Is the iPhone default browser bar annoying you? Here's how to move it

In iOS 15, Apple added the ability to move the Safari search and address bar to the top or bottom of the screen. Here's how to move it where you want.

Patrick Holland Managing Editor

Patrick Holland has been a phone reviewer for CNET since 2016. He is a former theater director who occasionally makes short films. Patrick has an eye for photography and a passion for everything mobile. He is a colorful raconteur who will guide you through the ever-changing, fast-paced world of phones, especially the iPhone and iOS. He used to co-host CNET's I'm So Obsessed podcast and interviewed guests like Jeff Goldblum, Alfre Woodard, Stephen Merchant, Sam Jay, Edgar Wright and Roy Wood Jr.

Expertise Apple, iPhone, iOS, Android, Samsung, Sony, Google, Motorola, interviews, coffee equipment, cats Credentials

Patrick's play The Cowboy is included in the Best American Short Plays 2011-12 anthology. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Baden Krunk that won the Best Wisconsin Short Film award at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival.

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Patrick Holland

Dec. 14, 2021 4:00 a.m. PT

2 min read

ios-15-safari-tab-bar — The tab bar in Safari can live at the bottom of your screen in iOS 15. But if you don't like that, it's easy to get it back to the top.
Patrick Holland/CNET

One of Apple's new iOS 15 features for the iPhone is the option to move the Safari search bar to the bottom of the screen. Whether you have a new iPhone 13 or you're still rocking an iPhone 7 (no shame!), having the search and address bar at the bottom can help with one-handed navigation. The new feature is a more significant change than it might seem, but it's been overshadowed by bigger additions like FaceTime call weblinks for friends on Android and Windows.

Since 2007, the Safari address bar has been at the top of the iPhone's screen, so if you're a longtime iPhone owner you're likely used to it being there. (Note that sometimes this bar is also called an address bar, other times it's called a tab bar or search bar.)

If you tried the new lower address bar position and don't like it, or accidentally moved it to the bottom, I'm here to help you move the Safari search bar back to the top.

Move the Safari search bar back to the top

There are a couple of ways to move the address bar. The first is to tap the AA button in Safari and select Show Top Address Bar. And that's it. If you want to move it back to the bottom of the screen, tap the AA button in Safari and select Show Bottom Tab Bar.

Another way to move the address bar, is to go into Settings and tap on Safari. Scroll down to the Tabs section. From there you can tap Tab Bar to have everything on the bottom. Or you can tap Single Tab to have the bar at the top of the screen.