Can't type anything on Safari's address bar after El Capitan update

If you click in the address bar, do you see a blinking vertical bar?

Please post a screenshot that shows what you mean. Be careful not to include any private information.

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Please disable all Safari extensions and test. If the problem is resolved, re-enable the extensions one or a few at a time until you find the culprit.

You may have installed "Glims" or some other such modification.

If applicable, please back up all data, then uninstall Glims. Log out, log back in, and test. I strongly recommend that you never install that unsupported hack again, or any other like it. If you want trouble-free computing, avoid software that makes miraculous changes to other software, especially built-in applications. The only real exception to that rule is Safari extensions, which are mostly safe, and are easy to get rid of when they don’t work. "Glims" is not a Safari extension.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Step 1

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.

Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

Step 2

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

I have this exact problem. The images you posted are identical to the way Safari is behaving for me too. Unfortunately, I upgraded to 9.0.3 this evening, and that's when it happened. This afternoon, everything was smooth sailing. Then the update happened, and now I can't type anything into the location bar at all. When I click or double-click in the bar, no blinking insertion bar appears. Just the blue outline, as you describe.

I tried Linc Davis's test, and I still have the problem.

Clearly, it's some sort of bug, since both of us have the identical problem. But, it must be fairly rare, as there isn't much out there via a google search. I like Safari. I hope I don't have to switch to some other browser. :-/ But, I certainly can't use Safari the way it is now.

I tried this test, and nothing changed. I still have the exact same problem as jblovekim. The pictures he posted above are identical to the way Safari behaves for me. Any other suggestions? It's been awhile since the original post. Has any new developments come to light on this issue?

The Safari version I have is 9.0.3, and my OS is 10.10.5

I've got the same problem. It seems to stem from the moment you open a second tab. This is the debug from system.log at that exact moment

