How to Add Safari Bookmarks on iPad

Save your favorite sites for easy access

Bookmark

 Alicia Llop / Getty Images

by Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations has been a tech journalist since 1994. His work has appeared in Computer Currents, The Examiner, The Spruce, and other publications.
Updated September 06, 2019

The Safari web browser on your iPad supports bookmarks so that you can quickly return to your favorite websites. You can make Safari bookmarks whenever you want, or remove old bookmarks to de-clutter your browser.

Bookmarking on your iPad is done directly from the Safari app, and you can do it in seconds from any web page. Once you've made a Safari bookmark, you can access it from the bookmarks pop-out menu or from a new tab.

The screenshots in the steps below are of Safari in iOS 12, but the written steps should work for other versions of iOS, too, including iOS 13.

Bookmarks work in both regular mode and Private Browsing Mode, but the bookmarks you create during a private browsing session are stored along with the pages saved in normal mode. In other words, there isn't a separate area for private bookmarks.

How to Bookmark a Website in Safari

The key to saving a website as a bookmark in Safari is the share button.

  1. Visit the web page you want to bookmark in Safari.

    Lifewire.com in the Safari address bar on an iPad

  2. Tap the share button to the right of the address bar at the top of Safari, and select Add Bookmark.

    Add Bookmark button on iPad

    If you don't see the address bar or the share button at the top of Safari, scroll to the very top of the page. This will automatically show the entire menu.

  3. Change the name of the bookmark if you want, otherwise you can keep it as the default, auto-generated name.

    You can also use this time to pick a different bookmark folder. To make a new one now, tap the folder listed under LOCATION and then choose New Folder. To make multiple folders one after another, see the tutorial further on down this page.

  4. Choose Save to make the Safari bookmark.

    Save Button in Add Bookmark dialog on iPad

How to Find Your Safari Bookmarks

Bookmarks button in Safari for iPad

The bookmarks you make in Safari are stored in the Favorites folder by default, which you can access by selecting the bookmark button (represented by an open book icon) on the left of the address bar.

Another way to access bookmarks on your iPad is to open a new browser tab with the plus sign at the top right corner of the app. In the new tab is a list of sites in the Favorites folder as well as a side panel of all your other custom bookmark folders.

Bookmarks you've added to your home screen are just icons on the home screen, resembling any other app. You can even move them around like other apps, too.

How to Add a Safari Bookmark to Your iPad Home Screen

Bookmarks can also be added directly on your home screen so that you can open them immediately without having to launch Safari first. When you tap a home screen bookmark, it immediately opens in Safari.

To do this, tap the share button on the right side of the address bar and choose Add to Home Screen. Name the bookmark whatever you want, and then tap Add.

Add to Home Screen button on iPad

How to Add Custom Bookmark Folders in Safari

The default folder for bookmarks on your iPad is called Favorites, but you can organize your saved pages into other folders, too.

  1. Select the bookmarks button (the open book icon) at the top left of Safari. If you don't see this menu, scroll to the very top of the page.

    Bookmarks button in Safari on iPad

  2. From the bookmarks tab, tap Edit at the bottom.

    Edit button in Bookmarks column on iPad

  3. Select New Folder.

    New Folder button in Bookmarks column on Safari for iPad

  4. Name the folder something memorable.

    Folder name in Safari Bookmarks on iPad

    If you have other folders already created, you can nest one folder within another by selecting the other folder at this time.

  5. Tap Done on the keyboard to save the folder, and then Done once more from the Bookmarks menu.

You can now tap the bookmark button to toggle it off and return to the web page.

How to Delete or Edit Safari Bookmarks on iPad

It's unlikely that every bookmark you ever create will stay forever. Maybe you've come to find out that you don't use it as often as you thought you would, or maybe the site is no longer online. You can edit or delete these bookmarks at any time.

Just open the bookmarks menu and tap Edit to see a red minus button that you can use to delete folders you've made or bookmarks you've created. Tap Delete to confirm.

Delete button for Bookmarks on Safari for iPad

To edit a bookmark or folder name, follow the same steps but select the item itself instead of the red icon, and then make the name change as you see fit.