Q: Safari does not store history or sync my iCloud bookmarks

Back up all data.

This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.

I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.

Step 1

If you have more than one user account, and the one in question is not an administrator account, then temporarily promote it to administrator status in the Users & Groups preference pane. To do that, unlock the preference pane using the credentials of an administrator, check the box marked

Allow user to administer this computer

Then reboot. You can demote the problem account back to standard status when this step has been completed.

Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:

{ sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR..; sudo chown -R $UID:staff ~ $_; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_; chmod -R -N ~ $_; } 2>&-

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

You'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

The command may take a few minutes to run, or perhaps longer if you have literally millions of files in your home folder. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.

Step 2 (optional)

Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1, if you prefer not to take it, or if it doesn't solve the problem.

Boot into Recovery. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select

Utilities ▹ Terminal

from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open.

In the Terminal window, type this:

res

Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

resetpassword

Press return. A Reset Password dialog will open. You’re not going to reset a password.

In the dialog, select the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if it's not already selected.

Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if it's not already selected.

Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.

Select

 ▹ Restart

from the menu bar.

Hello Linc Davis,

THANKS A LOT, THANKS A LOT, AND THANKS A LOT!!!

I did the 2 steps you mentioned and it finally solved an issue about Safari History Sync not working.

I was afraid to create a brand new iCloud ID just to get this Safari History Sync to works.

Thanks

I went through Linc Davis' step 1 procedure on both my iMac and MBP, and it did not solve the issue.  Further, I turned the Safari option off/on in iCloud settings on all 3 devices, rebooted all 3, and cleared history again.

I have to believe that the problem is my underlying iCloud account as opposed to anything specific to the Macs.

A weird thing happened about Safari...

For no reason, my History doesn't sync anymore between Mac and iPhone.

I tried to delete the history on both devices and it remains the same: the history from my iPhone sync well on my Mac, but the history from my Mac doesn't want to come to my iPhone.

It worked several days ago... How to solve this issue?

Did u manage to get this working?

i updated to iOS 9 and El Capitan and now safari history do not sync

Well by that I mean it's one way

Whatever site I viisit on the iPhone appears in my Mac safari history but not vice versa.

i dont know where the problem lies

Yes, it happened to me several times since July, mainly because of updates or clean install.

What I do in that case is simple, I delete history from iPhone, Mac, or any device you may have connected to your iCloud account. Then I use Safari in Private Browsing for 2 to 3 days in order to let the history blank. After 2 to 3 days the history syncing is back by it's own.