Jan 27 09:04:03 macdanosx.llgc.org.uk Safari[1652]: *** +[NSURLComponents initWithURL:resolvingAgainstBaseURL:]: nil URLString parameter Jan 27 09:04:03 macdanosx.llgc.org.uk Safari[1652]: ( 0 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff9581703c __exceptionPreprocess + 172 1 libobjc.A.dylib 0x00007fff9a0ed76e objc_exception_throw + 43 2 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff95816eed +[NSException raise:format:] + 205 3 Foundation 0x00007fff98fe10eb -[__NSConcreteURLComponents initWithURL:resolvingAgainstBaseURL:] + 120 4 Foundation 0x00007fff98fe1058 +[NSURLComponents componentsWithURL:resolvingAgainstBaseURL:] + 54 5 SafariShared 0x000000010f1bc25c -[WBSParsecSearchSession _searchURLForQuery:baseURL:] + 58 6 SafariShared 0x000000010f1bc1af -[WBSParsecSearchSession _searchURLForQuery:] + 83 7 SafariShared 0x000000010f1bbd69 -[WBSParsecSearchSession _sendWarmupRequest] + 187 8 SafariShared 0x000000010f1bba0f -[WBSParsecSearchSession initWithClient:] + 335 9 Safari 0x000000010e1f6577 _ZN6Safari35UnifiedFieldCompletionListGenerator35startParsecSearchSessionIfNecessaryEv + 143 10 Safari 0x000000010def8a10 -[BrowserWindowControllerMac unifiedFieldBecameFirstResponder:] + 77 11 Safari 0x000000010e1d3bdd -[UnifiedField fieldEditorDidBecomeFirstResponder:] + 460 12 Safari 0x000000010e1fa204 -[UnifiedFieldEditor becomeFirstResponder] + 248 13 AppKit 0x00007fff91c996f5 -[NSWindow makeFirstResponder:] + 727 14 Safari 0x000000010e23a2f5 -[Window makeFirstResponder:] + 57 15 Safari 0x000000010ded9faf -[BrowserWindow makeFirstResponder:] + 204 16 AppKit 0x00007fff91ca2007 _NSEditTextCellWithOptions + 2300 17 AppKit 0x00007fff91ca1645 -[NSTextFieldCell _selectOrEdit:inView:target:editor:event:start:end:] + 506 18 AppKit 0x00007fff91ca12bc -[NSCell selectWithFrame:inView:editor:delegate:start:length:] + 59 19 AppKit 0x00007fff91c99d90 -[NSTextField selectText:] + 230 20 Safari 0x000000010e1d34fc -[UnifiedField selectText:] + 380 21 AppKit 0x00007fff91c99c4f -[NSTextField becomeFirstResponder] + 160 22 Safari 0x000000010e1d2107 -[UnifiedField becomeFirstResponder] + 311 23 AppKit 0x00007fff91c996f5 -[NSWindow makeFirstResponder:] + 727 24 Safari 0x000000010e23a2f5 -[Window makeFirstResponder:] + 57 25 Safari 0x000000010ded9faf -[BrowserWindow makeFirstResponder:] + 204 26 Safari 0x000000010defbff8 -[BrowserWindowControllerMac _makeFirstResponder:] + 299 27 Safari 0x000000010df0234a -[BrowserWindowControllerMac _makeUnifiedFieldFirstResponder] + 335 28 Safari 0x000000010df0240a -[BrowserWindowControllerMac _makeUnifiedFieldFirstResponderProgrammatically] + 86 29 Safari 0x000000010dee23f4 -[BrowserWindowControllerMac _createNewTabRespectingNewTabBehavior:andSelect:] + 242 30 Safari 0x000000010deaaafa -[BrowserDocumentController newTab:] + 298 31 libsystem_trace.dylib 0x00007fff8d166cd7 _os_activity_initiate + 75 32 AppKit 0x00007fff91dd8eb1 -[NSApplication sendAction:to:from:] + 452 33 Safari 0x000000010de55065 -[BrowserApplication sendAction:to:from:] + 106 34 AppKit 0x00007fff91dd8c4e -[NSMenuItem _corePerformAction] + 382 35 AppKit 0x00007fff91dd897c -[NSCarbonMenuImpl performActionWithHighlightingForItemAtIndex:] + 114 36 libsystem_trace.dylib 0x00007fff8d166cd7 _os_activity_initiate + 75 37 AppKit 0x00007fff91dd78ad -[NSMenu performKeyEquivalent:] + 359 38 Safari 0x000000010def6abb -[BrowserWindowControllerMac window:performKeyEquivalent:] + 375 39 Safari 0x000000010e2399ca -[Window performKeyEquivalent:] + 105 40 Safari 0x000000010ded940c -[BrowserWindow performKeyEquivalent:] + 62 41 AppKit 0x00007fff91dd68e0 -[NSApplication _handleKeyEquivalent:] + 521 42 AppKit 0x00007fff91ce183a -[NSApplication sendEvent:] + 4080 43 Safari 0x000000010de556bd -[BrowserApplication sendEvent:] + 637 44 AppKit 0x00007fff91c0ab68 -[NSApplication run] + 711 45 AppKit 0x00007fff91b87244 NSApplicationMain + 1832 46 libdyld.dylib 0x00007fff9160e5c9 start + 1 )

I have the same issue (I'm under 10.11.2 safari 9.0.2). My friend under 10.10.5 and safari upgraded on 9.0.2 has the same issue. We could not type anything on the address bar...

Seems that is an issue on safari?

