How to Save a Website to the Home Screen on Your iPad

Keep your favorite websites close at hand

By
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Writer
  • University of Texas at Arlington
Daniel Nations has been a tech journalist since 1994. His work has appeared in Computer Currents, The Examiner, and other publications. He is a developer who has published apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play marketplace and Amazon Appstore; he also has worked as a data analyst and DB administrator.
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Updated on November 18, 2019

When you want quick access to your favorites sites or to a site you frequently use, save these websites to the iPad Home screen and use it like you use an app. It also means you can create a folder full of websites on your iPad. You can also drag the website's app icon to the dock at the bottom of the Home screen. 

These instructions apply to devices with iOS 8 or later.

Pin a Website to Your Home Screen

When you launch a website from the Home screen, the Safari browser opens with a link to the website. So after your session, either quit Safari or continue browsing the web.

To keep your most-used sites handy at all times:

  1. Open the Safari browser and go to the website you want to save to the Home screen.

  2. Tap the Share icon.

    Save website to iPad Home screen

  3. Tap Add to Home Screen.

    Add webpages to home screen on iPad

  4. A window appears with the name of the site, the URL, and an icon. To give the link a new name, tap the website name.

    Add website to home screen

  5. Tap Add to complete the task.

    Add website to home screen

  6. Safari closes, and an icon for the website appears on the Home screen.

What Else Can You Do With the Share Button?

The Safari Share menu has options to save, share, and read web pages. Here are some things you can do through this screen:

  • Message: Use this option to send a link to a friend in a text message.
  • Mail: Use this option to email the link to a friend. This option opens the compose email screen where you can type a message to accompany the link.
  • AirDrop: Use AirDrop to quickly share files with iPhones and iPads nearby as long as those devices also have AirDrop activated. These devices need to be in your contacts list, although you can set AirDrop to detect any nearby device. Tap their contact picture in the AirDrop area (if they don't have a picture, it shows their initials) to share a website, photo, or anything else.
  • Add to Notes: When you don't want to bookmark a website, but you want to save the link for later reference, tap this option. Add to Reading List is also a good option for this, but by adding a Note, you can get to the link from any device using iCloud.
  • Facebook: If your iPad is connected to Facebook, you can quickly post a link to the article on your feed. You can also share it on Twitter.
  • Add to iBooks as PDF: Convert any web page to a PDF with this option. Use this option for long articles. It copies everything on the web page, including photos, images, and diagrams.
  • Print: If you have an AirPrint printer, you can quickly print a web page.
  • Request Desktop Site: If a web page displays a mobile-optimized and not-quite-fully-functional page, use this feature to request the desktop version.
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