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Safari running slow

  • MacBook Pro 2018 running on macOS Mojave 10.14.3
  • Safari have been slow to respond for a week - ok for the first few tabs, but became very slow for more than around 8 tabs (used to be fine with more than 20-30 tabs or even more)
  • Sometimes shown as 'application not responding', but recovers usually after a few minutes
  • Tried to run same websites on Google Chrome and worked perfectly fine
  • Updated to the newest system about a week ago - but unsure whether this problem occurred before or after this system upgrade
  • Tried restarting and no luck


I have no idea if this is a system problem or a Safari bug. This has been very annoying, would appreciate any help or suggestions as to why this happens.

Macbook (2016 or later)

Posted on Feb 19, 2019 11:31 PM

Reply
Question marked as Apple recommended

I don't see any problem with the system other than "Safari not responding" sometimes as you wrote.

Please try these simple maintenance tasks.


Go step by step and test.


1. Power off the router. Unplug it from the wall. Wait a while.

    Plug it back in. Power the router on. Wait until all lights are lit properly. It will take a while.

    Restart the computer.

    Start up in Safe Mode. This will remove some system caches and perform a minor level Disk Repair.

    Once in Safe Mode, click the “Restart” button at the bottom.

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262


    Launch Safari holding the shift key down. This will start Safari in Safe Mode.


 2. Empty Caches from Develop menu.


    Safari > Preference > Advanced

    Checkmark the box beside "Show Develop menu in menu bar".

    Develop menu will appear in the Safari menu bar.

    Click "Develop" and select "Empty Caches" from the dropdown.


    Note: As a part of the process, Favicon caches will be emptied.

             But that will be rebuilt when  a user revisits the sites.

             Network caches will be emptied as well. 

      Safari Develop menu   https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-the-safari-develop-menu-sfri20948/mac


  3. “• If you recently updated the app or macOS, a plug-in or enhancement you installed may no longer be compatible.”

        https://support.apple.com/en-mide/guide/mac-help/mchlp2579/mac


       Safari > Preferences > Extensions

       Turn off all of them and test. Enable one by one and test.


   4. Run First Aid.  https://support.apple.com/en-mide/guide/disk-utility/repair-a-disk-dskutl1040/mac

Posted on Feb 21, 2019 4:34 AM

Similar questions

7 replies

Feb 20, 2019 1:48 AM in response to laken1217

Can you please post an EtreCheck report?


      Download EtreCheck: https://etrecheck.com/maspro  and post the report here.


      Click, “Free Download” button and then  “Click to download” button,

      open Downloads folder, click on it to open, and then select ”Open”.

      Click on the bouncing  EtreCheck icon in the Dock.

      “Choose a problem” from the popup menu box, and then “Start EtreCheck” in the dialog.

      Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy report” .

      Paste the report when you reply.

Feb 20, 2019 9:42 AM in response to laken1217

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. Quit/reopen Safari and test. If okay, turn the extensions on one by one until you figure out what extension is causing the problem.


 

Feb 20, 2019 9:55 AM in response to laken1217

     Use  the latest release of MalwareBytes for Mac to remove malware/adware if any..


     Install guide:       https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1817

     Uninstall Guide:  https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1190


     The installer may ask you to allow it in Security & Privacy  /System Preference. Allow it.

     Click the “Scan Now” button. Once done quit Malwarebytes for Mac.

     Restart the computer, relaunch Safari holding the shift key down.


Additional steps to take if necessary.


   1. Reset search engine:    https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/customize-your-search-ibrwe75c2a3c/mac

   2. Reset  Homepage.   https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/set-your-homepage-ibrw1020/mac

    3. Remove unknown extensions: https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-safari-extensions-sfri32508/mac

Feb 21, 2019 12:19 AM in response to dominic23

Hi dominic23,


Thanks for your reply. Here below is the report from running EtreCheck (to be continued):

EtreCheck version: 5.1 (5020)

Report generated: 2019-02-21 19:12:40

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 1:28

Performance: Excellent

Sandbox: Enabled

Full drive access: Disabled


Problem: Beachballing

Description: 

        Safari has been slow to respond and beachballing all the time.


Major Issues:

    Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention. 


    No Time Machine backup - Time Machine backup not found.


Minor Issues:

    These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems. 


    Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed. They appear to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

    32-bit Apps - This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.

    Limited drive access - More information may be available with Full Drive Access.


