tabs up so end up having around 100 tabs open in safari (personal choice), it’s very inconvenient to have to keep opening up an old tab and having to go through the effort of opening a new tab just to get to my most recent tabs. Not at all user friendly. I hate to be THAT person but it’s all these little irritating things that tempt me to switching to android. Hopefully there is a solution.

May 8, 2022 9:49 PM in response to Safaritabissue

Found this on reddit and it helped so far!

"I found a solution to this! Go to settings>Safari>downloads. If it says ICloud, then the problem happens because it’s deleting tabs after it uploads them. Click on ICloud and change it to my Iphone. Then below that, it asks “Delete downloaded items” and choose “manually. “ This fixed the problem for me.

Also make sure that under Safari, Tabs section that you choose to close them manually.

I hope this helps!!"

Oct 9, 2022 9:45 PM in response to Daytona-459

I’m still in the same boat. Even if they don’t have a fix it would be nice for them to simply say so, apologize, and possibly address it in a future update. It’s completely illogical. If they allow up to 500 tabs, it’s quite obvious that anyone using dozens of tabs are willing to scroll backward to see what they saved for future reference. But to scroll forward (with extreme lag) to see a page opened 5 minutes ago is ridiculous. I’ve even had it crash scrolling through to the most recent. Yes I know the trick to open a new page and then go to tabs but even then it still ends up quite often deleting the most recent, seemingly at random. I could look up a recipe then 5 mins later look up a dictionary definition in a new tab, then 10 mins later I want to see the recipe and the tab is completely gone. Not overwritten with something, just gone like I never opened it.

Jun 30, 2022 3:03 PM in response to SnickZ.

Does not work. I have four same tabs which opens whatever I do. Also private tabs with some windows, when I delete ALL of them and I reopen Safari all Private tabs are there again.

What I've tried:

• deleted cookies, settings
• Screentime on/off
• Unsync/sync iCloud
• delete all tabs, over and over again
• switched nearby all settings in
• -----> Prefs -> Safari or
• -----> Prefs -> iCloud as well
• -----> each setting in Safari

Here is a video how it looks like

-----> https://www.veed.io/view/0c801069-a683-4e35-89b4-4f3668295cfe

Fix this please

Apr 20, 2022 11:51 PM in response to Safaritabissue

I have the exact same issue. Started with the last iOS update and nothing helps. At the same time tabs I closed multiple times just reappear once I open safari again after a few minutes. Very annoying

May 4, 2022 2:38 AM in response to Safaritabissue

This worked for me:

1- open Settings

2- scroll down to Safari and select

3- scroll down to Tabs

I had single tab selected.

4- Change selection to Tab Bar.

5- Close and reopen Safari (it opened correctly to the last page/tab viewed)

6- Continue in Settings/Safari/Tabs and change back to single tab

7- Close and reopen Safari

May 5, 2022 4:27 AM in response to aking1897

My results don’t seem to be consistent either. Can’t tell if it’s a timing issue. Seems to have worked for a while - but the next day, starting Safari again, went to first tab. Only after the first time manually selecting or creating new tab, Safari retains that following a restart. But not sure for how long.

May 14, 2022 4:20 AM in response to Safaritabissue

Feb 10, that’s when this user reported this issue, an issue that has been driving me insane, but for which I just assumed there was a new setting someplace that I was too lazy to find. Feb 10. Two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, which feels like a long, long time ago. BECAUSE IT IS. Apple has not provided any helpful answer or fix for a super irritating issue, involving their own application, which millions of people use multiple times a day, every day. FIX THIS!!!!!

May 15, 2022 3:51 PM in response to Safaritabissue

I am having the same issue and also my recently opened tabs disappear and tabs I have already closed, reopen. This started happening after the last iOS update. I closed all of my tabs which seemed to help but now that I have about 100 tabs open, it’s happening again. It’s extremely annoying!

Jun 24, 2022 2:48 AM in response to tommylane

I also have the same issue for the last few months! So frustrating. Can’t believe there have been no responses. Could it be related to the model you have? my husband and I have diffenent iPhones and he doesn’t have this problem. Either way, they should still advise how to fix the bug.

