Safari 14.0 Top Sites no longer an option?

IDK if this will help. Maybe?

first you "pin" the sites you need to your tab bar:

Pin frequently visited websites in Safari on Mac

then you click the "Tab Overview" button on the top right of the safari window:

then you will see this in safari:

you can then toggle back and forth with the "tab overview" button. the sites "pinned" in the tab bar will stay in the tab overview after clearing your history. this still works when your tab bar is closed.

'favorites' are different from 'top sites'.

the top sites functionality seems to be gone. i posted a method for recovering your top sites urls... you can use that and then create a folder of bookmarks to your top sites, and then put that folder as the first item in your favorites.

gang - it sucks that top sites functionality has been removed... and so clumsily.

BUT...

1. you should be able to recover your top sites urls from home --> library --> safari --> TopSites.plist
2. you can then go to 'edit bookmarks' and 'make new folder'... call it 'top sites'
3. put bookmarks for your (former) top sites in the new folder
4. move the 'top sites' bookmark folder to the top of your favorites
5. make sure 'show favorites bar' is ON

you will then have all of your top sites handy in a drop-down menu

yes, the list will no longer update automagically, but at least you'll have some semblance of what you had.

I add one other step in this, if desired:

Preferences > General > Favorites Shows > Here I selected the TopSites folder I created. This way there is no drop-down, and all I see are my Top Sites.

Unfortunately, adding them is not as easy as moving the bookmarks from the plist, you have to open the site, Ctl-D to add it to Bookmarks, then make sure you add it to TopSites. Unfortunately, there is no easy file to replace in Library, you have to edit Bookmarks.plist file, and that's not easy.

time machine backup? i recently cloned my volume so i'm going to go boot from that and see what my top sites WERE and manually configure all over again somehow as my top site bookmarks disappear. at least apple could have preserved them in a legacy folder (sigh)

FOR THOSE TALKING ABOUT SWITCHING TO CHROME OR FIREFOX...

i understand and empathize... but seriously? you lose one feature out of hundreds so you're outta here? seems like an over-reaction to me. there are so many 'steve would roll over in his grave' discoveries every week. apple might not be quite what it used to be, but my attempts to use chrome and/or firefox (as a user or web developer) as my main browser(s) always end of being failed experiments. they're good for quick/specific purposes, but that's all (IMHO).

change happens. deliberate change happens less than WTFWTT? change, but there are also some useful features in 14, as well.

once you clicked on one of your top sites, the 99% rest of your time was spent doing what you needed to do... using safari. i don't think more measured responses would hurt. 8-)

This is unbelievable. I am very disappointed with this update. I share my screen with clients most of the day. The Top Sites feature is part of my workflow. The replacement is worthless to me. This will literally effect my work until there is a useful solution.

actually, you CAN do that. you "control click" on the background and select "choose background" in the pop-up. then choose a built-in image, or choose one from one of "your" pictures. mine are in "photos"

Shabby - Sorry to be a dunce - but I can't find the TopSites.plist - I've gone to home in finder but it doesn't then give me an option of Library. It just gives me this...

Desperate to retrieve my top sites so any further help would be much appreciated. I have a MacBook Air 2013

It would be nice to hear form Apple on what if anything they will do to correct the situation. There has been a lot of time spent on workarounds that should not have been needed. I hope Apple is listening and will provide some information.

My Safari just updated to version 14 & yeah, it super upset my workflow. #wtf??? I managed to find all of my old top sites & move them to opening page of Chrome, although now they appear as tabs instead of nice user-friendly page icons. The top sites landing page was my main reason for loving Safari & having it as my default browser. Shame on them. IS THERE A WAY TO REVERT TO PREVIOUS VERSION, OR DO I JUST NEED TO "MOVE ON?" Thanks!

If you use Time Machine to back up your computer then you can restore to the prior version of Safari.

While I hate it as well, I've adapted to the Start Window by, as suggested, adding in my prior Top Sites into a folder I named Top Site, then setting Favorites to the Top Site folder. This way I only see the Top Sites under the Favorites part of the Start Page, but all of my other Favorites are still available the old way.

I'm actually still behind on 10.14.6. I turned off my computer due to the CA fires and when i turned it back on this am, the top sites was replaced with the frequently heading and some of my sites were missing. Strange, because some that I haven't gone to in months, were still there!

BRING BACK TOP SITES!

The new start page, with its cute little tiles and favicons that convey virtually no meaning to the user is clearly designed for iOS, leaving vast expanses screen real estate completely barren on the desktop.

This "start page" was not made for a desktop application.

Ack. They hid the library folder again. Go to finder. Click on "go" (across the top when you've opened finder). Click on "home" in the drop down menu that opens when you click on "go." Click "view" then "view options". When you do that, you should see an options to "show library". I don't know why they keep hiding the library!!

https://osxdaily.com/2020/04/23/always-show-user-library-folder-macos-catalina/