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Today, in this article we will show you how to lock Safari private tabs on Mac, iPhone and iPad. With iOS 16, Apple made it possible to lock the hidden album in the Photos app so that people couldn’t see your private photos. No, with the release of iOS 17, Apple added Locked Private Browsing to its Safari browser to make it more private. It means you can finally use Face ID or a passcode to lock your private Safari tabs. It’s without a doubt one of the best things about iOS 17.
Notably, this feature is already built into the Chrome browser. You can use Face ID or a passcode to lock Incognito tabs on Chrome. In this digital age, it’s becoming more and more important to protect our privacy. Online browsing is no different, and Safari’s private tabs let us do it without leaving a mark. The risk of data breaches goes up as more transactions are done online.
Keeping private information safe has become a top priority. Private tabs not only hide our browsing history, but they also stop websites from following what we do. To keep our privacy, Safari private tabs must be locked. In this article, we’ll look at how to lock Safari private tabs on Mac, iPhone and iPad so that only you can see them. If you want to know more information about this issue so you can visit Apple Official Website.
Why Should You Lock Safari Private Tabs?
- Better privacy: When you lock private tabs, only people who are allowed to can see them. This is especially helpful if you share your device with other people or want to keep sensitive information and your browsing history from falling into the wrong hands.
- Protection from Intruders: Locking private tabs with features like Touch ID makes sure that even if someone gets their hands on your device, they won’t be able to see what’s on those tabs without the proper authentication.
- Securing Sensitive Information: Sometimes, you may have private or confidential information open in private tabs. By locking these tabs, other people can’t see this information, which adds an extra layer of security.
- AutoFill and suggestions can invade your privacy: If you lock private tabs, Safari won’t be able to make suggestions or autofill information based on your private browsing, so your private information will stay private.
- Avoiding Embarrassing Situations: If you use Safari for personal or sensitive searches, locking private tabs can help you avoid embarrassing situations if someone else finds your search history by accident.
- Keep Personal Sessions Separate: Locking private tabs lets you keep your personal browsing sessions separate from your regular browsing. This way, you can keep your tabs and browsing activities separate.
How to lock Safari private tabs on Mac
- Open Safari on your Mac to get started.
- Then, find the menu bar and click Safari.
- Choose Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Find the Privacy tab in the Settings window and click on it.
- On the Privacy tab, find the option to turn on “Require Touch ID to view locked tabs.“
- Enable this setting to make sure that you need Touch ID to open locked tabs.
How to lock Safari private tabs on iPhone and iPad

- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap on Safari.
- Scroll down and tap on Privacy & Security.
- Toggle on Require Face ID to Unlock Private Browsing.
- If you don’t have Face ID, you can also use your iPhone’s passcode to unlock private tabs.
Conclusion
Locking Safari Private Tabs is a must if we want to keep our browsing private. There are several ways to lock tabs, including Touch/Face ID and Passcode, third-party apps, and Safari’s Private Browsing mode. We need to keep working hard to protect sensitive information and keep safe browsing habits.
Questions and Answers
How private is browsing in private mode? If you use incognito browsing or private browsing, your search and browsing history will be hidden, and cookies on the device you are using will be deleted. The information might be accessible on other devices and networks, though.
Safari’s “incognito” mode also keeps your browsing activity from being saved to your iCloud account and synced to other devices you use. Because of these things, private browsing is a quick and easy way to use a shared computer.
But it’s important to know that even though your parents might not be able to see your browsing history when you’re using WiFi in private mode, your internet service provider (ISP) still can. Even if you use “incognito mode,” they can see the sites you visit.
This incognito mode won’t cloak your IP address, encrypt your internet traffic, or make you safe on public Wi-Fi. Private browsing still leaves you pretty exposed to a lot of the risks that come with connecting to the internet. For true online anonymity, you’ll need to use a VPN to change your IP address.