Safari User Guide

• Get started
• Go to a website
• Bookmark web pages to revisit
• See your favourite websites
• Use tabs for web pages
• Import bookmarks and passwords
• Pay with Apple Pay
• Autofill credit card info
• View links from friends
• Keep a Reading List
• Hide ads when reading
• Translate a web page
• Download items from the web
• Add passes to Wallet
• Save part or all of a web page
• Print or create a PDF of a web page
• Interact with text in a picture
• Change your home page
• Customise a start page
• Create a profile
• Block pop-ups
• Make Safari your default web browser
• Hide your email address
• Manage cookies
• Clear your browsing history
• Browse privately
• Prevent cross-site tracking
• See who tried to track you
• Change Safari settings
• Keyboard and other shortcuts

Change your home page in Safari on Mac

You can use any web page as your home page, and have it shown when you open a new window or a new tab.

Open Safari for me

In the Homepage field, enter a web page address. To simply use the web page you’re currently viewing, click Set to Current Page.

Choose when your homepage is shown.

Open new windows with your homepage: Click the “New windows open with” pop-up menu, then choose Homepage.

Open new tabs with your homepage: Click the “New tabs open with” pop-up menu, then choose Homepage.

To quickly open your homepage in Safari, choose History > Home.

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How to Search for a Word on a Page or Document

We show you how to search for a word on a page on any web browser and other popular apps like Word and Google Docs.

Table of Contents:

Knowing how to search for a word on a page or in a document can save you valuable time, whether you're using a web browser like Chrome, Edge, Safari, or a text editor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs . This feature is essential when you're sifting through lengthy articles, research papers, or complex documents, and it's available across most modern browsers, text processors, and document viewers.

This tutorial will guide you through the process using Microsoft Edge as an example, but the methods described also apply to other popular apps, such as Google Chrome , Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Word , Google Docs, and Adobe Acrobat Reader. Whether you're on a desktop, Mac, iPhone , or using a Chromebook, the steps are generally similar, making this guide universally applicable.

Microsoft Edge, like most modern browsers and text processors, provides a “Find on page” tool that lets you quickly locate text without manually scanning through the entire content. This feature is particularly useful when dealing with long web pages or documents, where finding specific information can otherwise be challenging.

How to Search for a Word on a Page With the “Find on Page” Hotkey

The “Find” function is a standard feature available in virtually every web browser and text editor. This method works seamlessly across apps like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and even simple text editors like Notepad, whether you're on a Windows PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

• Open the “Find” Tool Using a Keyboard Shortcut   Press Ctrl + F (or Cmd + F on a Mac) on your keyboard. This shortcut is universally recognized across most apps, including browsers and text editors. It will bring up the “ Find ” search bar.
• Enter the Word or Phrase   In the search bar that appears, type the word or phrase you want to find. As you type, the app will highlight all instances of the text within the document or webpage. You will also see the number of matches displayed.   In browsers like Edge, Chrome, and Firefox, the matches are highlighted directly on the page. In text editors like Word and Google Docs, the highlights appear in the document, and the sidebar may show a list of all matches.

How to Search for a Word on a Page via Opening the “Find on Page” Tool Manually

If you prefer navigating through the app interface rather than using keyboard shortcuts, you can access the “ Find ” tool manually. This method is particularly helpful if you're not comfortable with keyboard shortcuts or want to explore the app's menu options. The steps are similar across browsers and text editors, making this a versatile method.

How to Search for a Word on a Page on Your Smartphone

Searching for text on a webpage or document is just as easy on mobile devices. Here's how you can do it using Microsoft Edge as an example, though the process is similar in other mobile browsers like Chrome, Safari, and document apps like Google Docs or Word. The steps are generally consistent whether you're using an iPhone, Android, or another mobile platform.

• Enter the Word or Phrase   Type the word or phrase you're looking for into the search bar. The app will automatically highlight all instances of the text on the page or document.

