Safari Tabs Disappeared on iPhone after iOS 18 Update [Quick-Path]

Part 1: Why Do My Safari Tabs Keep Disappearing on iPhone after iOS 18 Update

The first question that you may ask is why do my Safari tabs keep disappearing on iPhone. Let us answer it. The Safari tabs disappeared iPhone issues can happen for various reasons from updating bugs to iOS settings on your device.

Safari tabs disappeared iPhone issue was first reported after the iOS 13 update, and it still exists. However, some users faced it while some didn’t. If your safari started disappearing tabs after iOS 18, it is probably due to the iOS 18 update bug.

Safari tabs can disappear on your iPhone/iPad if you’ve turned on the low power mode. It cuts the device's background processing to save battery juice, interfering with the safari tabs.

Moreover, the tabs are stored as a file in the device storage; they can disappear on the deletion of the files. Low memory on the device can make the OS delete these temporary files to save storage to keep the device running smoothly.

Part 2: Top 6 Fixes to Fix Safari Tabs Disappeared on iPhone after iOS 18 Update

We’ve found the top 6 fixes for the safari tab that disappeared on iPhone after iOS 18 updates. Go through them one by one, and see which one works on your device.

Fix 1: Free Up iPhone Storage

As mentioned above, the low storage on the device can delete temporary files. And since the tab's data is stored in the temporary files, the OS can automatically delete it due to the low storage error. Try freeing up some storage, and see if the issue is resolved.

You can follow these tips to free up storage on your iPhone:

• Go to Settings >> General >> iPhone Storage, and see what’s covering the major portion of the device storage.

  
• If it's the apps, delete the unnecessary ones you don’t use anymore.
• If it’s the videos and photos, navigate to the Photos app and delete the duplicate, unnecessary screenshots, and bad-angle photos.
• If you can’t afford to delete anything from Photos, uploading them to iCloud or Google Photos can help you save storage on the device.

Fix 2: Disable Background App Refresh

iPhone has a background app refresh feature which is useful when you want to keep your favorite apps updated. If you’re unfamiliar with this feature, it refreshes apps in the background even when you’re not using them. It’ll keep you updated about all the app notifications and other processes of apps.

In the case of Safari, if you’ve turned on this feature, it’ll lead to auto-deleting the tabs. Thankfully, you can quickly turn it off the iPhone. Here’s what you need to do to disable for the Safari app:

• Go to the Settings, and select the General option.
• Tap on the Background App Refresh option.
• Here you can see the list of apps and toggles to turn on or off this feature individually. Along with that, on top, you can switch the toggle to turn on & off the operations for all the apps.

• If you want to continue using this feature on your iPhone, locate the Safari app in the list, and tap on it to turn on the Background App Refresh option.

  

Fix 3: Restart Safari

If the “Safari tabs disappeared iPhone after iOS 18 update” issue persists, we can anticipate it can be an iOS 18 update bug or glitch in Safari. It can be a minor bug that mostly comes along in the iOS updates and can be quickly resolved.

A simple restart is the best way to tackle these errors and issues on iOS devices. Restarting the Safari device will refresh its features and operations, that’ll help it to reflect them on the OS correctly. You can restart the Safari app by removing it from the recent apps list.

• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to the center to open up the Recent apps.
• Locate the Safari app, and swipe it up to remove it from the recent apps.
• Now the Safari app is closed, you can relaunch it to restart it.

Fix 4: Restart Your Device

Sometimes issues like “safari tabs disappeared iPhone after ios 18 update” can occur due to the OS problem/glitch. Restarting the device can resolve minor glitches and bugs, as it helps optimize the device and refresh the OS. Give it a try and see if the issue resolves.

• Quickly press the Volume down button, and release it.
• Then quickly, without any delay, press and hold the Power/Side button until the device turns off and the Apple logo screen appears.

• Let go of the Power/Side button when the Apple logo appears, and wait for it to boot up properly.

  

Fix 5: Disable Any Installed Content Blockers

Content blockers like ad blockers elevate your browsing experience in Safari. They block the annoying ads, banners, cookies, and other unnecessary elements on the web page. However, they can interfere with the Safari functionality, which leads to the issue “Safari tabs disappeared iPhone”.

If you’ve installed any content blockers in the Safari app, try disabling it and see if it fixes the issues. Here’s the step-by-step guide to disabling content blockers in Safari on iPhone:

• Navigate to the Settings app on your iPhone, and locate the Safari app.
• Tap on the Safari app when you’ve found it, and it’ll open the list of options.

• Tap on the Content Blockers option, and tap on All Websites to disable it. The toggle should turn gray when you disable it.

  

Fix 6: Check Safari Settings

The “Safari tabs disappeared after ios 18 update” issue can also occur if you’ve tweaked the settings. In the Safari settings, you can enable the auto-delete tabs and can select the time for it. If you’ve turned on these settings, your Safari tabs will be auto-deleted within the selected period. Here’s how to check Safari tab settings:

• Go to the Settings app, locate the Safari app, and tap on it.

• Tap on the Close Tabs option, and set it to "Manually" instead of the other options “After One Day” or “After One Week”.

  

Part 3: How to Restore Safari Tabs without iCloud or iTunes Backup

You’ve successfully fixed the auto-deletion of Safari tabs on your iPhone iOS 18, but what about the lost tabs? If you’re looking for a way to restore Safari tabs without an iCloud, it can be a pretty challenging task, but with the help of third-party software like Tenorshare UltData.

It’s a smart computer-based program using which you can dig into your iPhone’s storage to recover recently deleted contents such as Photos, Videos, Messages, Contacts, and even Safari Tabs. Here are the steps to restore Safari Tabs using Tenorshare UltData:

• Download the Tenorshare UltData from the official source, and install it on the computer. After successfully installing, launch it on the computer like any other program and select Recover Data from the iOS Devices option.

  

• Connect your iPhone/iPad to the computer using the lightning cable. Make sure your device is turned on and detected. Once the program detects your iOS device, tick the files you want to recover, and hit the Scan button. For Safari tabs, select the Safari History option.

  

• After the scanning process completes, it’ll show all the recovered files on the program. You can filter the files to make locating the files you want to recover easier. Double-click on the file to preview. Then you can recover it to PC.

  

Bonus Tip: How to Restore Safari Tabs on iPhone from iCloud

There are fewer ways to restore Safari tabs on your iPhone after you’ve deleted them. We showed you the one way to restore them using a 3rd party. However, another way is to restore them from iCloud.

If you’re signed in to iCloud on your iPhone and synced with the iCloud ID, you can easily recover the deleted Safari Tabs through the History option. Here are the steps to do it:

• Go to the Safari app with iCloud ID signed, and navigate to the History option.
• You’ll see all the seen tabs here in the History section.
• Tap on them one by one to re-open them.

Conclusion

The “safari tabs disappeared iPhone after ios 18 update” is a common issue reported by many iPhone users after installing iOS 18. However, there are many tested and tried solutions to resolve it.

In this guide, we discussed all the possible ways to fix “safari tabs disappeared iPhone after iOS 18 update”. And, if you have something important in the Safari Tabs, opt for the Tenorshare UltData to recover them.

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