When Safari is packed with tabs, closing each one manually is tedious. On Mac, you can either close every tab except one and keep the window open, or close the entire window with all tabs inside it.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Safari on Mac when a window has too many tabs from research, shopping, travel planning, or daily browsing and you want a quick reset.
Close every tab but keep the window open
This leaves one tab behind so the window stays available.
- Right-click or Control-click a tab you can keep briefly.
- Choose Close Other Tabs.
- Safari closes every other tab in that window.
- Close the remaining tab with its X or Cmd+W, or type a new address into it.
Close the entire window and all its tabs
Use this when you are finished with the whole tab session.
- Click the Safari window you want to clear.
- Press Cmd+Shift+W, or click the red close button.
- If Safari asks to confirm closing multiple tabs, click Close Tabs.
Other Safari windows stay open. Only the active window is affected.
More control
Recover a tab closed by mistake
Press Cmd+Z immediately, or open History > Reopen Last Closed Tab or Reopen Last Closed Window. Safari keeps recently closed items under the History menu for a while.
Stop Safari from restoring old tabs
Open Safari > Settings > General. Set Safari opens with to A new window and New windows open with to Empty page if you want clean launches instead of restored sessions.
Close a Tab Group
If the tabs are in a Safari Tab Group, open the sidebar, right-click the group name, and choose the option to close that group tabs. Other groups and normal tabs remain untouched.
Sources
- Apple Support – Use tabs in Safari on Mac (2025)
- Apple Support – Safari keyboard shortcuts and gestures (2025)
- Apple Support – Group tabs in Safari on Mac (2025)