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Safari freezes on startup Yosemite

I just upgraded to Yosemite and now Safari (version 8.0) is unusable. About 10 seconds after startup Safari would freeze and the beach ball would appear and won't stop spinning until it crashes or I force quit. This happens every single time. I've tried disabling my extensions and trashing my preferences, not to mention restarting countless times, and nothing would work. I'm not sure what else I can try to fix this. I'm running on a mid 2013 13-inch MacBook Air. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.


Frank

Posted on Oct 17, 2014 9:23 AM

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Posted on Oct 17, 2014 9:47 AM

Hi ..


A Safe Mode boot deletes some system caches that can help after an OS X upgrade.


Top left corner of your screen click the Apple  > Shut Down


After your Mac shuts down, wait 10 seconds, then press the power button.


Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold down the Shift key. You should press the Shift key as soon as possible after you hear the startup tone, but not before.


Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo and progress indicator.


Then click the Apple  top left in your screen. From the drop down menu click: Restart

Then try Safari.

If that doesn't help, it could be a third party plug-in that's causing Safari to crash.

Follow the instructions here.

43 replies

Oct 21, 2014 8:37 PM in response to flee671

Same problem. My solution was to delete my McAfee software. I had to delete it once already (using safe boot) because it prevented a complete install of Yosemite. Foolishly, I thought my problem was solved once Yosemite successfully installed, so I reinstalled it only to have the same problem you describe. I again had to boot in safe mode and completely uninstalled McAfee and now all works flawlessly. I don't believe McAfee has upgraded for Yosemite. Obviously this only applies to those who are trying to use McAfee with Yosemite.

Nov 1, 2014 2:10 PM in response to josephok1990

None of these solutions worked for me.

Blaming plug-ins is a telling response: its not Apple's bad programming it is someone else's fault.

I only opened Safari, which I never use, to see how the new version performed on this particular machine.

I rarely use Safari as it is slower than every other browser and does not seem to adhere to internet standards--it simply will not open pages on a web based work application that works with every other browser on OSX and Windows (including this new version on a different Yosemite machine).

The solution is to use a different and better browser which is the only way I could be entering this text as Safari still will not open. Fortunately I had access to another machine to download those files.

Nov 6, 2014 4:54 PM in response to justkickinback9995

On my Mac Book Pro----installed Yosemite and it worked OK for a short while, but then got sluggish. Safari is a joke---very slow and I keep getting pop-ups asking me to add Google News----even though I click cancel----it still pops up---this along with totally unacceptable slowness---


I've read though this page and others on the same subject----I appreciate the suggestions of others who know the system better than I do, but honestly it seems like we're just trying a number of shots in the dark. If I wanted this much hassle, I'd still have my PC.


But here's the totally strange thing. I have an i-Mac (a year or so newer than my Mac Book) in my office. I installed Yosemite on it as well and don't have the slightest problem. I'm sure someone can tell us any basic differences between the lap and desk top. The only difference between my computers is that a couple years ago, I upgraded the OS on the lap from the original to Mountain Lion or whatever, while the i-Mac had the original OS.


And when is Apple officially going to step up to the plate and at least tell us they're working on it?

Nov 9, 2014 7:38 AM in response to flee671

I am having the same issue with safari. When I open it the beach ball gets going and does not stop. This began when I updated to Yosemite. Very Disappointing. I have tried all the suggestions from above and still it doesn't work. If I ever get this going again I don't think I will upgrade the OS again. It seems to bring nothing but problems. Is there something else I can try to get it going. I am using Firefox right now and it works great!! What is the deal with Safari.....ARRRRRRGGGGG

Safari freezes on startup Yosemite

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