BinsuJiro

Q: Where is the database located that recreates the Bookmarks.plist file in Safari 10?

I solved the problem of Safari 10 crashing repeatedly in my new installation of Sierra {see steps taken it other posts].

 

The culprit is either the Bookmarks.plist or the database that contains the bookmark information that recreates the Bookmarks.plist when it is deleted.

 

I have many years worth of bookmarks that are valuable to me, and want to find a way to recreate the Bookmarks.plist or the database in a way that is compatible with Safari 10.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12), iPad Air, iPhone 6, and iOS 10

Posted on Sep 23, 2016 5:10 PM

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Q: Where is the database located that recreates the Bookmarks.plist file in Safari 10?

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  • by BinsuJiro,

    BinsuJiro BinsuJiro Sep 23, 2016 5:55 PM in response to BinsuJiro
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 23, 2016 5:55 PM in response to BinsuJiro

    I have been thinking about this problem, and have decided that all of the data for the Bookmarks.plist is contained within the file, and the file is being recreated after being deleted by the iCloud sync process.

     

    This leads me to believe that perhaps the problem of the Bookmarks.plist causing Safari 10 to crash is related to the sync process, and not to possible corruption of the Bookmarks.plist itself.

     

    THE QUESTION IS: How to recreate the Bookmarks.plist without interference from the iCloud sync process, then add the bookmarks that were generated by my iPhone and iPad [if they aren't there already]  and then merge them all into one file that can be synced across all devices?

     

    Can the sync process be turned off, and if it can, what happens to the three bookmarks.plist files? I don't want to lose any of the lists.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 24, 2016 6:00 AM in response to BinsuJiro
    Level 9 (72,916 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 24, 2016 6:00 AM in response to BinsuJiro

    You can turn the sync process off and nothing should happen to the ,plists.

  • by BinsuJiro,

    BinsuJiro BinsuJiro Sep 24, 2016 7:20 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 24, 2016 7:20 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks; that solves the question about protecting the various Bookmarks.plists.

     

    But there is still something in my main Bookmarks.plist that Safari 10 does not like. There are years of research on a number of important topics contained in the Bookmarks.plist, and I need to find a way to import them into Safari 10.

     

    It seems VERY INCONSIDERATE at best for Apple to change the way their browser application, Safari, deals with Bookmarks and imports the Bookmarks.plist into the application to print to screen.

     

    One day it worked the next day it didn't. I think it is totally inappropriate for Apple to change the way the Bookmarks.plist is used without supplying a utility to convert the existing Bookmarks.plist into a usable form for Safari 10.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 25, 2016 6:45 AM in response to BinsuJiro
    Level 9 (72,916 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 25, 2016 6:45 AM in response to BinsuJiro

    After doing a backup, go to Safari/File/Export Bookmarks. Then quit Safari. Move the existing Bookmarks.plist to your Desktop. Open Safari, then Safari/File/Import Bookmarks. This should create a new Bookmarks.plist. Test. If everything works, delete the .plist on your Desktop. If the same, return the .plist to where it was.

  • by BinsuJiro,

    BinsuJiro BinsuJiro Sep 28, 2016 3:18 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 28, 2016 3:18 PM in response to Eric Root

    Eric,

     

    Safari does not stay open long enough for me to do any of the things you suggest. As soon as the system reconstructs the Bookmarks.plist Safari crashes. I don't know exactly what is reconstructing the Bookmarks.plist file, but at the moment the file appears in the ~Library/Safari, Safari crashes.

     

    It outputs a log file that I would guess is produced for troubleshooting, but no one at Apple ever wants to see it. Clearly software engineers designed the log file to be used for troubleshooting, but these issues never get to the software engineers it seems.

     

    If Apple wants to change the rules of how thing work in mid-stream then they should provide a utility to pars old bookmark files into their new preferred format. Or maybe just get rid of the icloud sync data that makes it impossible for the older Bookmarks.plist to work.

     

    If they want to make everything so complex and convoluted in order to incorporated higher and higher levels of cross device syncing they should work out the bugs before hand.

     

    The Bookmarks.plist is populated by hundreds of lines of data that have noting to do with a simple bookmarks list and everything to do with their multi device syncing capabilities.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 29, 2016 7:22 AM in response to BinsuJiro
    Level 9 (72,916 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 29, 2016 7:22 AM in response to BinsuJiro

    Safari/Preferences/Advanced - enable the Develop menu, then go there and Empty Caches. Quit/reopen Safari and test. Then try Safari/History/Show History and delete all history items.  Quit/reopen Safari and test. You can also try try Safari/Clear History…. The down side is it clears all cookies. Doing this may cause some sites to no longer recognize your computer as one that has visited the web site. Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J.  When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder.  Select Library./Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db and move it to the trash.

     

    Go to Safari Preferences/Extensions and turn all extensions off. Test. If okay, turn the extensions on one by one until you figure out what extension is causing the problem.

     

    Safari Corruption       See post by Linc Davis

     

    Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem or a suggestion for change. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem/suggested change solved sooner.

     

    Feedback

  • by BinsuJiro,

    BinsuJiro BinsuJiro Oct 1, 2016 2:36 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 2:36 PM in response to Eric Root

    There is no possible way to export the Safari 9.x Bookmarks.plist. The Application crashes within seconds is the Safari 9.x Bookmarks.plist is present.

  • by BinsuJiro,

    BinsuJiro BinsuJiro Oct 1, 2016 3:13 PM in response to BinsuJiro
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 3:13 PM in response to BinsuJiro

    While the reasons Safari 10 crashes on some people's computers may be different, on my particular computer Safari 10 crashes because it does not like my Safari 9.x Bookmarks.plist.

     

    I have completed EVERY troubleshooting suggested on ALL of the posts relative to Safari after turning off iCloud syncing of bookmarks which would have repopulated the Bookmarks.plist with the Safari 9.x bookmarks.

     

    The only condition that causes my Safari 10 to crash is the presence of my Safari 9.x Bookmarks.plist.

     

    The question now is how to delete all of the database garbage from the Bookmarks.plist and save the folders and URLs as an html file that Safari can try to import?