7

When I have five windows open and want to consolidate two windows into one I usually manually drag & drop all tabs from one window to the second one. The issue is that you can’t drop the last tab onto another window.

My current workaround is to create a new (empty) tab, to drag & drop as usual, and then to close the window with that empty tab.

Is there a way to drag the last tab in Safari to another window like in Chrome or do I have to continue using my workaround?

2
  • 6
    What about ++T (CMD+SHIFT+T) to show Tab bar even if only one tab is opened and then drag this last tab? Sep 29, 2014 at 12:22
  • 1
    @MateuszSzlosek: That is, indeed, the solution. If tabs are shown at all times, the ability to move the last tab to a new window is there. Sep 30, 2014 at 20:23

3 Answers 3

2

In Safari, one can move even the last tab of a window into another window simply by clicking on the tab's title area and then dragging and dropping onto the tab space of your target window. Dragging the last tab to a new window causes that window to close.

This is what it looks like to move the last tab, which I had opened at Top Sites.

enter image description here

That is actual size. The window 'collapses' during the drag operation and becomes semi-transparent.

The requirement is that View | Show Tab Bar is selected when the window is open with a single tab. This setting is sticky; it will 'stick' between Safari sessions.

5
  • 1
    For this to work the tab bar needs to be always visible. The default behavior is to hide the tab bar when only one tab is left. I prefer the default behavior, because it hides unnecessary user interface elements and reduces overall screen clutter. Sep 30, 2014 at 7:29
  • And I prefer the tab bar to always be visible so that the window's viewport size remains constant regardless of the number of tabs. If you don't keep the tabs always visible, there's no way to accomplish what you're after. This IS the answer. Sep 30, 2014 at 7:55
  • It is possible without having the tab bar always visible, please read my answer: apple.stackexchange.com/a/147524/14972 Sep 30, 2014 at 10:17
  • That still leaves the old window open, doesn't it? You're copying the URL to a new tab, not moving the tab to a different window. Sep 30, 2014 at 11:23
  • Yes, it’s still a workaround, but one that requires less steps with the default configuration. Sep 30, 2014 at 14:55
1

In Safari 8 on Yosemite you can drag the URL (or rather domain name) and drop it onto the plus sign which usually opens a new tab in another window. This way you can move the last tab from one window to another one.

I believe that previous versions just loaded the dropped URL in the active tab, replacing the tab’s contents. In Safari 8 you can still reproduce this behavior by dropping the URL onto a tab instead of the plus sign in the tab bar / toolbar.

The thread “Is it possible to convert window into tab?” is slightly related to my question.

1
  • This is not really "moving the tab" in any useful sense, as the tab's history is not transferred to the new window.
    – calum_b
    Apr 14, 2016 at 10:52
1

A really simple way to achieve what you wish to do without the tedious task of dragging tabs to other windows is to go to the Menu Bar, then the Window menu, then select Merge All Windows.

If you want to keep using your own method, go to the Menu Bar, go to View, then select Show Tab Bar.

screenshot of Window menu in Safari

1
  • 1
    This command merges all windows. I explicitly said in my example that I have five windows and want to merge only two of them. Sep 30, 2014 at 7:26

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .