Quickly close tabs on iPhone and iPad
Closing your web browser's tabs is much more difficult on your mobile devices than it is on PC. It's not only because most people are tempted to press the Back button, which takes them out of that tab without actually closing it, but also because they can't see all the tabs at a glance like they do on desktops or laptops. In case this is something that bothers you, here's short guide that will show you how to quickly close tabs on iPhone and iPad.
Safari
Since most people never go through the trouble of installing a third-party web browser, we will start with Safari.
- Closing individual tabs - In case you're looking for a way to quickly close specific tabs, there's a very easy solution: When you launch Safari, you will notice that in the lower-right corner there's an icon that looks like too rectangles overlaying on top of each other. If you press that button, you will be taken into an overview mode that will display all the tabs that are currently open. In that view mode, either tap the small X button from the top-right corner or swipe to the left on the tab that you want closed.
- Closing all tabs - If you're really in a hurry or you just don't need any of your currently opened tabs, you can close them all in one swift motion. All you have to do, is to keep your finger pressed a little longer on the previously mentioned Tabs button (the one with the two overlaying rectangles) and a new menu will show up. One of its options will allow you to Close n tabs, where n will be the total number of opened tabs.
Closing tabs in Safari
Chrome
For those who prefer using Google's web browser, closing tabs is even easier:
- Closing individual tabs - When you use Chrome you will notice that right between the address bar and the menu button, there's a small icon that display a number. That number represents the number of tabs that are opened and if you tap it, you will be taken to an overview page, which shows you all the websites that you're currently visiting. Simply tap the X button corresponding to the tabs that you want to close.
- Closing all tabs - In order to close all your currently opened tabs at once, you need to go the same tab overview as shown above, but once you get there press the button with three horizontal bars. In the menu that pops up, Close All Tabs should be the third option available. Tap it and you're done.
For most other popular ways of browsing from your iPhones and iPads, such as Mozilla Firefox, the tab closing process works just like on Chrome, so it shouldn't be a problem. Now that you've seen how you can quickly close tabs on iPhone and iPad, you may also want to check out some of our other interesting iOS related stories such as: "Top 5 apps to help you send secret messages on iOS", "What to do when the browser on your iOS device gets hijacked" or "Top 5 VPN apps for your iPhone".
