To change Safari configuration settings on an iOS device, you need to use the Settings app. If you are using a Mac, you can make changes directly from the browser's "Preferences" menu. Safari's configuration settings on mobile and computer are very similar, however the desktop and laptop version offers many more options.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: iOS devices
Step 1. Launch your device's Settings app
It is characterized by an icon depicting a gear that you will find directly on the Home. In some cases, it will be stored in the "Utilities" folder.
This method works on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
Step 2. Scroll down the menu that appeared to be able to select the item "Safari
" It is part of a group of options that includes other Apple-made apps, such as Maps, Compass, and News.
Step 3. Select "Search Engine" to change the default search engine used by Safari
You can choose from Google, Yahoo, Bing and DuckDuckGo. This is the search engine used by Safari when you type words directly into the address bar.
- The "Search Engine Suggestions" feature will offer you suggestions provided directly by the specified search engine as you type.
- The "Safari Suggestions" feature offers search suggestions provided directly by Apple.
Step 4. Select the "Passwords" option to view the list of passwords stored within Safari
Before you can review the list, you will be asked to provide your access PIN code. These are all the passwords you have chosen to store within Safari relating to the websites you normally use.
Select an item in the list to view the corresponding username and password
Step 5. Use the "Autofill" menu to change the Autofill settings
The data of this feature concerns all the information that is automatically displayed when you have to fill out a web form (for example, that of a payment method or the creation of a new account). This feature is used to make it easier to register a payment method or enter your address. It also allows you to easily and quickly manage your contact information or payment card data.
Step 6. Set the favorite folder to use using the "Favorites" option
This feature allows you to choose which favorites folder should be used by Safari. You can have several folders available and switch between them according to your needs.
Step 7. Choose how the links should be opened using the "Open Links" option
You can choose whether links should be opened in a new browser tab or in the background. If you choose the "In background" option, the links will open in new browser tabs but they will not appear on screen automatically.
Step 8. Turn on pop-up blocker to prevent them from appearing on the screen automatically
Tap the "Block pop-up windows" switch to turn it on, so Safari can block as many pop-ups as possible. This way, pop-ups will be blocked, but some sites may not work properly.
Step 9. Enable the "Block cross-site tracking" option to prevent websites from tracking your activities while you are browsing
By enabling this feature, Safari is able to tell all websites you visit not to track your data. Obviously this means trusting that the various websites respect your will and unfortunately this does not always happen.
Step 10. Press the "Clear Website and History Data" button to delete data stored by Safari from your device while browsing the web
In this way, all Safari data relating to browsing and cookies stored in the cache will be deleted. This information will also be deleted from all devices connected to your Apple ID.
Method 2 of 2: macOS
Step 1. Launch Safari
In this case, you can change the configuration settings directly from the program window. Make sure the Safari window is the one that is currently active so that the "Safari" menu is on the menu bar at the top left of the screen.
Step 2. Click on the "Safari" menu and choose the "Preferences" item
A new Safari configuration settings window will appear. By default, the "General" tab will be shown.
Step 3. Set the start page
The "Home page" text field allows you to specify the address of the web page that should be displayed when Safari is opened. You can click the "Use current page" button to use the web page currently displayed by Safari as your home page.
Step 4. Use the "Panels" tab to manage Safari tabs
In this case, you can choose how links should be opened within the browser and enable the use of keyboard shortcuts to switch between tabs.
Step 5. Click on the "Autofill" tab to manage the autocomplete information
In this way, you can choose which information should be used to automatically fill in web page forms and fields related to payment methods. Click on the "Edit" button next to each of the data categories to choose the content to use.
Step 6. Use the "Passwords" tab to view the website passwords stored within Safari
Within this tab, all the websites for which you have memorized the access passwords will be listed. Double-click an entry in the list to view the corresponding password. In order to continue, you will be asked to enter your Mac login password.
Step 7. Click on the "Search" tab to configure the search settings
Use the "Search Engine" drop-down menu to choose the search engine Safari should use. You can choose from Google, Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. When you type something into Safari's address bar, a list of results will be displayed based on the information provided by the selected search engine.
Within this tab, you can enable or disable other search features, including how to use Safari's suggestions
Step 8. Use the "Security" tab to enable or disable security settings
This includes receiving notifications about fraudulent sites, JavaScript settings and much more. In this case, most users should use the default settings.
Step 9. Check your privacy settings using the "Privacy" tab
In this tab you can set the way in which cookies and tracking information should be used by websites, as well as information relating to location services. You can also allow websites to check if you have an active Apple Pay profile.
Step 10. Manage Safari extensions using the "Extensions" tab
Within this tab there is a list of all the extensions installed on Safari. Select a specific extension to be able to analyze the corresponding configuration settings. To examine the list of extensions available for Safari, click on the "More extensions" button located in the lower right corner of the window.
Step 11. Change Safari's advanced settings using the "Advanced" tab
Within this tab are several options related to many aspects of Safari, as well as a number of advanced settings that most users may very well ignore. However, there are also settings related to zoom and accessibility, which could prove to be very useful for anyone who has difficulty reading very small characters.
