Safari Tech Preview 126 - Tab groups not saved/synced

Safari & Web General Safari

Created Jun ’21

Replies 25

Boosts 1

Views 7.5k

Participants 25

When using STP 126 on both Monterey beta 1 & Big Sur 11.4, a 'tab group' created in STP is not saved (ie if browser restarts it's gone), nor does it appear to be synced across to iOS or Safari 15 (either direction).

There's no indication in the release notes this is intentional.

Does anyone have even saving working, let alone sync? The tab groups are a wonderful idea - I played with them for a while on Monterey but need my main dev box on Big Sur for now, so was hoping STP would keep me happy :-)

Also raised a feedback: FB9219350

Boost

cybermice OP

Dec ’21

This sounds exactly like what I experienced when I updated to Safari Version 15.3 (16612.4.3, 16612).. I could delete a group (or several) and even if hours had passed, as soon as I open up a new webpage (or tab), they ALL reappear. There doesn’t appear to be any way of going back to a previous version of Safari. I would like to delete Safari prefs to go back to no Tab Groups. I can export (& later import) Bookmarks if necessary.

Crayzbrian OP

Jan ’22

I just had all tab groups made this week lost after the app store required a Safari update and reopen. No way to recover?

orbanbotond OP

Jan ’22

I can confirm that the groups are not saved. Example: Use case 1:

put 2-3 links in any tab group.then try to close 1 tab in the above tab groupswitch to another tab group

-switch back to the previous tab group where you deleted the tab from Expected:

the removed tab should be removed

Actual:

the removed tab group is still restored like no close tab action have been performed...

Xavez OP

Jan ’22

Here to pitch in that I have exactly the same problem with macOS 12.1 and Safari 15.2. This new Safari has been a disaster from the beginning.

sikei OP

Jan ’22

Just adding my use-cases here as well. In my case I can't change the state of my tab-groups anymore. In general this tab groups feature is very flaky.

Bug-Case - As soon as I delete one or more tabs in a tab group and switch to another tab group and switch back. My deleted tab directly reappears.
Bug-Case - As soon as I change one or more tabs in a tab group and switch to another tab group and switch back. My changed tabs are in back to the previous state (independently if I just browser to another url on the same domain OR switched the tab do another domain)
Bug-Case - Sometimes when I switch between tab groups the current active window (or last tab in the open tab-group) gets transferred to the new selected tab-group.
Bug-Case - When opening a new tab in a tab-group and using the "search" inside the adress-bar my browser switched to a random tab in a random tab-group and my input within the address-bar vanishes.

cybermice OP

Jan ’22

Take a look at whether a VPN is in use. I’ve used NordVPN and at one update, a similar issue started. When I recently turned off NordVPN, I noticed the issue stopped. Not a real solution if on an insecure network, of course.

Asantahene OP

Feb ’22

Same issue precisely here on my new MacBook AIr. The tab groups I created in 12.1 are stuck on,I can neither delete, edit or add new ones. WTF Apple?

ToBrobi OP

Feb ’22

I have the same issue on my MacBook Pro 16'' from 2019 with macOS 11.6.3.

Installing the previous Safari beta 15.3 fixed it temporarily, but the issue came back after a few minutes of arranging tabs in tab groups.

After installing Safari 15.4 beta 1 the issue seems to be fixed again. I'm not sure if it will last, though.

HAH1986 OP

Feb ’22

Brand new MacBook Pro 13 inch, M1, 2020 running Monterey 12.2.

The tabs I set up on my iPad are still visible, however, every time I attempt to make a new group tab, the tab vanishes. If I try making a group from a page, the page and the tab vanish. I have no way to set up group tabs.

I've turned iCloud for Safari on and off. Neither method has worked.

I've scoured the internet and tried a plethora of "fixes" and none of these have worked.

SamHesperia OP

Apr ’22

Same problem in 15.4 (17613.1.17.1.13)