Safari 16.1 - side bar blank ?

Pardon me for jumping in, Denis, But I think I just duplicated your issue (but in Safari 16.0, since I haven't upgraded). In the Safari Menu Bar try clicking View>Show Bookmarks Sidebar.

Good luck

srb

Greetings Denis Giguere,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. You can find the help you need using these steps:

"Reload the page

To reload a page, choose View > Reload Page, or press Command-R. If you can't reload, make sure that you're connected to the internet.

If you still can't reload:

1. Press Command-Q to quit Safari. If Safari doesn't quit, press Option-Command-Esc to force Safari to quit.
2. Open Safari again and try to load the page. When Safari opens, if it automatically opens pages that you don't want to open, quit Safari again, then press and hold the Shift key while opening Safari. 

Check Safari settings

The webpage might not be compatible with one or more browser settings, which you can turn on or off as needed. From the menu bar in Safari, choose Safari > Settings (or Preferences). Then click Websites, Privacy, or Security to access these settings:

• Websites settings. These settings can be configured for specific websites.
• Privacy settings. These settings apply to all websites.
• Security settings. These settings apply to all websites."

Complete details and troubleshooting can are provided in the Apple Support article:

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

Feel free to reach back out if you have any questions.

Best regards!