On the logs:

I can see a spam of the following safari message:

1/27/16 10:08:47.094 AM Safari[22938]: *** +[NSURLComponents initWithURL:resolvingAgainstBaseURL:]: nil URLString parameter

1/27/16 10:08:47.095 AM Safari[22938]: (

0 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff87432ae2 __exceptionPreprocess + 178

1 libobjc.A.dylib 0x00007fff85534f7e objc_exception_throw + 48

2 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff8743298d +[NSException raise:format:] + 205

3 Foundation 0x00007fff8ffe1e20 -[__NSConcreteURLComponents initWithURL:resolvingAgainstBaseURL:] + 120

4 Foundation 0x00007fff8ffe1d8e +[NSURLComponents componentsWithURL:resolvingAgainstBaseURL:] + 54

5 SafariShared 0x00007fff94de73db -[WBSParsecSearchSession _searchURLForQuery:baseURL:] + 58

6 SafariShared 0x00007fff94de733f -[WBSParsecSearchSession _searchURLForQuery:] + 83

7 SafariShared 0x00007fff94de6f2a -[WBSParsecSearchSession _sendWarmupRequest] + 187

8 SafariShared 0x00007fff94de6bfe -[WBSParsecSearchSession initWithClient:] + 335

9 Safari 0x00007fff813b5683 _ZN6Safari35UnifiedFieldCompletionListGenerator35startParsecSearchSessionIfNece ssaryEv + 143

10 Safari 0x00007fff813b539e _ZN6Safari35UnifiedFieldCompletionListGenerator19setStringToCompleteEP8NSString NS0_17AllowParsecSearchE + 908

11 Safari 0x00007fff813b5010 _ZN6Safari35UnifiedFieldCompletionListGenerator19setStringToCompleteEP8NSString + 14

12 Safari 0x00007fff813a6f10 ___ZN6Safari32UnifiedFieldCompletionController24userTypedStringDidChangeEv_bloc k_invoke + 29

13 SafariShared 0x00007fff94dc438f +[NSTimer(WBSNSTimerExtras) _safari_blockTimerDidFire:] + 64

14 Foundation 0x00007fff8ff9a85b __NSFireTimer + 95

15 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff87378bc4 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_A_TIMER_CALLBACK_FUNCTION__ + 20

16 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff87378853 __CFRunLoopDoTimer + 1075

17 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff873f6e6a __CFRunLoopDoTimers + 298

18 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff87333cd1 __CFRunLoopRun + 1841

19 CoreFoundation 0x00007fff87333338 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 296

20 HIToolbox 0x00007fff878af935 RunCurrentEventLoopInMode + 235

21 HIToolbox 0x00007fff878af76f ReceiveNextEventCommon + 432

22 HIToolbox 0x00007fff878af5af _BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInModeWithFilter + 71

23 AppKit 0x00007fff895db0ee _DPSNextEvent + 1067

24 AppKit 0x00007fff899a7943 -[NSApplication _nextEventMatchingEventMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 454

25 Safari 0x00007fff8101637f -[BrowserApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 252

26 AppKit 0x00007fff895d0fc8 -[NSApplication run] + 682

27 AppKit 0x00007fff89553520 NSApplicationMain + 1176

28 libdyld.dylib 0x00007fff921385ad start + 1

29 ??? 0x0000000000000001 0x0 + 1

)

And below a screenshot of my address bar.

Hey, I updated recently and I experience the exact problem described here... I can type stuff on the adress bar but hitting enter key does nothing. Have to use the mouse and go search with google then it opens a second tab and (sometimes) works but adress bar displays twice the info just like that picture you posted, and I can't close the tab. Must force quit safari.

Old shortcuts work, but I can't type anything in the adress bar once a page has loaded.

+ iCloud it wouldn't let me log in at first, telling me my password was wrong or there was some unspecified problem. Tried many times, rebooted and it eventually let me log in

I'd also add that imessages doesn't load old messages anymore, tried waiting an hour, rebooting 3 times, logging off and on imessages & icloud, ... It seems to send messages though

Never had issues with my imac before

hey,

i have the same problem : can't type anything in the address bar.

It highlights when i click on it, but i can't type anything.

and another thing is that Safari doesn't shows my tabs (and shift + cmd + T doesn't work at all)

i still have the "+" to open a new tab, i can then have a new tab, but the tab bar is "blocked" on my first site.

Is it a safari bug ?

does anyone found a solution ?

my config : safari 9.0.3, OS X 10.11.3

thanks