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I reluctantly updated my iPhone and discovered that now when you press and hold on a link in Safari it makes a pop-up window with a preview of the link come up.

What is really awful about this is you only need to tap it for a split second for it to start rendering a preview, so very often (maybe 50% of the time) when I'm simply trying to click a link, I have to try several times to press it FASTER in order to get to the page I'm trying to go to without rendering the preview I never wanted.

In addition, this now prevents you from easily copying and pasting links found in your browser, because when you try to select link text, it keeps interrupting with the pop-up.

Rather than negative the way I tap, is there way to disable this feature?

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  • 1
    Seems that both of the answers are outdated on iOS 14.
    – kojiro
    Nov 18, 2020 at 5:59
  • The "Hide Button" from answers below doesn't exist anymore in iPhone iOS. This is ridiculous! with all the security issues, I want to look at the URL before opening the page. Right now in iPhone iOS (>15) there is no way you can get information about a link without opening the page (preview is opening a page too)!!! This is an absolute security issue
    – Shnd
    May 30, 2022 at 19:09
  • Hide preview absolutely does still exist on iOS 15.5.
    – Matt
    Jun 8, 2022 at 16:40

3 Answers 3

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Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > 3D Touch and either turn off 3D Touch (this disables the link previews entirely) or adjust the sensitivity to require a harder press so you don’t unintentionally trigger it.

The feature is activated by how hard you press, not how long you press and hold. Even with it turned on, you can still press and hold lightly to select text and get the normal menu with copy and other options.

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  • This workaround is obsolete, as the “Hide Preview” answer below notes. Dec 22, 2021 at 13:44
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I think the other answer is outdated. Link preview is the default action on long-press now (not just 3d touch), and not just in Safari.

To disable it, long-press a link and tap the "Hide preview" option. That option is currently found in the top right corner (which might change with future updates).

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  • The "Hide preview" button doesn't exist anymore!
    – Shnd
    May 30, 2022 at 19:05
  • 1
    It still exists on iOS 15.5 for me.
    – Matt
    Jun 8, 2022 at 16:40
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To increase the time it takes to activate a long-press under iOS 14, go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> Haptic Touch and change it from Fast to Slow.

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    While not a direct answer, this is very helpful. Didn’t think of thi! Dec 22, 2021 at 13:44
  • 3D Touch was removed, so the original answer doesn't work anymore.
    – Matt
    Apr 21, 2022 at 5:00
  • True, but @Basil Bourque’s answer is the way to do this now. Apr 22, 2022 at 12:20
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    I interpreted your question as saying that you didn't want ANY popup at all, regardless of whether it renders a preview or not.
    – Matt
    Apr 23, 2022 at 16:21

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