Safari website icons missing

Webicons have gone missing in Safari and I can't get them back no matter what I do. Unchecking/checking box in preferences does nothing. Emptying caches in Safari and restarting computer does nothing either. Updating to Catalina and Safari 14 didn't help. It seems like the entire Favicon Cache folder's missing from the Safari folder in Library is gone and I can't get it back.


MacBook Pro 15”, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 29, 2020 1:39 AM

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Posted on Oct 29, 2020 3:10 AM

C_Mountain wrote:

Webicons have gone missing in Safari and I can't get them back no matter what I do. Unchecking/checking box in preferences does nothing. Emptying caches in Safari and restarting computer does nothing either. Updating to Catalina and Safari 14 didn't help. It seems like the entire Favicon Cache folder's missing from the Safari folder in Library is gone and I can't get it back.


https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/fe79e453-0c3d-4f23-9603-be840708859f


Clearing history and cache can have this effect. If you re-visit a website the Favicon will reload itself.



You can try restoring Safari / or the cache folder from a backup Local snapshots / Time machine.


From the Finder>Go>Go to Folder you can see the Favicon cache folder, copy and paste:


~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache






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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 29, 2020 3:10 AM in response to C_Mountain

C_Mountain wrote:

Webicons have gone missing in Safari and I can't get them back no matter what I do. Unchecking/checking box in preferences does nothing. Emptying caches in Safari and restarting computer does nothing either. Updating to Catalina and Safari 14 didn't help. It seems like the entire Favicon Cache folder's missing from the Safari folder in Library is gone and I can't get it back.


https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/fe79e453-0c3d-4f23-9603-be840708859f


Clearing history and cache can have this effect. If you re-visit a website the Favicon will reload itself.



You can try restoring Safari / or the cache folder from a backup Local snapshots / Time machine.


From the Finder>Go>Go to Folder you can see the Favicon cache folder, copy and paste:


~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache






Oct 30, 2020 8:15 AM in response to C_Mountain

C_Mountain wrote:

I'm in the right folder, 100%.


Dialabrain points out the inconsistency I was seeing— this was at least some corroboration I was asking for in an effort to verify the "complete path" was correct.


Independent of simply saying "I am indeed" there is no point in continuing with support unless we are on the same page.


(There are other ways to see the complete path, however it is a" user preference" that has to be checked:

Finder>View>Show Path Bar )

-------------------------------------------------------------



What caught my eye initially is your "Safari" folder seems to be missing some other files/ folders I would expect...

this I can not explain, outside of my sample of one as included below—


for comparison, sorted by name and scrolled to the bottom:


For resolving your Favicon issue I can recommend:


—hold the Shift key when launching Safari, as a "safe" launch of the application and test:

If Safari is slow, stops responding, quits unexpectedly, or has ...



—Restoring Safari and associated files from your local snapshots and/or Time machine to before you issue:

About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support


Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support 


—Re-installing the combo update on top of your existing macOS, refreshing Applications for sorting one-off anomalies:

Combo update  macOS 10.15.7 https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2052?locale=en_US


—Reinstalling the macOS from Recovery for a complete and up to date macOS for corrupted supporting files/folders

then migrating your user data back in if necessary :

 Recovery: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904



Unfortunately I do not see a stand alone installer for Safari.app ver 14 outside of the >System Preferences>Software Update

https://support.apple.com/downloads/safari-ver-14




If all of this seems like too much you can try and trouble shoot further your situation:


  —Try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262


  Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen, does a 5-15 minute disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, including dynamic loader cache,  etc.  Login and test. Reboot and test as caches get rebuilt.


In Safe mode third party system modifications and system accelerations are disabled, it removes malware, etc hampering smooth operation, however a  reboot will put it back to normal mode.


This test will tell you if third party interference; extensions etc are not loaded in safe boot mode. 




 —Test issue in another user (or guest user) account  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204443


  This will tell you if it a universal issue or isolated to your user/admin account. 





Oct 29, 2020 3:24 AM in response to C_Mountain

C_Mountain wrote:

I've tried everything. The favicons simply don't reload themselves no matter what, I've had this problem for a few months now. There simply is no Favicon Cache folder. I've even tried to manually make a new one, or drag and drop a new one into the Safari fodler, only to get an Error Code -43.

Believe me, I've tried all the standard solutions to no avail.



I can not determine from your screen shot—what is the complete path to get to that Safari folder— it does not look like you are in the correct location ?


The complete path I am looking at is:


~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache


Oct 29, 2020 3:42 AM in response to C_Mountain

C_Mountain wrote:

I've tried everything. The favicons simply don't reload themselves no matter what, I've had this problem for a few months now. There simply is no Favicon Cache folder. I've even tried to manually make a new one, or drag and drop a new one into the Safari fodler, only to get an Error Code -43.

Believe me, I've tried all the standard solutions to no avail.


Verify your Preferences:


Nov 1, 2020 8:07 AM in response to C_Mountain

C_Mountain wrote:

I ended up creating a new user and moved all my files there. The webicons issue solved itself first time I opened Safari. From what I can tell the Safari folder on my old user must have been corrupt, possibly from CleanMyMac emptying caches.




Glad to hear this solved your problem C_Mountain !


should read: < p̶o̶s̶s̶i̶b̶l̶y̶ definitely from CleanMyMac emptying caches. > It is a garbage app that has corrupted a many macOS.

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Safari website icons missing

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