Safari self-decides!

Question

Safari self-decides!

Hello everyone,

I have a big issue on Safari, in particular on my MacBook Air Monterey 12.2.1 (21D62), but considering I handoff on my iPhone and iPad this problem is a daily challenge.

All of a sudden Safari reload pages, closes tabs, goes on the previous page...sometimes when I directly search on the address bar it doesn't display anything (as it was on the Safari homepage) so I'm stuck on the site I wanted to open (because it's like I haven't opened the page).

For instance, when I'm working on a page it switches to another tab and when I go back to the page I was working on it reloads it. Or worse: I open a new tab, search for something and it suddenly closes it. And if I try to open with cmd+z it opens another previous tab.

This is absolutely frustrating, I've tried to clear the cache, cookies and so on. Can you please help me?

Thank you

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Sep 7, 2022 2:01 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

John Galt

Level 10

141,646 points

Sep 7, 2022 9:41 AM in response to giostramonium

The behavior you describe — randomly opening and / or reloading web pages, switching then closing tabs... etc — is not normal and should not occur even if Safari is synching through iCloud. The fact it occurs even in Safe Mode suggests faulty hardware may be a factor.

Contact Apple Support and tell them everything you did in an effort to solve the problem on your own: Get Support. They will tell you to update macOS so do that if you haven't already. They will probably have you repeat the Safe Mode exercise, point you to the Apple Support document below, and if that behavior continues to plague your Mac they will offer to make a Genius Bar appointment.

Update macOS on Mac - Apple Support

If Safari on Mac doesn't open a webpage or isn't working as expected - Apple Support

In a last ditch effort before bringing your Mac to them they may also have you reinstall macOS:

Reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Personally I don't think that will help, but if you do that be sure to create a Time Machine backup first:

Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support

You should have backups anyway, even if everything were working properly.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

141,646 points

Sep 7, 2022 5:12 AM in response to giostramonium

I understand Safari is running amok doing a lot of strange and inexplicable things.

Please determine if the same problems occur in "Safe Mode": How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support.

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Answer 3

Sep 7, 2022 6:44 AM in response to John Galt

yes, still possessed!

I've read a similar 3d where a guy with the same problem simply turned off safari synchronisation on iCloud. It actually works....but I need handoff as I travel a lot without my Mac.

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Answer 4

Sep 7, 2022 10:44 AM in response to John Galt

Ok, so apparently it works just fine running safari on Safe Mode while disabling the sharing option on iCloud. The problem is totally solved. For the moment I will test it for a while just creating the tabs on each device. It's not the first time iCloud synchronisation causes issues but this one was definitely something else! Thank you for your support, I will eventually contact the  Support.

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Answer 5

Sep 7, 2022 10:46 AM in response to John Galt

I actually just finished to post my previous reply that it happened again. It's not persistent as before, but I closed this tab and my email tab switched to a previous site visited today...this is even weirder...

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Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

141,646 points

Sep 7, 2022 10:57 AM in response to giostramonium

It seems something is going on with iCloud syncing, but I doubt it's anything any of us can fix. The fact it affects some people and not others complicates matters. Definitely let Apple know. If they take an active interest they may have a more senior Support representative call you back so they can collect some data. After that, nothing will appear to transpire until a macOS update is eventually released perhaps in a few weeks or months.

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Safari self-decides!

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