My iPad safari tabs disappeared
I find a lot of people are asking this question but I can NOT find anyone who has solved the problem yet.
Can you help me get them back? I have my setting as “delete tabs manually.” They just magically disappeared.
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Are you certain that you closed all your tabs - and have not, perhaps, opened a new Safari Window? Each Safari Window has its own self-contained set of open tabs.
When you open Safari, you may see the Shelf at the bottom of the screen - within which you will see each of your open Safari Windows; simply tap the thumbnail corresponding with the Safari Window (with associated tabs) that you wish to view.
If you closed a Safari Window - and all associated tabs - you can reopen a Recently Closed Window for a limited period of time…
Starting from a Home Screen, assuming that Safari is visible in the Dock, touch-and-hold (i.e., long touch) the Safari icon; an Action Menu will appear.
From the menu, select Show All Windows; you will now see a screen that closely resembles the Task Switcher - but you will only see preview windows for your open Safari Windows. At top-right (or top-left for iPadOS16) you will see the Reopen Closed Window(s) button.
You should note that the Reopen Closed Window(s) button allows you to reopen a window for a limited period of time. If left too long, you may have lost the opportunity to recover the closed window - and with it the tabs and related tab history.
If you have accidentally closed all you your open tabs associated with a Safari Window, this User Tip may be helpful in recovering your tabs. While I have not [yet] updated the document to reflect changes in iPadOS15/16 (having been written for an earlier version of iPadOS), much of it is still relevant - as are the outlined strategies:
iPadOS - Safari - Lost Windows, Lost Tabs… - Apple Community