If your iPhone is running iOS 18.4, you might have noticed some significant new features, like AI-powered Priority Notifications and seven brand-new emojis. However, one change in particular might be a bit controversial: Safari’s Search feature now shows a list of your most recent searches every time you search for something new. Useful? Maybe. Privacy-compromising? Definitely.
Don’t be alarmed: If you’re not a fan of Safari’s new “Recent Searches” screen, you can turn off this feature entirely, or clear all recent results quite quickly.
How the new Safari Search screen works
When you open a new tab and tap “Search or enter website” in iOS 18.4, you’ll see a new screen showing all your recent search results, as you can see below.
Left: Safari Search feature without Recent Results | Right: With Recent Results.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
There are many reasons to disable this feature. You might not want to be reminded of what you searched yesterday, or you might not want anyone else using the device to see your recent search history. Apple chose to enable this by default, not as an opt-in setting. But the good thing is that whenever Apple adds a new feature like this, an additional toggle switch often appears somewhere in Settings, so you can return to how things used to be.
How to clear search results from Recent Searches in Safari
If you like this feature, but want to eliminate your search results every now and then, that’s an easy fix. While there’s no option to remove search results individually, you can clear all the recent searches with a tap.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Open the Search screen, tap the Clear All button up top, and watch as all your queries disappear instantly. As you search more, they will start to fill up again.
What do you think so far?
How to turn off recent search results in Safari
It’s not just that this feature is a privacy nightmare. It also takes up the whole screen, and you can’t see the Start page when it’s in use. Even if you feel you have nothing to hide, the feature hides Safari from you.
To turn off this feature, open the Settings app and go to Apps > Safari. Now, scroll down and turn off the Show Recent Searches feature. When you return to the Search menu, you won’t see your latest search results anymore.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
