How to Transfer Safari Tabs to New iPhone - 3 Solutions

Axel Nash

Written By Axel Nash |

"I use Safari across all my Apple devices. Can I transfer my Mac's safari tabs to a new iPhone?"

Yes, you can. Being able to transfer your tabs to your iPhone, you can continue your browsing seamlessly without hassle. It is one of the most useful and intuitive features you can try to save time when you've multiple Apple devices.

Here we have listed a few methods on how to transfer safari tabs to a new iPhone using features available on your Apple devices out-of-the-box. We've also discussed ways to do it using third-party software.

safari tab transfer to new iPhone

Part 1: Transfer Safari Tabs to New iPhone via Handoff

Handoff is one of Apple's features for seamlessly moving a task from one Apple device to another, which works for many apps, including Safari. You can also use this to transfer safari tabs to the new iPhone.

At first, you need to ensure that Handoff is enabled on your devices and both have been logged in with the same Apple ID.

Next, let's move over to the new iPhone, where you want to open the Safari tab.

Handoff Tabs to iPhone

If you have a new iPhone with the home bar, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold for a second for the App Switcher to appear. Double-press on the' Home' button if you're using an older iPhone.

handoff iphone tab transfer

At the bottom of the screen, you will see a "Safari" bar with the device name where the tab is open. Tap on it to instantly open the web page in Safari on your iPhone.

handoff iphone tab transfer

Part 2: Transfer Safari Pages to New iPhone via iCloud Tabs

iCloud Tabs is a helpful feature that lets you find all the Safari windows you currently have open across all the Macs, iPhones, and iPads you own with the same Apple ID.

To pick up where you left off in Safari on another Apple device, you'll need to be logged into the same iCloud account on both devices. To know how it's done, refer below:

  1. On the Mac, click iCloud in System Preferences.

icloud tabs transfer mac system preferences

  1. Ensure that Safari is checked in the iCloud window.

icloud tabs transfer safari

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap iCloud and make sure Safari is clicked in.

icloud tabs enable

See Web Pages Open on Your Other Devices

  1. Tap the tabs icon in Safari. It looks like two overlapping squares.

icloud tabs transfer safari tabs icon

  1. Tap a webpage listed under your device's name.

icloud tabs transfer webpage

This will open that web page in a new tab in Safari and will still be open on the other device. On the Mac, you can also hover your mouse pointer over a web page and click the X button to close the site on your other device.

Part 3: Transfer Safari Tabs to New iPhone with 1 Click

Opening many tabs in Safari while browsing is pretty convenient, but it can also quickly become a confusing mess. Luckily, Apple has created a way to save all open tabs to Safari bookmarks. This way, the tabs can be stored and reopened later with one tap, and all the open tabs are kept under a single bookmark folder.

The ability to quickly add all open tabs to a bookmarks folder was added to Safari with iOS 13.

Follow these steps to save open tabs to a bookmark.

Save all open Safari tabs to a bookmark

  1. Launch the Safari browser on iOS 13 or later
  2. Long press the bookmark icon
  3. Now choose Add Bookmarks for n Tabs from the pop-up menu

add bookmark

  1. Name the folder and select a location for saving your bookmarks.

save bookmarks

Use MobileTrans to transfer bookmarks to new iPhone

The next best solution to transfer bookmarks to your new iPhone is to use a powerful phone-to-phone transfer tool called MobileTrans. This instant solution can transfer all your bookmarks, including newly added ones. Experts highly suggest this safe, easy and fast tool.

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Step 1. Launch MobileTrans on your computer and click the "Phone Transfer" option.

mobiletrans

Step 2. Connect both iPhones to your computer. Here is an example of an iOS and Android phone:

data transfer

Step 3. Choose the data you want to transfer and then click on the Start button, here, you should select Bookmark.

content selection screen

Step 4. It will complete the transfer after a few minutes. Check if your Bookmarks have transferred to the new iPhone.

mobiletrans data successfully transferred

Why Choose MobileTrans

Now you may be wondering, why choose MobileTrans when Apple has provided the feature out of the box? While handoff and iCloud tabs can only transfer safari tabs to devices that log into the same Apple ID, there are no limits for MobileTrans. It enables you to transfer bookmarks from your old phone to the new one with one click.

Bonus: How to Fix Safari Tabs Did Not Sync between Devices

Are your open Safari iCloud tabs not syncing between devices? This is a common issue on your Apple devices and seems to be an iCloud-related problem.

There is no permanent fix available at the time, but you can try the following steps to fix Safari tabs not syncing between devices via iCloud.

Reset Safari iCloud Sync.

To fix Safari tabs sync, you can disable Safari syncing in iCloud and re-enable it to force the service to restart. To do this, open Settings > iCloud then disable and re-enable Safari.

reset safari icloud sync

To do it on Mac, go to System Preferences -> Click on Apple ID -> In the iCloud section, un-check Safari to disconnect it from iCloud. Then, click the checkbox once again to re-enable Safari iCloud syncing.

Sign out and sign in to iCloud.

Another troubleshooting option is to log out of iCloud and log back in on every device.

iPhone &iPad:Settings -> Apple ID (scroll all the way down for Sign Out)

Mac:System Preferences -> Apple ID -> Overview (Sign Out)

Sign back in using the same Apple ID on all devices and check if the problem is fixed!

safari icloud sign out from icloud

Restart your iPhone.

Your last option is to restart all devices that are plagued with the Safari tabs syncing problem, and here's how to restart your iPhone.

  1. Press and hold the volume button and the side button until the power-off slider appears
  2. Drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off. If your device is frozen or unresponsive, force restarts your device.

safari icloud restart your iphone steps

Conclusion

While Handoff and iCloud work pretty great in transferring safari tabs, there are also limitations to these Apple features. We highly recommend using MobileTrans as it enables you to transfer bookmarks to your new iPhone effortlessly.

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Axel Nash

Axel Nash

staff Editor