When you open a new tab (Command-T) or a new window (Command-N) in Safari, you'll almost always want your cursor to start in the so-called Smart Search Field.
After all, it doesn't make a ton of sense to open a new window, all ready and eager to start typing a URL or a search term, and then have to hammer the Tab button a bunch to move your cursor to where you want it to go. Of course, you can hit Command-L to jump up there if you need to, or you could actually move your cursor there and click, but gosh, what is this, 1993?
So if Safari isn't doing this for you, here's how you fix it. The secret lies in a setting in Safari > Preferences > General, under either “New windows open with” or “New tabs open with.”
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If you have either of those set to “Homepage” or “Same page,” your cursor will not automatically or consistently be in the Smart Search Field when you open a new window or tab. So toggle those options to any of the other choices. “Empty page” is my favorite one, as you can see above; that way, every window or tab I open starts fresh.
That's it! From now on, your cursor will be ready for you to type right away when you head off somewhere new. And you won't have to move your mouse or trackpad at all. Laziness helps me solve so many of my problems, people.
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