Safari 6.0.5 update loses Favicons!

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Level 1

25 points

Safari 6.0.5 update loses Favicons!

I just updated to Safari 6.0.5. I'm running OS X Lion 10.7.5 on a Macbook Pro. When I RESET Safari, 95% of the Favicons in my Bookmarks Menu are gone.

Just so we're clear -- in Safari Preferences/General I've designated "Remove History Items" to be done Manually.

On the Reset Safari window/menu, I HAVE NOT checked Clear History or Remove all webpage preview images.

I did not have this problem with the previous version of Safari.

Some users on some older threads suggested replacing the User Library/Safari/WebIcons.db file with an older version from a back-up (prior to the Safari 6.0.5 update). I tried that and it didn't work.

Some users actually inform us that if we simply click on the bookmark and go to the site, the favicon will reload. Are they kidding? I'm not using these favicons for decoration. I use them so I can quickly scan through a list of bookmarks and find the site and bookmark I'm searching for. That's a lot easier to do with the Favicons/WebIcons intact and visible, versus a long vertical row of generic blue balls (no pun intended).

Does anyone have a fix for this?

If anyone from Apple reads this, PLEASE fix this! Had I known this was going to happen, I would have stayed with version 6.0.4!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jun 29, 2013 6:56 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 29, 2013 7:09 PM in response to KiteSurfer

In case you aren't aware, the webpage icon database can become corrupt to the point where Safari crashes.

Example > Safari 6.0.5 crashing on startup: Apple Support Communities

Go to ~/Library/Safari

Move the WebpageIcons.db file to the Trash.

Quit and relaunch Safari.

It may take several days for the webapge icons to re populate.

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Answer 2

KiteSurfer Author

Level 1

25 points

Jun 29, 2013 7:42 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Carolyn Samit wrote:

Go to ~/Library/Safari

Move the WebpageIcons.db file to the Trash.

Quit and relaunch Safari.

It may take several days for the webapge icons to re populate.

Hi Carolyn,

I haven't had any problems with Safari crashing or performing poorly. Safari has always run very well for me. My only problem is this one with the web page icons. I understand your suggestion per trashing the existing Webpageicons.db file (versus replacing it with an archived backup).

When you say that it "...may take several days for the webpage icons to re-populate...", do you mean that the icons will re-populate automatically?... or rather that they'll repopulate as I visit the individual websites. I ask because I have hundreds of bookmarks and I don't want to have to visit each site to reestablish its web page icon in my bookmarks. I went through this once before on a Safari update and literally spent hours visiting site after site to reestablish the webpage icons. Can you please clarify?

Thanks for your help! 🙂

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Answer 3

Jun 29, 2013 7:50 PM in response to KiteSurfer

Yes, they will re populate automatically.

Thought of something that may help you. I use a third party Safari plugin called Glims. One of the features is that you can have the favicon displayed on each tab label.

Glims is free > Glims for Safari | www.MacHangout.com

Lot of other great features as well and Glims support is available on Facebook as well as their website.

message edited by: cs

BTW, fellow kite surfer here.

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Answer 4

Sep 13, 2013 9:12 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

My personal observation is that the webpageicons.db is not automatically repopulated. Updating the database requires the bookmarked web page to be accessed. Furthermore, if you have saved multiple bookmarks for a given web site, accessing one of the bookmarks does not update the icon on all bookmarks.

It appears that there needs to be a process present that is, perhaps, crawling through your bookmarks that attempts to determine if any of them have new content. Safari 6.0.5 in my rather basic configuration doesn't access any of my bookmarked web sites automatically.

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Answer 5

KiteSurfer Author

Level 1

25 points

Sep 13, 2013 10:27 AM in response to Merton Crockett

I have to agree Merton... It's been weeks since this happened and the favicons have NOT populated automatically. I have to visit each and every bookmarked link to restore the favicon and identical favicons in other bookmarks do not repopulate either. As an example, if I have a bookmarked list of YouTube videos and I click on one bookmark, the favicons for the other videos do not repopulate. I have to visit each one. It's a real PITA! 😠

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Answer 6

MacInLex

Level 1

0 points

Sep 16, 2013 6:29 PM in response to KiteSurfer

I've been keeping my eye on this issue for a while. Respectfully, Carolyn is incorrect to say that favicons will repopulate all by themselves: you and Merton are correct in that you have to visit a page for that bookmark to have its favicon reappear.

I have Googled this over the past year when I'm thinking about it (like tonight, which is why I'm on this post), and I haven't found anything to prevent the wiping away of favicons when clearing the history or using a 3rd party cleaner (CCleaner, Cache Out X, etc.)

My personal (and silly) solution at the moment is to create an alias/shortcut on my desktop to the Safari folder in my User Library folder (/Users/{me}/Library/Safari). Then, once I re-populated all the favicons in Safari, I copy that Webpageicons.db file from that Library/Safari folder to the desktop as well. I now have the "favicon-loaded" version of the Webpageicons.db file, as well as easy access via the alias to the folder in which the original sits.

Now when I clear history/cookies/cache and lose the favicons, I simply go to the desktop and drag the Webpageicons.db file onto the alias/shortcut folder and tell the prompt that I want to Replace the file.

(Quick tip: When you drag the icon file onto the shortcut, hold down the Option key so that you force it to move a copy into the Library/Safari folder, not the original, or else it will literally disappear from your desktop. You will see a green "+" on the icon as you drag it when you hold down Option, signifying that you are copying it over, not moving it.)

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Answer 7

Sep 29, 2013 6:59 AM in response to KiteSurfer

If you have a lot of bookmarks that you want to repopulate with favicons after you deleted WebpageIcons.db, here is what makes the process a bit smoother:

open the bookmarks ("Show all Bookmarks")
right-click on any folder that contains bookmarks
select "Open in Tabs"
leave all the tabs open for a minute or so and the bookmarks will have their favicons

Safari will open all the URLs enclosed in the folder at once. You can also create a folder for this purpose and copy a ton of bookmarks into it. Once an URL has its favicon assigned, the icon will show up in any other bookmarks folder for that URL.

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Answer 8

Nov 30, 2013 5:38 PM in response to KiteSurfer

Hi, I just read your article here about Safari. I looked around for sometime till I could find someone with the same frustrating problem I have. I have Safari 7.0 and uploaded Mavericks two weeks ago. Since then I have nothing but trouble. My symbols Favicons if that is what you call them are all the same with the blue balls. I hate them. My I photo does not scroll worth a ****. The loading is slow etc. I have been to Apple in person and on the phone for four hours and no one can fix this. I should have stayed with Snow Leopard which is what I had when I bought this my first computer. They like to change things for us to **** us off and make us work to get back what we had in the first place. I have yet to find any help. The symbols change the way I like them, then minutes, or hours later, they change back to the blue balls. Have you had any luck yet? Let me know if you have. I have a Mac Desktop. All the latest upgrades and updates. Need Help Rick

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