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Running macOS Ventura 13.6, Safari 17.0 (18616.1.27.111.22, 18616).
Since I updated to Safari 17.0, DuckDuckGo has become unreliable. The page often locks up, at which point it doesn't allow me to scroll, click on a link, or type in the search box on the webpage. It's the only website that seems to have this issue.
Is this happening to anyone else, and is there a way of fixing this issue?
Thanks in advance.
MacBook Pro (M2 Pro, 2023)
Things started working smoothly for me again once I went into Safari > Settings > Search and unchecked "Preload Top Hit in the background".
I’ve got exactly the same problem.
I backed up my entire configuration (favorites/passwords).
delete the complete safari config and start from scratch.
after that the problem was solved.
It has nothing to do with the search engine. I think it’s more an upgrade problem (old settings with newer patches, something like that).
if you have iCloud backup enabled you simply could backup your safari config as described above, after a while safari gets its configuration from the cloud and everything went back to normal.
t3chfr3ak -- thanks for your input! I'm not sure what you mean by "delete the complete safari config and start from scratch".
I know it's Safari and not the search engine -- and I have iCloud backup as well as a portable backup drive
New update: Currently on Sonoma 14.1.2 and Safari 17.1.2. The "Preload top hit in the background" option is turned on. No problems since my last update 2 weeks ago.
I'm not sure what resolved the issue. It could be something within Safari, or on the DuckDuckGo website coding. But it looks like it's resolved for me at least.
My suggestion for anyone still with this issue: update macOS.
Interestingly that seems to have helped only for a short time, then the issue reappeared even with preloading disabled. Right now it works, but (with preloading enabled) - I have no idea why disabling that helped for a time and isn't needed right now.
It's not just DuckDuckGO, it happens to me on facebook.com as well.
What I noticed is when I try to scroll the frozen page (and realize it's frozen) and then resize the Safari window, the content jumps to the scroll position where I blindly tried to scroll. It still remains frozen though, but clicks on links work. So behind the scene every user action works but not rendered until the window is resized.
OP here. Since I upgraded to Sonoma 14.1.2 and Safari 17.1.2 about two months ago, I haven't had my problem with DuckDuckGo locking up (or any other webpage, for that matter).
Currently on Sonoma 14.2.1 and Safari 17.2.1. Things are still good for me now.
For the record, in Safari Settings "Preload Top Hit in the background" is turned on.
If you are still having issues, I would make sure you're up to date on software updates. Good luck!
Thanks, @wassearching, flipping in and out of Reader mode with Shift+Cmd+R worked for me. I'm currently running Sonoma 14.2.1 and Safari 17.2.1 on my 2019 MacBook Air (Intel), but this has been a problem since I upgraded to Safari 17 last fall. I have had "Preload Top Hit in the background" unchecked all along. I'm glad I decided to check for any new solutions today. This may not be a fix, but an easy workaround is almost as good.
The same thing going on with me with the same setup (Ventura, Safari 17)
I tried to reinstall the OS without wiping anything but no dice. When I reinstall MacOS, Safari goes back to 16.6 and DDG works perfectly fine. Not seeing any traction on the net with this so hopefully this doesn't go on for a while.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try it out and see if that helps.
This is happening to me on Safari 17.0 and Ventura 13.6
..with preload top hit already unchecked.
Jedka's suggestion seems to have worked for me as well. Thanks!
I'm the same as Climbey. Safari 17.0 Ventura 13.6 --- preload top hit was already unchecked.
Temporarily I've made Ecosia the default search engine and only once has the search page locked up.
Safari 17.1 is out now, so it might be worth updating to see if the problem was fixed
Good to know. Will just stay on Safari 16. Strange this is happening.
Jedka - thanks. Updating to 17.1 seems to have resolved DuckDuckGo search pages freezing on my macOS
DuckDuckGo becomes unresponsive in Safari
