Unwanted Remnant on Desktop Following Browsing With Safari

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Level 1

81 points

Unwanted Remnant on Desktop Following Browsing With Safari

What is going on here? I was doing a bit of historical research using Safari. I concluded my research, quit Safari, only to find that I have this small remnant of the web page that I was looking at, still on my Desktop. I can't get rid of it ! It can't be selected, or dragged to Trash. When I try a Control-click, I get the same dialog box that I would get if I clicked anywhere on the Desktop - in other words, it's not of any use in getting rid of this artefact. Very strange ! Any suggestions as to how to go about getting rid of it?

I have - MacOS Big Sur 11.6.7

iMac 27″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jul 18, 2022 7:47 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

PRP_53

Level 10

91,411 points

Jul 19, 2022 2:39 AM in response to ttibsen

1 - Restart in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.

2 - Does the issue present in this mode ?

3 - Sometimes a Safe Boot followed by a Normal Boot will just put things right.

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Answer 2

Jul 19, 2022 2:51 AM in response to ttibsen

This looks like a webloc, that is a file which is a "link" to the webpage you have visited.

It seems that you have created it accidentally and, if so, you can just drag this to the trash.

Weblocs are typically created by dragging the address to the desktop, and double-clicking on one opens the linked page in your default browser.

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Answer 3

PRP_53

Level 10

91,411 points

Jul 19, 2022 7:47 AM in response to ttibsen

You are welcome and thank you too 🇨🇦

Do come back to the Apple Support Communities ( ASC ) in the future, if / or when additional questions may arise

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Answer 4

ttibsen Author

Level 1

81 points

Jul 19, 2022 7:35 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

If you look closely at my posting, you will see that I am not able to drag it anywhere, including Trash.

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Answer 5

ttibsen Author

Level 1

81 points

Jul 19, 2022 7:45 AM in response to PRP_53

Eureka ! That was it ! Worked like a charm ! The unwanted remnant is gone - thanks for helping me clear this up - I now have an uncluttered desktop again.

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