Safari pinned tabs shrink to site icons and stay at the far left of the tab bar. They reopen when Safari launches, which makes them useful for sites you check constantly, such as email, calendar, messaging, or dashboards.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Safari on Mac when you want a site to remain open in the same place every time you use the browser.
Pin a tab
Pinning is handled from the tab menu.
- Open the site you want to pin.
- Right-click or Control-click the tab.
- Choose Pin Tab.
- The tab becomes a small icon at the far left of the tab bar.
Safari treats pinned tabs as persistent browser fixtures rather than normal tabs you casually close.
Unpin a tab
Undoing the pin is just as simple.
- Right-click or Control-click the pinned tab icon.
- Choose Unpin Tab.
- The tab expands back into a normal tab.
More control
Links usually protect the pinned page
If you click a link inside a pinned tab that leads somewhere else, Safari often opens it in a regular tab so the pinned site remains in place.
Pinned tabs are per window
If you use multiple Safari windows, pinning a tab in one window does not automatically pin it in every other window. Pin it again where needed.
Use Tab Groups for bundles
Pinned tabs are best for one or two always-open sites. For several related project tabs, Safari Tab Groups are a better way to save and reopen a collection.
Sources
- Apple Support – Pin a tab in Safari on Mac (2025)
- Apple Support – Use tabs in Safari on Mac (2025)
- Apple Support – Group tabs in Safari on Mac (2025)