Jason Wickens
Level 1 (73 points)
Safari

Q: How to reset Safari due to freezing?

So for several months now my 2010 iMac has been freezing on and off. It literally freezes everything except the mouse cursor and I have to hold down the power button to restart. After much testing I find the culprit is Safari!

 

Last week I did a reinstall of the OS via booting into the partition but the problem persists. It's often when I have a few tabs open but not sure if that's relevant?

 

So I thought the fresh OS install would do a fresh version of Safari but as the freezing is still happening I wonder what else I can do to get Safari as clean as possible without losing my bookmarks etc?

 

Maybe delete prefs file or some other stuff? Would really appreciate some help from you Safari gurus

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 20, 2016 4:36 AM

by Carolyn Samit,Apple recommended
Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit
Level 10 (120,962 points)
Apple Music
A:

Hi...

 

You may have a Safari extension or third party plug-in installed that's causing a conflict. It’s easy to troubleshoot.

 

 

From the Safari menu bar click Safari > Preferences then select the Extensions tab. Uninstall one extension at a time, quit and relaunch Safari to test.

 

 

If it's not an extensions issue, try troubleshooting third party plug-ins.

 

Back to Safari > Preferences. This time select the Security tab. Deselect:  Allow plug-ins. Quit and relaunch Safari to test.

 

If that made a difference, instructions for troubleshooting plugins here.

Posted on May 20, 2016 5:57 AM

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Jason Wickens

Q: How to reset Safari due to freezing?

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  • by ~Bee,

    ~Bee ~Bee Jun 2, 2016 8:30 AM in response to Jason Wickens
    Level 7 (31,777 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 2, 2016 8:30 AM in response to Jason Wickens

    Jason --

    I think your Flash is out of date.

    Go to System Preferences, then all the way down to Flash

    Click on it, and then search for updates.

  • by Jason Wickens,

    Jason Wickens Jason Wickens Jun 2, 2016 9:10 AM in response to ~Bee
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Safari
    Jun 2, 2016 9:10 AM in response to ~Bee

    Thanks for the suggestion Bee but it is already up to date.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jun 3, 2016 6:38 AM in response to Jason Wickens
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Jun 3, 2016 6:38 AM in response to Jason Wickens

    Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

     

    Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

     

    Isolating an issue by using another user account

     

    If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account.  Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

     

     

     

     

    Safe Mode - About El Capitan

     

    Safe Mode Startup – El Capitan.

  • by Jason Wickens,

    Jason Wickens Jason Wickens Jun 7, 2016 1:43 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Safari
    Jun 7, 2016 1:43 AM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks Eric

     

    I took it to an Apple repair place and they did a lot of tests in safe mode etc but only found a bit of malware which was removed.

     

    I did try using a new account but the trouble was it didn't give me access to my applications, settings and email etc so I couldn't work in that new environment and this iMac is what I use for my business every day.

     

    Anyone want to buy an iMac!!!???

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jun 7, 2016 7:41 AM in response to Jason Wickens
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Jun 7, 2016 7:41 AM in response to Jason Wickens

    Did you try this?

     

    Safari Corruption       See post by Linc Davis

  • by Jason Wickens,

    Jason Wickens Jason Wickens Jun 13, 2016 2:46 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Safari
    Jun 13, 2016 2:46 AM in response to Eric Root
    Hi Eric, I did step 1 last week but had a crash on Friday, so this morning I did step 2 and 3. Will see how that goes over the next week or two. Thanks for the link.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jun 13, 2016 7:16 AM in response to Jason Wickens
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Jun 13, 2016 7:16 AM in response to Jason Wickens
    You are welcome.

  • by Jason Wickens,

    Jason Wickens Jason Wickens Jun 13, 2016 7:36 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (73 points)
    Safari
    Jun 13, 2016 7:36 AM in response to Eric Root

    Good timing Eric, it just crashed again. Guess I'm out of options now and just have to live with it.

     

    The only thing I haven't tried it using a new account but that's just not workable in the office not having my email, images, apps etc to hand. Unless there is an easy way to get it all into a new account?

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