Saving a website as a favorite in Safari

To save a website you want to return to, tap or click the share button — it looks like a box with an arrow pointing up — then select Add Bookmark. Safari will ask you to name it and choose where to store it. The default location is your Bookmarks menu, which is the fastest place to keep sites you visit often.

On iPhone and iPad, the share button is at the bottom right of the screen. On Mac, it's in the top right corner of the address bar. Either way, the process takes about three taps or clicks and requires no settings changes.

The bookmark appears when ready in your chosen folder. You can access it from the Bookmarks menu (or the Bookmarks sidebar on Mac) whenever you want to return to that page.

Key Takeaways

  • The share button (box with arrow) opens the menu where you can save a bookmark in Safari on any device.
  • You can name the bookmark anything you want and choose which folder to store it in during the save process.
  • Bookmarks sync across your devices automatically if you have iCloud enabled in Safari settings.
  • The Bookmarks menu on Mac or the Bookmarks icon on iPhone and iPad shows all your saved sites in one place.

Where bookmarks are stored on each device

On iPhone and iPad, tap the Bookmarks icon (it looks like an open book) at the bottom of the screen to see all your saved sites. They appear in folders you created or in the default Bookmarks folder. You can also add a bookmark to your home screen by tapping the share button and selecting Add to Home Screen, which creates a shortcut that opens the site directly.

On Mac, open the Bookmarks menu from the top menu bar or press Command+Option+B to show the Bookmarks sidebar on the left. Your bookmarks appear in the same folders across all your devices if you use the same iCloud account.

If you have multiple folders, Safari remembers which folder you last saved to and suggests it the next time you bookmark a page. This saves time if you're organizing sites into categories like "Work" or "Reference".

Organizing bookmarks into folders

When you tap Add Bookmark, Safari shows a dropdown menu labeled Bookmarks with your existing folders listed below. Tap the folder where you want to store this bookmark. If you don't see the folder you want, you can create a new one by tapping New Folder at the bottom of the list.

To rename a bookmark or move it to a different folder later, open the Bookmarks menu, tap Edit (on iPhone and iPad) or right-click the bookmark (on Mac), then select your changes. You can also delete bookmarks from this menu if you no longer need them.

Creating folders for different topics — like "Development Tools", "Reference Sites", or "Testing Resources" — makes it much faster to find what you need when you're working on a project.

Syncing bookmarks across devices

If you sign in to iCloud on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad with the same Apple ID, your bookmarks sync automatically. This means a bookmark you save on your phone appears on your Mac within seconds, and vice versa. You don't need to do anything after signing in — Safari handles the sync in the background.

To check that syncing is turned on, go to Settings (iPhone and iPad) or System Settings (Mac), tap or click your name at the top, then select iCloud. Look for Safari in the list and make sure the toggle is on. If it's off, turn it on and wait a few seconds for your bookmarks to appear.

If you use multiple Apple IDs or don't use iCloud, your bookmarks stay only on the device where you created them. You would need to bookmark the same sites on each device separately.

Using Favorites for quick access

Safari also has a separate feature called Favorites, which is different from bookmarks. Favorites appear at the top of a new tab page as large icons you can tap or click directly. To add a site to Favorites, open it, tap or click the share button, and select Add to Favorites instead of Add Bookmark.

Favorites sync across devices the same way bookmarks do if you use iCloud. You can reorder them by tapping or clicking and dragging them on the new tab page, or remove one by tapping and holding it (on iPhone and iPad) or right-clicking it (on Mac) and selecting Remove.

The difference is practical: use Bookmarks for a large organized collection of sites, and use Favorites for the five to ten sites you visit most often and want to see every time you open a new tab.

Editing or removing bookmarks

To change a bookmark's name or folder, open the Bookmarks menu, find the bookmark, and tap or click Edit. On iPhone and iPad, tap the three dots next to the bookmark name. On Mac, right-click the bookmark and select Edit Bookmark. You can then change the name, the URL, or which folder it's stored in.

To delete a bookmark, open the Bookmarks menu, tap or click Edit, then tap the minus sign (iPhone and iPad) or right-click and select Delete (Mac). The bookmark is removed when ready and the change syncs to your other devices.

If you accidentally delete a bookmark, you can undo it by pressing Command+Z on Mac or shaking your device on iPhone and iPad, as long as you do it right away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I bookmark a page without naming it first?

Yes. Safari uses the page's title as the default name. You can accept this name by tapping Add without typing anything, or you can change it to something shorter or more memorable before saving.

What's the difference between a bookmark and a favorite?

Bookmarks go in folders in your Bookmarks menu and can be organized however you want. Favorites appear as large icons on your new tab page for quick access. You can have many bookmarks but typically only five to ten favorites.

Do bookmarks take up storage space on my device?

No. Bookmarks are just links to web pages, not copies of the pages themselves. They use almost no storage space, so you can save as many as you need without affecting your device's performance.

Why don't my bookmarks appear on my other device?

Check that you're signed into iCloud with the same Apple ID on both devices and that Safari syncing is turned on in iCloud settings. If it's on, wait a few minutes for the sync to complete. If bookmarks still don't appear, sign out of iCloud and sign back in.

Can I export my bookmarks to use in another browser?

On Mac, open Safari, go to File menu, select Export Bookmarks, and save the file as an HTML document. You can then import this file into most other browsers. On iPhone and iPad, you would need to use a Mac or PC to export bookmarks.