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Safari for Mac randomly opens to new sites if I'm using the application

I don't have an exact time as to when this started, but now, when I use Safari on my Mac, at random times it will suddenly open a new tab to a random website, some are scams, some I don't think are, and I don't know how to stop it. I tried using an ad blocker but it wasn't working so I removed it. Is this happening for other people too? Are there any apps I can use to fix this?


And I literally got this one while scrolling down this page and viewing my post to see if I made any typos

MacBook Air

Posted on Aug 4, 2019 1:58 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 4, 2019 7:21 AM

Safari/Browsers - Eliminating browser redirects and advertisements


Safari/Browsers - Eliminating browser redirects and advertisements (2)


You may  have adware/malware installed. Try downloading this program which was written by Thomas R, a long time poster. The program will search for malware/adware. The program will do the work for you which makes it easy. It may be necessary to run more than one scan. After running the scans, restart the computer.


Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac      10.10 and later


Malwarebytes uninstall


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. The following won't work in OS Mojave. 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.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 4, 2019 7:21 AM in response to JAnime_Gamer

Safari/Browsers - Eliminating browser redirects and advertisements


Safari/Browsers - Eliminating browser redirects and advertisements (2)


You may  have adware/malware installed. Try downloading this program which was written by Thomas R, a long time poster. The program will search for malware/adware. The program will do the work for you which makes it easy. It may be necessary to run more than one scan. After running the scans, restart the computer.


Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac      10.10 and later


Malwarebytes uninstall


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. The following won't work in OS Mojave. 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.

Safari for Mac randomly opens to new sites if I'm using the application

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