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Safari 13.1 inoperable on Mojave

Hi all,


I recently updated to Catalina but due to poor system performance then rolled back to Mojave.


Everything is working fine with the exception of Safari ...



I think the simplest solution is to overwrite Safari 13.1 with an earlier build; say 12.1.2.


Does anyone reading this have a copy of Safari earlier than 13.1? I can't download from the App Store, or Software Update in System Preferences.


Thanks.

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on Apr 18, 2020 1:57 AM

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Posted on Apr 21, 2020 10:45 AM

Hi orangegrouptech,


Thanks for your comment.


In the end I found an earlier build of Safari (12.1.2). I overwrote 13.1, and despite receiving the following error message, Safari now launches and runs fine ...


Curiously the Dock icon still has a "do not use" symbol superimposed, though the Safari icon in Applications doesn't.


Happy to have resolved the issue without reinstalling again.

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Apr 21, 2020 10:45 AM in response to orangegrouptech

Hi orangegrouptech,


Thanks for your comment.


In the end I found an earlier build of Safari (12.1.2). I overwrote 13.1, and despite receiving the following error message, Safari now launches and runs fine ...


Curiously the Dock icon still has a "do not use" symbol superimposed, though the Safari icon in Applications doesn't.


Happy to have resolved the issue without reinstalling again.

Apr 19, 2020 1:27 PM in response to Komodein

Something to try. Do not restore Safari from your backup. Do a backup, preferable 2 separate ones on 2 drives. Boot to the Recovery Volume (command - R on a restart). Run Disk Utility/First Aid. Reformat the drive using Disk Utility/Erase. Use Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then click the Option button, and select GUID. Quit Disk Utility, then re-install the OS.


Reinstall from macOS Recovery


OS X Recovery


When you reboot, use Setup Assistant to restore your data.



Apr 19, 2020 4:20 AM in response to dominic23

Thanks orangegrouptech and dominic23. I reinstalled Mojave using the steps described.


Safari is still inoperable. Are you both certain that overwriting Safari 13.1 with Safari 12.x won't work? I can't see the harm in trying, but—again—I don't have a copy of Safari 12x.


If anyone reading this has a 12.x Safari build (accessible via Time Machine, say), I would really appreciate it being shared with me.

Apr 20, 2020 4:48 AM in response to Komodein

Try using AppCleaner to search for everything related to Safari and delete everything. Before that navigate to their paths and make a backup of them by copying them to the desktop or somewhere convenient for you. Make a copy of your data by backing them up to an external drive just in case it gets wiped but it shouldn't. AppCleaner: https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/

Then on boot, go to recovery mode by holding command+r on boot till you see the Apple logo and the loading bar. Then click Reinstall macOS. It will do a reinstall but should keep all data on it, but you do have a backup. (Just like what KrazyKen did to fix his problem)

The reason why overwriting Safari is not recommended is that Safari has more than just the app itself to overwrite. In case you mess things up.

Safari 13.1 inoperable on Mojave

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