Here's the HTML code for the FAQ section according to your specifications:

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions About Using “Find and Replace”

Can i search for text within a pdf document using browser-based tools.

Yes, you can search for text within PDF documents using standard browser-based tools if the PDF is opened in a browser like Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. Press Ctrl + F (or Cmd + F on Mac), and the browser will allow you to type and locate text within the PDF document just as it would on a regular web page. This is helpful for quickly locating terms in large PDF files.

What if the ‘Find on Page' tool doesn't work on certain websites?

Sometimes, dynamic content or web applications use scripts that alter the text in a way that isn't immediately accessible to the browser's ‘Find on Page' function. If the text doesn't appear until you perform certain actions (like clicking or scrolling), it might not be searchable right away. Try fully loading or interacting with the page to trigger all dynamic content, or utilize the site's own search tool if available.

Is there a way to search across multiple tabs or documents simultaneously?

While typical browser and text editor functionalities don't support multi-tab or multi-document searches directly, you can use third-party software or browser extensions designed for such tasks. These tools scan through open tabs or documents and present results from all sources, making them very useful for research and extensive comparisons.

How do I perform a case-sensitive search in document editors like Google Docs or Microsoft Word?

To enable case-sensitive searches in Google Docs, open the ‘Find and replace' dialogue by pressing Ctrl + H , check the ‘Match case' option, and perform your search. In Microsoft Word, press Ctrl + F to open the Navigation pane, click the drop-down arrow in the search field, select ‘Options' , and then check ‘Match case' to perform a case-sensitive search.

Can I use regular expressions or wildcards in my searches on web pages?

Regular expressions and wildcards are not natively supported in most browsers' ‘Find on Page' tools. However, you can extend browser functionalities with plugins like Chrome's “FindR” or Firefox's “RegExp Find” which allow you to use regular expressions for more complex searches including wildcards and pattern matching.

How do I find special characters or punctuation on a webpage?

Enter the special character or punctuation mark directly into the ‘Find on Page' search bar. Make sure you include any specific characters exactly as they appear on the page, such as symbols or diacritics, to locate them effectively.

What is the quickest way to close the ‘Find on Page' search bar in browsers?

The quickest way to close the ‘Find on Page' tool in most browsers is by pressing the Esc key on your keyboard. Alternatively, you can click the ‘X' or close button on the search bar interface to exit the find mode.

Are there accessibility options to enhance the visibility of search results?

Many browsers and document editors offer accessibility options that can enhance the visibility, such as changing color contrasts, text size, and highlighting styles. Check the settings or preferences menu in your browser or editor for options like ‘High Contrast' modes or custom style sheets.

Can I highlight all occurrences of a word in a document permanently?

In most text editors, you can highlight text permanently by using the formatting features. Select all occurrences using the Find tool, then apply a text color, background color, or another distinguishing format manually from the home toolbar to ensure they remain highlighted.

How does searching for a phrase differ from searching for a single word regarding accuracy?

Searching for a phrase involves placing the entire string of words in quotation marks in the search field, which tells the search tool to look for the exact sequence of words in that order. This reduces false positives that occur when the words appear separately or in a different order, hence improving search accuracy.

Can I exclude certain words from my search results within a document or webpage?

While the standard ‘Find on Page' feature doesn't support exclusion directly, you can utilize more advanced features in document editing software or custom scripts. For instance, in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, using advanced search dialogues often allows you to specify conditions and exclusions for your searches.

Is there a limit to the number of search results displayed on a webpage?

The ‘Find on Page' function typically has no limit to the number of instances it can highlight. However, the visible results may depend on your screen size and the number of occurrences. If a webpage is very text-heavy, browser performance might temporarily lag while highlighting extensive results.

How do I reset or clear previous search highlights on a page?

To reset or clear previous search highlights, you can close the search interface by pressing Esc or clicking the close button. Performing a new search with an unrelated or blank query will also remove the highlights from the last search, returning the display to normal.

What techniques can I use to improve the efficiency of finding terms within large documents?

Optimize your search in large documents by combining keyword searches with document navigation tools like table of contents, headings view, or thumbnails in PDFs. Use the advanced find and replace functions to specify more detailed criteria and locate terms more strategically.

