Change General Preferences In Safari On Mac - Apple Support

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macOS Tahoe 26 macOS Sequoia 15 macOS Sonoma 14 macOS Ventura 13 macOS Monterey 12 macOS Big Sur 11.0 macOS Catalina 10.15 macOS Mojave 10.14 macOS High Sierra Select version: macOS Tahoe 26 macOS Sequoia 15 macOS Sonoma 14 macOS Ventura 13 macOS Monterey 12 macOS Big Sur 11.0 macOS Catalina 10.15 macOS Mojave 10.14 macOS High Sierra Modifying this control will update this page automatically Search this guide Clear Search Table of Contents

Safari User Guide

• Welcome
• Get started
• Browse the web
  • Go to a website
  • Get highlights
  • Bookmark webpages to revisit
  • See your favorite websites
  • Use tabs for webpages
  • Hide distractions when browsing
• Shop on the web
  • Apple Pay in Safari
  • Apple Pay in third-party browsers
• Read and watch
  • Keep a Reading List
  • Hide distractions when reading
  • Translate a webpage
  • Hide distractions when watching videos
• Download and save content
  • Download items from the web
  • Add passes to Wallet
  • Save part or all of a webpage
  • Print or create a PDF of a webpage
  • Interact with text in a picture
• Customize Safari
  • Change your homepage
  • Customize a start page
  • Create a profile
  • Block pop-ups
  • Make Safari your default web browser
• Privacy and security
  • Hide your email address
  • Manage cookies
  • Clear your browsing history
  • Browse privately
  • Prevent cross-site tracking
  • See who tried to track you
• Change Safari settings
• Keyboard and other shortcuts
• Copyright and trademarks

In the Safari app on your Mac, use General settings to choose the webpage that appears when you open a new window or tab, to choose how to handle downloads, and more.

To change these settings, choose Safari > Settings, then click General.

Open Safari for me

Option				Description
Safari opens with				Choose how each Safari session starts: with a new window, a new private window, all the windows from your last session, or all the non-private windows from your last session. Some options are shown only if “Close windows when quitting an app” is selected in Desktop & Dock settings. Open Desktop & Dock settings for me
New windows open with				Choose what a new Safari window contains: Start Page: See websites you marked as Favorites, a Privacy Report summary, your Reading List, and webpages open on other Apple devices where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account. Homepage: The homepage you set in the Homepage field below. Empty Page: An empty Safari window with no webpage address or content. Same Page: The webpage you most recently viewed. Tabs for Favorites: All the bookmarks in Favorites as a set of tabs. Choose tabs folder: The bookmarks in the bookmarks folder you choose.
New tabs open with				Choose what a new tab contains: Start Page: See websites you marked as Favorites, a Privacy Report summary, your Reading List, and webpages open on other Apple devices where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account. Homepage: The homepage you set in the Homepage field below. Empty Page: An empty Safari window with no webpage address or content. Same Page: The webpage you most recently viewed.
Homepage				Enter the URL of the webpage you want to use as your homepage, or click Set to Current Page to use the current active webpage.
Remove history items				Choose when to remove items from the history.
Start Page Favorites				Choose the bookmarks folder whose bookmarks you want shown on the start page and in the start page view that appears below the Smart Search field.
File download location				Choose where to save items you download from the internet, or have Safari always ask where you want to save downloads.
Remove download list items				Choose when to remove items from the list.
Open “safe” files after downloading				Open the listed types of files (but not software) in Safari automatically when a download is completed.

See alsoGo to a website using Safari on MacClear your browsing history in Safari on MacDownload items from the web using Safari on MacAdd websites to your Favorites in Safari on Mac Helpful? Yes No Character limit: 250 Please don’t include any personal information in your comment. Maximum character limit is 250. Submit Thanks for your feedback.