Safari preferences are in different places depending on whether you use a Mac or iPhone
On a Mac, open Safari and look at the menu bar at the top of your screen. Click Safari, then scroll down to Settings (or Preferences if you have an older version). On an iPhone or iPad, you won't find Safari settings inside the Safari app itself — instead, open the Settings app on your home screen, scroll down to find Safari, and tap it. The location matters because Apple built these two versions differently, and knowing where to look saves you time when you want to change how Safari works.
Once you're in the right place, you'll see tabs or sections that organize settings by what they control: privacy, security, general behavior, and extensions. Each section groups related settings together, so if you're looking for something specific — like whether Safari saves your passwords or how it handles cookies — you'll find it grouped with similar privacy controls rather than scattered throughout.
Key Takeaways
- On Mac, click Safari in the menu bar, then select Settings or Preferences; on iPhone, open the Settings app and scroll to Safari.
- Safari settings are organized into tabs like General, Privacy, Security, and Extensions, each controlling different browser behaviors.
- Mac and iPhone versions have different settings available because they run different operating systems, so don't expect them to look identical.
- Changes you make in Safari settings on one device do not automatically sync to your other devices unless you use iCloud sync.
Finding settings on a Mac
On your Mac, Safari settings live in the top menu bar. Click the word Safari (not the Safari icon in your dock), and a dropdown menu appears. Near the bottom of that menu, you'll see Settings on newer Macs (running macOS Ventura or later) or Preferences on older ones. Click whichever one appears, and a window opens showing tabs across the top: General, Tabs, AutoFill, Passwords, Search, Privacy, Security, Websites, Extensions, and Advanced.
Each tab controls a different part of how Safari behaves. The General tab lets you choose your home page and what happens when you open a new window. The Privacy tab controls whether Safari tracks your browsing across websites. The Security tab manages warnings about unsafe websites. If you've installed extensions (like ad blockers or password managers), the Extensions tab is where you turn them on or off and set what each one can do.
You can also reach some settings by right-clicking on a webpage itself. For example, if you right-click an image and see an option to block images from that website, you're actually creating a rule that Safari stores in the Websites tab of settings. This is useful if a particular site loads slowly or shows ads you want to hide.
Finding settings on iPhone or iPad
iPhone and iPad don't have a Settings option inside the Safari app. Instead, close Safari and open the Settings app (the gray gear icon on your home screen). Scroll down the list on the left side until you see Safari and tap it. You'll see options like clearing history, managing passwords, controlling pop-ups, and choosing a search engine.
The iPhone version has fewer settings than the Mac version because iOS (the operating system on iPhones) works differently. You won't find an Extensions tab on iPhone, for example, because Safari extensions work differently on mobile. Some settings that exist on Mac — like the ability to choose which websites can use your camera or microphone — appear on iPhone but in a different place: you'll find them in Settings under Privacy, not under Safari.
One important difference: on iPhone, the setting to clear your browsing history is in Safari settings, not in Safari itself. If you want to delete your history, passwords, and cookies, go to Settings > Safari and tap Clear History and Website Data. Choose whether you want to clear data from the last hour, today, or all time.
What each settings tab controls on Mac
General sets your home page, what happens when you open a new tab or window, and whether Safari downloads files automatically. Tabs controls whether new links open in the same tab or a new one. AutoFill decides whether Safari remembers and fills in your name, address, credit card numbers, and usernames — this is a privacy choice worth thinking about, because storing this information makes it faster to fill forms but also means it's stored on your computer.
Passwords shows you all the passwords Safari has saved and lets you delete them individually or turn off password saving entirely. Search lets you choose your search engine (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Yahoo). Privacy controls whether Safari prevents websites from tracking you across the internet — this is called Intelligent Tracking Prevention, and it's on by default.
Security manages warnings about fraudulent websites and whether Safari blocks pop-ups. Websites is where Safari stores rules you've created for specific sites — for example, if you told Safari to never use your camera on a particular website, that rule lives here. Extensions shows what browser extensions you have installed and lets you turn them on or off. Advanced contains technical settings most people don't need to change, like whether to show the full web address in the address bar.
Syncing settings across your devices with iCloud
If you use iCloud and have Safari sync turned on, some of your settings will copy to your other Apple devices. This includes your bookmarks, reading list, and browsing history. However, not all settings sync — your password storage preferences, privacy settings, and extension choices stay on each device separately. This means you might have different extensions enabled on your Mac than on your iPhone, and that's by design.
To check whether Safari sync is on, go to System Settings on your Mac (or Settings on iPhone), find your Apple ID at the top, tap iCloud, and look for Safari in the list. If the toggle next to Safari is on, your bookmarks and history will sync. If it's off, each device keeps its own separate bookmarks and history.
Common settings people change first
Most people start by changing their search engine if they don't want to use Google. On Mac, go to Safari > Settings > Search and pick a different option from the dropdown. On iPhone, go to Settings > Safari > Search Engine. DuckDuckGo is popular if you want a search engine that doesn't track your searches; Bing is Microsoft's option.
The second common change is turning off AutoFill for credit cards and passwords. If you share your computer with other people, you probably don't want Safari to remember and auto-fill your payment information. Go to Safari > Settings > AutoFill on Mac, or Settings > Safari > AutoFill on iPhone, and uncheck the boxes next to Credit Cards and Usernames and Passwords.
A third change people often make is clearing their browsing history. On Mac, click History in the menu bar and select Clear History. On iPhone, go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data. You can choose to clear just the last hour or everything Safari has stored.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are Safari settings in different places on my Mac and iPhone?
Mac and iPhone run different operating systems (macOS and iOS), and Apple designed Safari differently for each one. iPhone Safari is simpler because phones have less storage and processing power, so Apple moved some settings into the main Settings app instead of keeping them inside Safari. This is normal — most iPhone apps work this way.
Can I password-protect my Safari settings so other people can't change them?
On Mac, you can use your user account password to lock your computer when you step away, which protects all your settings. On iPhone, you can use Screen Time to restrict changes to Safari settings, but this requires setting up a Screen Time passcode in Settings > Screen Time. This is more useful if you're managing a child's device than if you're protecting your own.
What does "Intelligent Tracking Prevention" do?
It stops websites from tracking you as you move around the internet. Many websites place tracking pixels or cookies that follow you from site to site, building a profile of your interests. Intelligent Tracking Prevention blocks most of these trackers. It's on by default in Safari and you can see it working by looking at the Privacy tab in Settings.
If I clear my history, does that delete my saved passwords?
No. When you clear history, Safari deletes your browsing history, cookies, and cached files, but not your saved passwords. If you want to delete a specific password, go to Safari > Settings > Passwords on Mac (or Settings > Passwords on iPhone), find the password in the list, and delete it individually.
Do I need to restart Safari after changing settings?
No. Most Safari settings take effect when ready. If you change your search engine or privacy settings, the next time you search or visit a website, the new setting applies. You don't need to close and reopen Safari.