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Safari Version 15.0 - Can't type "sco" in the search bar!

Running Safari Version 15.0 (16612.1.29.41.4, 16612) on Big Sur 11.6 on an M1 Mac mini.


I have my search set to use Duck Duck Go, as I have for years. The problem may well predate the upgrade to Safari 15.0, but can't say for sure as I have just now noticed it.


When using the browser address bar (not the DDG website) to perform a search, as I begin typing in a search term, say "scorch" or "scotch" the moment I get "sco" entered something triggers the field to reset, as if you had yet to begin typing anything into the field.


A yet, I have not found any other letter combinations that cause the problem. I have looked under System Preferences > Keyboard to see if there were any Shortcut or Text Replacements that explain it, but nothing there.


Any thoughts?

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Sep 28, 2021 11:28 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Sep 29, 2021 8:11 AM

I was able to resolve my problem!


The issue came from having "Preload top hits in background" turned on under Preferences > Search. Toggle that off, and the problem went away.


However, once that was done, I could see the web address of the "Top Hit" that was being retrieved. For reasons unknown, that particular URL, once pulled in for preload, was clearing the searcher field.


In order to stop the problem, I went into Safari history: Go to History > Show History


Once there, I used the search to find the URL in question, and delete it from the list. With that done, I was able to turn "Preload top hits in background" back on again, with the problem resolved.

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1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Sep 29, 2021 8:11 AM in response to TrafGib

I was able to resolve my problem!


The issue came from having "Preload top hits in background" turned on under Preferences > Search. Toggle that off, and the problem went away.


However, once that was done, I could see the web address of the "Top Hit" that was being retrieved. For reasons unknown, that particular URL, once pulled in for preload, was clearing the searcher field.


In order to stop the problem, I went into Safari history: Go to History > Show History


Once there, I used the search to find the URL in question, and delete it from the list. With that done, I was able to turn "Preload top hits in background" back on again, with the problem resolved.

Safari Version 15.0 - Can't type "sco" in the search bar!

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