10 Essential Safari Tips Every MacBook User Should Know

Introduction

Safari is Apple's default browser because it's quick, safe, and MacBook-optimized. But are you maximizing it? From hidden shortcuts to privacy features, Safari provides several ways to improve your surfing experience. These 10 fundamental suggestions will maximize Safari's capabilities for casual and power browser users. Ready to dive? 

1. Use Safari's Reader Mode for Clutter-Free Reading

Are advertising and pop-ups annoying you while reading an article? Safari's Reader Mode eliminates distractions and displays crisp, easy-to-read text.

How to activate: Click the Reader button (four horizontal lines) in the address bar, or use the shortcut Shift + Command + R.

Bonus Tip: Customize Reader Mode by going to Safari > Settings for This Website and selecting Use Reader when available for specific sites.

With Reader Mode, you can enjoy articles without any distractions—perfect for those long reads!

2. Customize Your Start Page

Safari's start page might be more than blank. Access your favorite websites, Siri Suggestions, commonly visited sites, and more. 

Open a new tab, scroll down, then click Edit at the bottom of the start page to personalize. You may add Favorites, Reading List, and iCloud Tabs.

Customize the backdrop to make it more personal.

This simplifies surfing and saves time getting to your favorite sites. 

3. Enable Content Blockers for a Faster Browsing Experience

Content filters reduce advertisements and speed up page load. Safari supports several extensions, making browsing smoother.

How to enable: Go to Safari > Settings > Extensions and select your preferred content blocker.Popular Blockers: AdGuard, Wipr, and Ghostery are popular options.With content blockers, you’ll enjoy faster loading times and less clutter on most websites.

4. Pin Tabs for Easy Access to Frequently Used Websites

Pinning tabs is great for frequent website users. Pinning a tab keeps it open in Safari's far-left tab bar.How to pin a tab: Right-click on a tab and select Pin Tab.

Unpin: Right-click the pinned tab and select Unpin Tab.This is especially useful for web-based apps like Gmail, social media, or other sites you need handy all the time.

5. Use Picture-in-Picture for Videos

Want to watch videos while you work? Safari’s Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode lets you pop out a video and float it on top of other windows, so you can multitask easily.

How to use PiP: Right-click twice on a YouTube video (or compatible video player) and select Enter Picture-in-Picture. This way, you can keep an eye on that tutorial or video call while browsing in another tab.

6. Quickly Search Within a Site Using Safari’s Smart Search Bar 

Safari’s Smart Search Bar isn’t just for entering URLs. You can also use it to search within a specific website directly, saving you the hassle of navigating to the site and finding the search bar.

How to use: Type the website name followed by your search term, like amazon MacBook case.This is a real time-saver when you’re trying to find something specific on a large website.

7. Use Tab Groups to Organize Your Browsing

With Tab Groups, you can organize tabs based on projects, interests, or activities, and switch between them effortlessly.

How to create Tab Groups: Go to File > New Tab Group and give it a name.

Example Use: Create one Tab Group for work-related sites and another for leisure browsing.

This is a game-changer if you juggle multiple projects or need a quick way to separate personal and work browsing.

8. Enhance Privacy with Safari’s Privacy Report

Safari’s Privacy Report feature shows you which trackers were blocked, helping you understand and control how websites are tracking you.

How to view: Click on the Privacy Report button in the toolbar or go to Safari > Privacy Report.

Tip: Go to Safari > Preferences > Privacy to manage your tracking settings.

This tool gives you a peek into what’s happening behind the scenes, helping you stay informed about your online privacy.

9. Save Web Pages as PDFs

Sometimes you want to save a web page to read later or keep a record. Safari allows you to save any page as a PDF, which is great for offline access. How to save as PDF: Go to File > Export as PDF and select the save location. 

Tip: If you only want a portion of the page, you can select and print to PDF by choosing Print > PDF > Save as PDF.  This feature is perfect for archiving information, saving recipes, or even creating offline reading material for flights.

10. Enable Reader Mode for Websites Automatically

If you frequently visit content-heavy websites, you can set Safari to always open them in Reader Mode, so you don’t have to enable it every time.

How to enable: Right-click on the URL bar when you’re on a website, choose Settings for This Website, and select Use Reader when available.

This is handy for news websites, blogs, or any site where you prefer a simplified view.