Safari keyboard shortcuts for tabs, reading and search
The Safari shortcuts worth learning first are Command-T for a new tab, Shift-Command-T (⇧⌘T) to reopen the tab you just closed, Command-L to jump to the Smart Search field, Control-Tab to move to the next tab, Shift-Command-Backslash (⇧⌘) for Tab Overview, Shift-Command-R for Reader, and Command-F to find text on the page. Together they cover most of what people reach for the mouse to do in a browser.
Below, by job: tabs, the Smart Search field, reading, and finding things on a page, with a table at the end.
Tabs
- Command-T: new tab. The cursor lands in the Smart Search field, so you can type straight away.
- Command-W: close the tab. To close every tab in the window except one, Option-click the close button on the tab you want to keep.
- Shift-Command-T: reopen the last closed tab. The one to remember for the moment you close the wrong tab. For anything older, the History menu has a Recently Closed list.
- Control-Tab and Control-Shift-Tab: next and previous tab. Shift-Command-] and Shift-Command-[ do the same, if those sit better under your fingers.
- Command-1 to Command-8: go to that tab, counting from the left. Command-9 goes to the last tab, however many you have open. If these do nothing, open Safari > Settings > Tabs and turn on “Use ⌘-1 through ⌘-9 to switch tabs”.
- Shift-Command-Backslash: Tab Overview. Every tab in the window as a grid of thumbnails, which is easier than reading twenty tab titles shrunk to a few letters each. Press it again to leave.
Links have their own modifiers. Command-click a link to open it in a new tab in the background, so you can keep reading. Shift-Command-click opens it in a new tab and switches to it.
And Shift-Command-N opens a new private window, for when you want to check how a page looks to someone who is not signed in.
The Smart Search field
Safari’s address bar is also its search box, and the keyboard is the fastest way into it.
- Command-L: select the Smart Search field. Whatever address is there is selected, so typing replaces it. Type an address or a search and press Return.
- Command-Return: open it in a new tab, in the background, instead of replacing the page you are on. Shift-Command-Return opens it in a new tab and switches to it.
- Esc: put the address back. If you started typing and changed your mind, Esc restores the current page’s address.
Command-L followed by Command-C is also the quickest way to copy the address of the page you are on.
For moving around pages you have already visited, Command-[ goes back and Command-] goes forward, the same keys as in the Finder.
Reading
- Shift-Command-R: Reader. Strips a long article down to its text and pictures, without ads or sidebars. Press it again, or Esc, to go back to the page. Reader only appears for pages Safari recognizes as articles.
- Space and Shift-Space: down and up a screen. The page scrolls by roughly a screenful, which is how most people read long pages without a mouse. Option with an arrow key scrolls in larger steps than the arrow alone.
- Command-Up Arrow and Command-Down Arrow: top and bottom of the page.
- Command-Plus and Command-Minus: zoom the page in and out. Command-0 puts it back to actual size.
- Shift-Command-D: add to Reading List. Saves the page to read later. Control-Command-2 shows or hides the Reading List in the sidebar, and Control-Command-1 does the same for Bookmarks.
- Command-D: add a bookmark.
Space only scrolls when the cursor is not in a text field. If pressing it types a space into a search box instead, click an empty part of the page first.
Finding things on a page
- Command-F: find on the page. A bar opens at the top; matches are highlighted as you type.
- Command-G and Shift-Command-G: next and previous match.
- Command-E: use the selection for Find. Select a word on the page, press Command-E, then Command-G to jump to the next place it appears, without typing it.
- Command-J: jump to the selection, scrolling the page back to whatever you have selected.
Command-E and Command-G together are the pair most people never learn, and they work in many Mac apps besides Safari, TextEdit among them. Text editing shortcuts that work in almost every Mac app has more of these.
A table to keep beside you
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌘T | New tab |
| ⇧⌘T | Reopen last closed tab |
| ⌃⇥ / ⌃⇧⇥ | Next / previous tab |
| ⌘1 to ⌘8, ⌘9 | Go to tab by position, last tab |
| ⇧⌘\ | Tab Overview |
| ⌘L | Smart Search field |
| ⌘Return | Open what you typed in a new tab |
| ⇧⌘R | Reader |
| ⇧⌘D | Add to Reading List |
| ⌘F | Find on page |
| ⌘E, then ⌘G | Find the selected text |
| ⌘[ / ⌘] | Back / forward |
Learning them, and showing them
Safari’s menus show most of these on the right of each item, so the menus are a fair reference. A few, such as Space to scroll, Command-click and Command-1 to Command-9, are not in any menu at all.
Typebar covers both. Hold Command in Safari for a moment and the keys of its on-screen keyboard relabel with what they do in Safari, read from Safari’s own menus, while a hand-made Safari pack adds the ones the menus leave out, such as the tab numbers. You can also search its Cheatsheet List, pick a shortcut, and watch its keys light up, which helps with the ones that use the bracket keys.
If you record browser tutorials or demo a web app, the overlay helps your viewers as much as you. Typebar names every shortcut as you press it, using Safari’s own name for it, so “⇧⌘T” arrives with what it did rather than as three bare symbols. Keyboard shortcuts for switching apps and windows on a Mac covers the layer above Safari, moving between apps and windows.
Typebar is $9 once, with a 24-hour free trial, on macOS 14 or later.
Questions
How do I reopen a tab I closed in Safari?
Press Shift-Command-T. For tabs closed earlier, open the History menu and look under Recently Closed.
Why doesn’t Command-1 switch tabs in Safari?
The setting that allows it has been turned off. It is on by default; with it off, those keys open the bookmarks on your Favorites bar instead. Open Safari > Settings, click Tabs, and turn on “Use ⌘-1 through ⌘-9 to switch tabs”.
Can I give a Safari menu item my own shortcut?
Yes. In System Settings, choose Keyboard, click Keyboard Shortcuts, then App Shortcuts, add Safari, and type the menu item’s name exactly as it appears in the menu. Add or change a keyboard shortcut for any menu item walks through it.