Safari logins not remembered

Question

Level 1

9 points

Safari logins not remembered

Reviewed before but not quite on my topic and it is now several years since the last discussion.

Suddenly, Safari is asking me to log in to each website I visit every time I visit it. For some this is several times a day, without closing my browser: full login required each time.

Nuisance. Have to look up my encrypted password file each time.

I have changed no settings of which I am aware.

I could look into having Safari store passwords, but I think that until two days ago, it was working on cookies. I think. And I'm not keen on the iCloud for this, because I'm old-fashioned.

Under Preferences -> Privacy, I do have "Prevent cross-site tracking" checked, only have a rough idea what that means, but wonder if I clicked that accidentally. Could that cause this? (Cross-site tracking doesn't sound good.)

I do not have "Block all cookies" selected.

I see that I have several frequently-visited websites marked under Preference -> Websites, Pop-up Blockers, as "Block and Notify". But I haven't changed that. Many websites ask me if they can send me push notifications, and I always say "no", and that is longstanding without causing any problems.

I haven't seen anybody suggest deleting a plist file (and then which one?). That used to work sometimes for some software in which something went awry.

Any advice much appreciated.

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on May 24, 2020 5:42 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

chuck_3rd

Community Specialist

May 25, 2020 2:40 PM in response to ctlow

Hi ctlow,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. I understand you're having issues with Safari not saving your passwords and keeping you logged in to websites. I'd be happy to assist.

The symptoms that you are describing line up with exactly how private browsing is suppose to work. Is it possible that you are always in a private browsing window? Here is a great resource on private browsing: Browse in private in Safari on Mac

Thanks and have a wonderful day.

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Answer 2

ctlow Author

Level 1

9 points

May 26, 2020 5:16 AM in response to chuck_3rd

Thanks, alex_h1,

My Safari preferences say that Safari opens with "a new window." I am using a dark-window schema so it's hard to tell but yes it does like like "white on black", so: private window? (Why?)

It is however remembering all of my "History", so: not private?

I get good auto-fill with previously-visited Web addresses, so: not private?

Safari Preferences is not saving passwords, but never has and I didn't have this problem. I think they used to be saved somehow in cookies(?).

I don't quite understand Preferences -> Websites, but to my knowledge have adjusted nothing there.

I have no Extensions.

I have read the Preferences -> Websites help file, and I'm not showing anything below "Pop-up Windows".

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Answer 3

ctlow Author

Level 1

9 points

May 26, 2020 5:20 AM in response to chuck_3rd

No wait, I think we have solved it.

It appears that, once a private window is opened, that new tabs opened in that window are private too. (I can see the difference in the address bar.) That behaviours is/was not intuitively obvious to me.

Somehow I must have clicked something accidentally in a menu a few days ago, switched to Private Browsing, and have not ever closed that window, so all of the old, familiar, auto-logging-in sites, in new tabs, misbehaved. I seem to have corrected that by starting over in a new window.

In the middle of all that, I even rebooted the computer, and it re-opened a previously-opened window ... still in Private-Browsing mode.

Time will tell, but this seems over.

Thank you!

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