If you visit a scammy website in Safari on iPhone, or iPad, or on your macOS laptop/desktop, you may find yourself unable to close any of its tabs. We know of a work-around that is confirmed working. Check it out after the jump.
Scammy websites – like those that sell you questionable pills, products and porn – often use scammy methods to pull you into buying. One common method they use is hijacking your browser tab. They’ve found ways to ensure you can’t close a tab, either by clicking on the ‘X’ button next to the tab title, or by pressing Command+W. Whenever you try to do so, it pops up an alert that keeps repeating itself. Or, in some cases, it just freezes said tab. You’re simply stuck with the tab.
Thankfully, there’s a way to deal with this nonsense. It works on both iOS as well as macOS devices, so everything from your iPhone and iPad to MacBook and iMac is covered.
Related: Close All Tabs In Safari For iOS 10 With This New Option
Close stuck tabs in Safari
The method is rather simple. If you’re on iOS, here’s how you can close that pesky tab.
- Go to Settings, and turn on Airplane Mode.
- Double-tap the home button to see recently opened apps. From there, swipe up Safari to close it.
- Go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data. This will close all stuck or otherwise hijacked tabs in Safari.
- Turn off Airplane Mode to resume normal use.
If you’re on Mac:
- Press Cmd+Space to enable Spotlight Search.
- Type “Activity Monitor” to launch said app
- Click on Safari.
- Press the ‘X’ in the top-right corner
- When it asks, click on “Force Quit”.
- The next time you open Safari, it will be with a fresh slate. Previously open tabs will be closed already, nowhere to be found.
Also check out: Reopen Multiple Recently Closed Tabs In Safari For macOS
And that’s about it. If you’re still somehow unable to close that tab, please share more details in the comments section below. We’ll try to resolve the issue for you personally.