Can I automate repetitive search tasks across documents?

Yes, you can automate repetitive search tasks by using macros in applications like Microsoft Word or scripts in Adobe Acrobat for PDFs. These tools can perform predefined search and replace functions across multiple files, saving time and ensuring consistency in document handling.

Related: How to Find and Replace in Word

Related: how to search in google sheets.

Related: How to Change the Default Search Engine in Chrome, Edge, Safari, Opera, and Firefox

• Google Chrome
• Google Docs
• Microsoft Edge
• Microsoft Word
• Web Browsers

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Safari wants to fix your broken web browsing experience with its new 'distraction control' feature

A pple seemingly didn’t fit all of its new Safari features into its jam-packed WWDC 2024 keynote in June, as it's just announced ‘one more thing'. Alongside updates to Reader, a new web page summary tool called 'Highlights', and 'Viewer' (for making watching videos less of a chore), Apple also wants to help clean up web pages. 

Dubbed 'Distraction Control', Safari will now let you select elements on a web page, like a pop-up to enroll your phone number for a discount code, hide it, and remember that you want it hidden. 

It’s arriving in Safari on macOS Sequoia , iOS 18 , and iPadOS 18 this Fall (think September to October of 2024), but developers will get it right now as beta 5 of these operating systems are rolling out. 

Just like Reader, Apple is aiming to make its new feature as easy as possible. You’ll start by navigating to the smart search bar, clicking in, and selecting 'Hide Distracting Items'. Then, you can select items on a web page you want to hide. Once you select it, the element will float away, turning invisible or into some magic Safari stardust. 

While you can click an 'X' or hit the escape key to dismiss most pop-ups or content overlays on the web currently, the benefit of this feature is that it has memory. So if you navigate to J.Crew to shop for button-downs and dismiss the email or phone number signup using Distraction Control, it will remember it the next time you open it on your Mac. You’ll know it’s working by not seeing the pop-up, but there will also be a glowing icon within the search bar. Additionally, you can easily show hidden items as well. 

However, this feature does not sync across platforms. If you hide content on the Mac in Safari, it will remember the next time you use the browser on that device, but it won’t sync to your iPhone on iOS 18 or iPad on iPadOS 18 . You can use it across Apple’s devices, though, as it’ll be built-in. 

Not an ad blocker

Considering we haven’t yet tried out the new feature, there’s a chance it could let you hide other elements. It’s not necessarily designed to hide advertisements – though you can get around with this Reader already – but it won’t work on content overlays or pop-ups that change. Distraction Control isn’t designed to hide promotions or advertisements.

Once we can try it out in the latest developer beta, we’re keen to see what elements can be hidden and how many, as it does support more than one. Of course, as with any features in developer beta, you can expect some bugs, and even aspects of the interface or controls could change before this ships to all users.

Apple isn’t powering this feature with AI – either general artificial intelligence or the special flavor of Apple Intelligence . Instead, Safari has some onboard smarts that let it read a web page and recognize when content changes or adapts.

‘Distraction Control’ will join Highlights, Reader, and Viewer in the latest developer betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia now and will arrive when the operating systems ship to all users later in 2024. You will need to be on the standard iOS 18, iPadOS 18, or macOS Sequoia developer to play with this, since there is not a new beta for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, or macOS Sequoia 15.1 yet.

Unlike Apple Intelligence, there are no specific device requirements here either, so if your iPhone gets iOS 18, iPad gets iPadOS 18, or Mac gets Sequoia, you’ll be off to the races.

A few changes to Photos

Additionally, developer beta 5 of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia will also make a few changes to Photos, which already boasts a major upcoming redesign. It mirrors the Control Center and the home screen to some degree and offers many customization possibilities. 

With beta 5, the Recent Days tab that lets you swipe through captures grouped by date will not integrate saved content, and the 'Carousel' view is gone entirely. The 'All Photos' view will now do a better job of showing your entire library, and albums are now automatically higher on the page for users who use the feature a lot.

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