Hardware Information:

    MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018)

    MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro15,2

    1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-8559U) CPU: 4-core

    8 GB RAM - Not upgradeable

    BANK 0/ChannelA-DIMM0 - 4 GB LPDDR3 2133 ok

    BANK 2/ChannelB-DIMM0 - 4 GB LPDDR3 2133 ok

    Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 86


Video Information:

    Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 - VRAM: 1536 MB

    Color LCD 2880 x 1800


Drives:

    disk0 - APPLE SSD AP0512M 500.28 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

    Internal PCI-Express 8.0 GT/s x4 NVM Express

        disk0s1 - EFI [EFI] 315 MB

        disk0s2 [APFS Container] 499.96 GB

            disk1 [APFS Virtual drive] 499.96 GB (Shared by 4 volumes)

                disk1s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) (Shared - 96.43 GB used)

                disk1s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared)

                disk1s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared)

                disk1s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 4.29 GB used)


Mounted Volumes:

    disk1s1 - Macintosh HD 499.96 GB (398.52 GB free)

        APFS

        Mount point: /

        Encrypted


    disk1s4 - VM [APFS VM] (Shared - 4.29 GB used)

        APFS

        Mount point: /private/var/vm

        Encrypted


Network:

    Interface en0: Wi-Fi

        802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

    Interface en6: Bluetooth PAN

    Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge


System Software:

    macOS Mojave 10.14.3 (18D109) 

    Time since boot: About a day


Security:

    GatekeeperEnabled

    System Integrity ProtectionEnabled


Unsigned Files:

    Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

        Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool

        Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK


    Launchd: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

        Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Java Updater.app/Contents/MacOS/Java Updater -bgcheck

        Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK


    Launchd: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

        Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool

        Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK


    Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.brother.LOGINserver.plist

        Executable: /Library/Printers/Brother/Utilities/Server/LOGINserver.app/Contents/MacOS/LOGINserver

        Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK


    Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

        Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Java Updater.app/Contents/MacOS/Java Updater -bgcheck

        Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK


32-bit Applications:

    One 32-bit app

Feb 21, 2019 12:20 AM in response to dominic23

(continued from previous post; part 2 of the report)


Kernel Extensions:

    /Library/Application Support/Citrix Receiver

        CitrixGUSB.kext (Citrix Systems, Inc., 19.1.0 - SDK 10.9)


System Launch Agents:

    [Not Loaded] 16 Apple tasks

    [Loaded] 186 Apple tasks

    [Running] 96 Apple tasks

    [Other] One Apple task


System Launch Daemons:

    [Not Loaded] 37 Apple tasks

    [Loaded] 201 Apple tasks

    [Running] 97 Apple tasks

    [Other] One Apple task


Launch Agents:

    [Not Loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? d149786 - installed 2018-10-07)

    [Running] com.brother.LOGINserver.plist (? a1772de2 - installed 2017-09-04)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2019-01-21)

    [Running] com.citrix.ServiceRecords.plist (Citrix Systems, Inc. - installed 2019-01-24)

    [Running] com.citrix.ReceiverHelper.plist (Citrix Systems, Inc. - installed 2019-01-24)

    [Other] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a23d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-09-22)

    [Loaded] com.citrix.AuthManager_Mac.plist (Citrix Systems, Inc. - installed 2019-01-24)


Launch Daemons:

    [Loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2019-01-29)

    [Loaded] com.citrix.ctxusbd.plist (Citrix Systems, Inc. - installed 2019-01-24)

    [Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-09-22)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.teams.TeamsUpdaterDaemon.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-10-17)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.OneDriveUpdaterDaemon.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-09-21)

    [Running] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2019-01-21)

    [Not Loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (? e3fefdd2 - installed 2018-10-07)

    [Loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple - installed 2019-02-05)

    [Loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-09-10)

    [Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-09-22)


User Launch Agents:

    [Loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2019-02-14)

    [Loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-09-21)


User Login Items:

    Dropbox.app (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2019-02-06)

         (/Applications/Dropbox.app)


Internet Plug-ins:

    FlashPlayer-10.6: 32.0.0.142 (installed 2019-02-13)

    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-12-21)

    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20098 (installed 2019-02-15)

    AdobePDFViewer: 19.010.20091 (installed 2019-02-15)

    Flash Player: 32.0.0.142 (installed 2019-02-13)

    CitrixICAClientPlugIn: 19.1.0 (installed 2019-02-14)

    JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 191 build 12 (installed 2018-10-24)


Safari Extensions:

    Open in IINA - App Store (installed 2019-01-14)


3rd Party Preference Panes:

    Flash Player (installed 2019-01-29)

    Java (installed 2018-10-24)


Time Machine:

    Time Machine Not Configured!


