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Safari Search Bar Auto-deletes

Hello!


Whenever I type into the search bar of Safari, it auto-deletes after the first few letters. This is after the Catalina 10.15.5 update. For me, it's whenever I type in anything that starts with "sc". Could someone help with this? Thanks!



MacBook

Posted on Jun 13, 2020 11:47 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Jun 17, 2020 3:23 PM

L-Apple132 Said:

"Hello, I found a solution (sort of) by clearing search history. The "sc" I typed in tried to auto-fill my search bar with an expired news article that starts with "scontent-dfw5-1" that was on Facebook. Safari automatically deletes the entry for some reason.[...]"

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Clear your Temporary Internet Files:

Seems to me that you need to clear all of your Temporary Internet Files (Cookies & Cache) of Safari. Cookies perform remembrance of certain site-entered data. Whereas Cache keeps a snapshot of the last time you visited a site.  Use this Link: Clearing History and Cache - Apple Communities

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9 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jun 17, 2020 3:23 PM in response to L-Apple132

L-Apple132 Said:

"Hello, I found a solution (sort of) by clearing search history. The "sc" I typed in tried to auto-fill my search bar with an expired news article that starts with "scontent-dfw5-1" that was on Facebook. Safari automatically deletes the entry for some reason.[...]"

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Clear your Temporary Internet Files:

Seems to me that you need to clear all of your Temporary Internet Files (Cookies & Cache) of Safari. Cookies perform remembrance of certain site-entered data. Whereas Cache keeps a snapshot of the last time you visited a site.  Use this Link: Clearing History and Cache - Apple Communities

Jun 17, 2020 11:10 AM in response to L-Apple132

Hi L-Apple132,


Welcome to Apple Support Communities. I understand that when you type to search in Safari you're seeing the text auto-delete after the first few letters, specifically when you use words that start with "sc". I can see why you'd reach out about this behavior; I'd like to help. First, if you haven't already, try these steps:


  • Quit Safari: Quit apps on Mac
  • Restart the Mac.
  • Open Safari while holding the Shift key.
  • Try searching again.


I'd also recommend verifying that there aren't any preferences set that could contribute to this behavior: Change Keyboard preferences on Mac


If the issue persists, use these steps to start your Mac in safe mode and test for the behavior: How to use safe mode on your Mac

If the behavior seems resolved in safe mode, restart the Mac normally and test again. If the issue persists in safe mode, use these steps to test for the behavior in a new user account: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac



Let me know what you find.



Best Regards.

Jun 17, 2020 2:16 PM in response to L-Apple132

L-Apple132 Said:

"Safari Search Bar Auto-deletes: I've tried all of the above and nothing worked. It's still happening, and only in Safari. I've tried all other combinations of letters in the search bar and only "sc" get auto-deleted. This only happened after the recent Catalina 10.15.5 update."

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Change the Default Search Engine:

See what happens when you change the search engine. If it makes a difference, then it's your Mac's interaction with its server. So, if you're using Google, then try Bing instead.

Go Here: Change Search Preferences in Safari on Mac - Apple Support

Jun 17, 2020 3:10 PM in response to L-Apple132

Hi L-Apple132,


Thanks for getting back to us with those details. Since the behavior continues in a test user, while using safe mode, and after confirming keyboard preferences, at this point I'd suggest reinstalling macOS.


While a macOS reinstall should't affect your data, I always suggest creating or verifying you have a recent backup: Back up your Mac with Time Machine


Next, use these steps to reinstall macOS Catalina: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery


Keep us posted on the results!



Take Care.

Jun 17, 2020 3:15 PM in response to TheLittles

Hello,


I've tried changing it to a different search engine, but that didn't work either. I did find a solution (sort of) by clearing search history. The "sc" I typed in tried to auto-fill my search bar with an expired news article that starts with "scontent-dfw5-1" that was on Facebook. Safari automatically deletes the entry for some reason. Maybe it thinks it's malware or something. I didn't know Safari could do that. I don't remember what the article was about, but it was likely some local news article since I live in DFW. Thought it was software, but I guess not. Hope this is a temporary solution for those with similar issues. After clearing history, I can type "sc" just fine.


Appreciate all the help folks!



Jun 17, 2020 3:19 PM in response to MoonJ.

Hi!


I've found a solution (sort of) by clearing search history. Safari autofilled and then auto deleted the entry for some reason. It was an expired Facebook local news article that started with "scontent". As for now, I don't have the problem anymore unless I type in the same address. Probably a temporary solution, but I found it's definitely not OS issue or software issue. Thanks again!

Safari Search Bar Auto-deletes

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