The fastest way to bookmark a page in Safari

To add a website to your favorites in Safari, tap or click the share button — it looks like a square with an arrow pointing out of it — then select Add Bookmark. On iPhone and iPad, the share button is at the bottom of the screen. On Mac, it's in the top right corner of the Safari window. Safari will ask you to name the bookmark and choose where to save it, then you're done.

The bookmark appears in your Favorites folder by default, which is the easiest place to find it later. You can change the name to anything you want — shorten it, make it more specific, or use a phrase you'll actually search for. Once you save it, the bookmark stays there until you delete it.

Key Takeaways

  • The share button (square with arrow) is the fastest way to bookmark any page in Safari on any device.
  • Bookmarks save to your Favorites folder by default, where they appear in a menu you can access anytime.
  • You can rename a bookmark to anything you want when you save it, making it easier to find later.
  • Bookmarks sync across your devices if you use iCloud, so a bookmark saved on your iPhone appears on your Mac.
  • You can organize bookmarks into folders to keep related sites grouped together.

Where your bookmarks actually go

When you save a bookmark, Safari stores it in the Favorites folder by default. This folder appears as a menu at the top of your Safari window (on Mac) or as a tab at the bottom of the screen (on iPhone and iPad). Tapping or clicking that menu shows all your bookmarks in one place, sorted by the name you gave them.

If you have multiple Apple devices and use iCloud, your bookmarks automatically sync across all of them. A bookmark you save on your iPhone shows up on your Mac within seconds. This means you don't have to bookmark the same site twice — save it once, and it's available everywhere.

How to organize bookmarks into folders

If you bookmark many sites, you can create folders to keep them organized. When you tap or click the share button and select Add Bookmark, Safari shows you a dropdown menu where you can choose which folder to save the bookmark in. Instead of choosing Favorites, select New Folder to create a category — for example, "Recipe Sites" or "Work Tools".

Once you create a folder, future bookmarks can go into it. On Mac, you can also right-click a bookmark and move it to a different folder after you've saved it. On iPhone and iPad, open the Bookmarks menu, tap Edit, and drag bookmarks between folders to reorganize them.

Finding a bookmark you saved

To open a bookmark you saved, tap or click the Favorites menu — it's the same place where you added it. Scroll through the list and tap or click the name of the site you want to visit. If you organized bookmarks into folders, open the folder first, then select the bookmark inside.

On Mac, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Command+Y to open the Bookmarks sidebar, which shows all your bookmarks and folders at once. This sidebar stays open while you browse, so you can jump between bookmarks without opening the menu each time.

Editing or removing a bookmark

If you want to change a bookmark's name or move it to a different folder, right-click it (on Mac) or long-press it (on iPhone and iPad) and select Edit Bookmark. You can change the name, the folder it's in, or both. Tap or click Done when you're finished.

To delete a bookmark, right-click or long-press it and select Delete. The bookmark disappears when ready, but you can always add it again later by visiting the site and using the share button. Deleting a bookmark from one device removes it from all your devices if you use iCloud.

The difference between bookmarks and reading list

Safari has two ways to save pages: bookmarks and reading list. Bookmarks are permanent — they stay until you delete them and appear in your Favorites menu. Reading list is meant for pages you want to read later but don't need to keep forever. To add a page to reading list, tap or click the share button and select Add to Reading List instead of Add Bookmark.

Reading list items appear in a separate menu and are usually cleared out after a few weeks. Use bookmarks for sites you visit regularly or want to keep long-term, and use reading list for articles or pages you're saving temporarily.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I bookmark a page without naming it?

No, Safari requires you to give a bookmark a name before saving it. The site's title appears by default, but you can change it to anything you want. If you want to keep the original name, just tap or click Add without editing the text field.

What if I bookmark the same site twice by accident?

Safari doesn't prevent duplicate bookmarks, so you'll have two entries in your menu. Delete one by right-clicking or long-pressing it and selecting Delete. To avoid this, check your Favorites folder before bookmarking a site you've saved before.

Do bookmarks take up storage space on my device?

No, bookmarks use almost no storage. They're just links and names, not copies of the actual websites. You can bookmark hundreds of sites without affecting your device's available space.

Can I export my bookmarks to another browser?

Yes, but the process is different on Mac and iPhone. On Mac, open Safari, go to File menu, select Export Bookmarks, and save the file. On iPhone, you'll need to use iCloud to sync bookmarks to another browser that supports iCloud, or manually recreate them.