Filed under: Mac 101
Mac 101: Navigating Safari Tabs
TUAW reader Jason wrote in asking us how to switch between open tabs in Safari. If you're using tabbed browsing in Safari, it may not be immediately obvious how to navigate other than to click on the tab you want to view. Fortunately, Apple did build in keyboard shortcuts: to cycle left between tabs, type Command-Shift-Left Arrow or Command-Shift-[. To cycle right, use Command-Shift-Right Arrow or Command-Shift-].
Firefox uses a different approach. To select a tab, hold down the Command key while pressing a tab number. Command-1 selects the first tab, Command-4 the fourth. (For the curious, in Safari, this Command-Number approach selects the nth item in your Bookmark bar that is not a folder.)
More after the jump...
If you don't have Safari's tabbed browsing enabled and want to give it a try, open preferences (Command-,), click Tabs and check "Enable Tabbed Browsing"
Other tab-fu tricks:
Open links in new tabs: If you have a scroll-wheel mouse, click the link with the scroll-wheel button. If you have a regular mouse, command-click the link instead. Add the Shift key to select the new tab after opening it. If you always want to select new tabs as they are created, open Preferences (Command-,) and check the proper option in the Tabs pane.
Create a new empty tab: Type Command-T or select File -> New Tab.
Open a folder of bookmarks into separate tabs: Control-click (right-click) a folder in your bookmark bar or Bookmarks window and choose "Open in Tabs".
Closing tabs: Click the close "X" in the corner of the tab to close it. Holding down option closes all tabs but the current one.
Navigate tab history: Each tab has a separate history. You can navigate through the history using Command-Left Arrow and Command-Right Arrow (alternatively, Command-[ and Command-]).
Check out the command cheat sheet: Open the Tabs pane in Safari Preferences (Command-,) and pay attention to the bottom of the pane. You'll find a four-item cheat sheet showing you the various Command-click options with modifiers. These change based on whether you have enabled tabbed browsing.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
mpoppy said 4:25PM on 5-23-2007
Also in firefox: To cycle thorough tabs command-option-(right/left) arrow
Reply
Joe said 4:32PM on 5-23-2007
Yet another way to cycle through tabs in Firefox: Control-Tab to cycle to the right, and Control-Shit-Tab to cycle to the left.
Reply
jon Stieglitz said 4:40PM on 5-23-2007
In safari I changed the keyboard shortcut for changing tabs to shift+arrow key. It's convenient because the shift button is right above the arrow keys.
Reply
Stefan Pfetzing said 5:13PM on 5-23-2007
Also nice for this is SafariStand, which allows you to bind . and , for switching Tabs. (this only works when not entering text into a form)
Generally speaking, I'd recommend www.pimpmysafari.com
Reply
Elliot said 4:42PM on 5-23-2007
I use the Firefox add-on SwiftTabs ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/380 ) to give Firefox the same shortcuts as Safari for switching between tabs.
Reply
ch. said 4:46PM on 5-23-2007
is there a way to change safari default shortcuts to the ones used by firefox for cycling through tabs, which are much more convenient?
it seems impossible through preferences panel...
Reply
Kelter said 5:02PM on 5-23-2007
Also nice is SafariStand's setting to allow you to scroll through the tabs using your scroll wheel. Check it - http://hetima.com/safari/stand-e.html You need to turn this feature on in the SafariStand Settings. Hot!
Reply
Tim said 5:28PM on 5-23-2007
@ch. It's possible to change Safari's default shortcut from Keyboard preferences. You just need to create a new keyboard shortcut specific to Safari. I mapped Next Tab to F8, since I found the original shortcut too hard to hit.
Reply
Dov said 5:45PM on 5-23-2007
In Firefox (and possibly in Safari, I can't check since I'm not home) you can also use Ctrl+PageDown/PageUp to tab forward and backward, respectively.
Reply
Jordan said 5:49PM on 5-23-2007
And Erica's at it again! Writing shitty posts about censorship from information! Woohoo! God damn, I thought my email to your editor would actually DO something. Ah.
Reply
Jordan said 5:53PM on 5-23-2007
Oh look, she wrote an entire article about a shortcut key combination. God damnit. There's good info to be had on this site, punctuated by these banal antiafforisms.
Reply
jason said 6:36PM on 5-23-2007
Thanks. I asked you rather than take the time to look it up myself, and got too many options to remember. I will figure out which ones are the easiest to hit.
Reply
jason said 7:11PM on 5-23-2007
Sounds like Jordan is that most common of personalities, someone with a false impression of their own importance/intelligence. If you want to be a sesquipedalianist, Jordan, please take the time to learn how to spell. It is "aphorism."
Reply
Richard said 7:05PM on 5-23-2007
In Safari, holding down the apple key while clicking on the current window title will toggle down a list of URLs previously visited
Reply
Jordan said 7:54PM on 5-23-2007
I've been ribbing on her for a long, long time now. If she hasn't figured out it's somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as it seems no one else has, then that's too bad. You are correct, my spelling was wrong. Also, thanks for the comment on my site. And if "aphorism" is sesquipedalian, then I'm scared by culture.
Reply
(01) said 9:26PM on 5-23-2007
Joe, the ctrl+tab in Firefox seemd to jump tabs at random for me. Anyone else seen this? And Jordan, you still sound like an asshole even if you're kidding.
Reply
bre/powerbook said 9:55PM on 5-23-2007
What about Camino? I've tried just about everything while playing around to see if I could cycle through tabs. I'm just wondering due to the fact that its a little newer in builds. But I don't know, just hoping any other user can help me out. Thanks
Reply
tim said 11:24PM on 5-23-2007
easiest thing for safari AND camino is to set up your own custom keyboard shortcuts int he keyboard preference pane. i am trying very hard to switch from firefox to safari, but it is difficult. however, i switched my shortcuts to command+~ and shift+command+~, which is almost the same as FF. plus it is a one hand thing so i can keep my hand on the mouse! (same goes for camino)
Reply
VanillaSpice said 11:26PM on 5-23-2007
Jordan, there is nothing "somewhat tongue-in-cheek" about a comment like your "Writing shitty posts".
Anyway, we can't mind-read your intentions. If you don't mean something seriously, then make it obvious! Otherwise, (as is the case here) people have no choice but to think you're serious and to take you to task for such offensive and unfounded remarks.
Reply
Alex said 1:52AM on 5-24-2007
I was wondering if there is a way to have safari working like firefox when closing a tab.
On firefox all i have to do to open a tab is middle click on a link and then a middle click on the tab (in the tab bar) close it. The first action works in safari, but the second doesn't, is there a way to have it working ?
It's really the only thing that keeps me away of safari :(
Thanks for any help :)
Reply