Performance:

    System Load: 1.59 (1 min ago) 1.71 (5 min ago) 1.95 (15 min ago)

    Nominal I/O speed: 2.34 MB/s

    File system: 21.00 seconds

    Write speed: 1898 MB/s

    Read speed: 3045 MB/s


CPU Usage:

    Type Overall

    System 3 %

    User 5 %

    Idle 93 %

Feb 21, 2019 12:21 AM in response to dominic23

(continued from previous post; part 3 of the report)



Top Processes by CPU:

    Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)

    Other processes 20.36 % (?)

    EtreCheck 13.30 % (App Store)

    Safari 5.29 % (Apple)

    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent (13) 4.77 % (Apple)

    AppleSpell 4.74 % (Apple)


Top Processes by Memory:

    Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location)

    Safari 871 MB (Apple)

    EtreCheck 631 MB (App Store)

    Google Chrome 142 MB (Google, Inc.)

    Microsoft Word 111 MB (Microsoft Corporation)

    App Store 102 MB (Apple)


Top Processes by Network Use:

    Process Input / Output (Source - Location)

    corespeechd 4 KB / 4 MB (Apple)

    mDNSResponder 2 MB / 652 KB (Apple)

    Dropbox 789 KB / 1 MB (Dropbox, Inc.)

    com.apple.WebKit.Networking 1 MB / 138 KB (Apple)

    UserEventAgent 214 KB / 296 KB (Apple)


Virtual Memory Information:

    Available RAM 2.03 GB

    Free RAM 998 MB

    Used RAM 5.97 GB

    Cached files 1.06 GB

    Swap Used 1.36 GB


Software Installs (past 30 days):

    Install Date Name (Version)

    2019-01-23 微信 (2.3.23)

    2019-02-08 MRTConfigData (1.39)

    2019-02-09 Noted (1.0.3)

    2019-02-10 Gatekeeper Configuration Data (162)

    2019-02-12 Tableau Reader (20183.19.0125.1454 )

    2019-02-13 Adobe Flash Player

    2019-02-13 Microsoft OneNote

    2019-02-13 Microsoft Excel

    2019-02-13 Tableau Desktop (20191.19.0126.2241 )

    2019-02-13 Microsoft PowerPoint

    2019-02-14 Microsoft Word

    2019-02-14 Agenda (5.0)

    2019-02-14 Citrix Workspace (19.1.0)

    2019-02-15 The Unarchiver (4.1.0)

    2019-02-15 Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (19.010.20091)

    2019-02-16 熊掌记 (1.6.10)

    2019-02-21 Microsoft Outlook

    2019-02-21 EtreCheck (5.1)


Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

    Directory /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports is not accessible without Full Drive Access.


End of report

Question marked as Apple recommended

Feb 21, 2019 4:34 AM in response to laken1217

I don't see any problem with the system other than "Safari not responding" sometimes as you wrote.

Please try these simple maintenance tasks.


Go step by step and test.


1. Power off the router. Unplug it from the wall. Wait a while.

    Plug it back in. Power the router on. Wait until all lights are lit properly. It will take a while.

    Restart the computer.

    Start up in Safe Mode. This will remove some system caches and perform a minor level Disk Repair.

    Once in Safe Mode, click the “Restart” button at the bottom.

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262


    Launch Safari holding the shift key down. This will start Safari in Safe Mode.


 2. Empty Caches from Develop menu.


    Safari > Preference > Advanced

    Checkmark the box beside "Show Develop menu in menu bar".

    Develop menu will appear in the Safari menu bar.

    Click "Develop" and select "Empty Caches" from the dropdown.


    Note: As a part of the process, Favicon caches will be emptied.

             But that will be rebuilt when  a user revisits the sites.

             Network caches will be emptied as well. 

      Safari Develop menu   https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-the-safari-develop-menu-sfri20948/mac


  3. “• If you recently updated the app or macOS, a plug-in or enhancement you installed may no longer be compatible.”

        https://support.apple.com/en-mide/guide/mac-help/mchlp2579/mac


       Safari > Preferences > Extensions

       Turn off all of them and test. Enable one by one and test.


   4. Run First Aid.  https://support.apple.com/en-mide/guide/disk-utility/repair-a-disk-dskutl1040/mac

Safari running slow

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