Back up all data before proceeding.
Quit Safari if it’s running. Then select
▹ Force Quit…
from the menu bar. A small window will open with a list of running applications. Safari may appear in that list, even though you quit it. If so, select it and press return. Close the window.
Step 1
Hold down the option key and select
Go ▹ Library
from the Finder menu bar. Delete the following items from the Library folder (some may not exist):
Caches/com.apple.Safari
Caches/com.apple.Safari.SearchHelper
Caches/com.apple.SafariServices
Caches/com.apple.WebKit.PluginProcess
Caches/com.apple.WebProcess
Caches/Metadata/Safari
Preferences/com.apple.WebKit.PluginHost.plist
Preferences/com.apple.WebKit.PluginProcess.plist
Saved Application State/com.apple.Safari.savedState
Leave the Library folder open. Try Safari again. If the problem is solved, stop here. Close the Library folder. If you still have a problem, continue.
Step 2
Move the following items from the open Library folder to the Desktop (again, some may not exist):
Cookies/Cookies.binarycookies
Internet Plug-Ins
Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.Safari.*.plist
Preferences/com.apple.Safari.Extensions.plist
Preferences/com.apple.Safari.LSSharedFileList.plist
Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist
Preferences/com.apple.WebFoundation.plist
PubSub/Database
Safari
SyncedPreferences/com.apple.Safari.plist
Here, "*" stands for a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes.
Note 1: You are not moving the Safari application. You’re moving a folder named “Safari.”
Note 2: This step will remove your Safari extensions, if any, and their settings. If you choose to reinstall them, do so one at a time, testing each time to make sure you haven’t restored the problem.
Try again. Your settings and bookmarks will be lost. The default set of bookmarks will be restored. Delete them all.
If Safari is now working normally (apart from the lost settings), look inside the “Safari” folder on the Desktop for a file named “Bookmarks.plist”. Select
File ▹ Import Bookmarks...
from the Safari menu bar. Import from that file. Recreate the rest of your Safari settings. You can then delete the items you moved to the Desktop.
If the issue is still not resolved, quit Safari again and put all the items you moved to the Desktop back where they were, overwriting the newer ones that may have been created in their place. You don’t need to replace the files you deleted in Step 1. Stop here and post again.
If you don’t like the results of the last step, you can undo it completely by quitting Safari and restoring the items you moved or deleted in that step from your backup, overwriting any that were created in their place.
