Safari freezes Hotmail and other sites

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Level 1

115 points

Safari freezes Hotmail and other sites

I use Safari 9.1.1/OSX 10.10.5 on MacBook Pro Retina. Hotmail and a number of other sites often freezes in Safari when all other browsers such as Chrome and Firefox do not. I use Safari as my default browser - a dinosaur species, I know. So when this happens more and more frequently and when more and more sites cause this freeze, it can get very frustrating.

When this happens, other tabs, opened before or after the problematic tab usually would not be affected. Only occasionally does the entire browser goes unresponsive. If I close the tab and reopen the same site, the problem may not go away; on the other hand, if I close Safari and reopen the same site, the problem often goes away (but still no guarantee).

I have searched this forum and seen many prior questions of the same nature, some dating back many years. They all have one thing in common: No magic cure. Most often the OP never updates with success. Some simply switch to another browser, some eradicates Safari from the system using 3rd party tools. Is that the only solution?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Jun 14, 2016 3:15 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 14, 2016 8:03 PM in response to sillyvalley

Hi,

No need to switch to another browser but always good to have on installed so you can access the net for help.

From your Safari menu bar click Safari > Preferences then select the Privacy tab then click: Remove All Website Data

Then quit and relaunch Safari then try accessing your Hotmail.

If that didn't help, you may have a Safari extension or third party plugin installed that's causing a conflict.

Troubleshooting help here > If Safari is slow, stops responding, quits unexpectedly, or has other issues - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Oct 11, 2016 6:59 AM in response to sillyvalley

Try a restart.

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 Preferenes, 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 or by using the developer’s uninstall instructions. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode - About

Safe Mode - Yosemite

If it works in the Safe Mode, try running this program when booted normally and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. On the screen with Options, please open Options and check the bottom 2 boxes before running. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

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Answer 3

dominic23

Level 10

84,018 points

Jun 14, 2016 4:24 PM in response to sillyvalley

Go step by step and test.

1. Disable Extensions and test.

Safari > Preferences > Extensions

Uncheck boxes beside “Enable Extension” and test.

Enable Extensions one by one and test.

To uninstall any extension, select it and click the “Uninstall” button.

2. Delete Caches.

Close all windows and quit all applications.

Hold "option" key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.

Select "Library" from the dropdown.

Library > Caches > com.apple.Safari

Right click the com.apple.Safari file and select "Move To Trash”.

3. Delete Cookies.

Safari > Preferences > Privacy > Cookies and other website data:

Click the “Details” button.

Remove all cookies except ones from Apple, your internet service provider and banks.

4. Delete com.apple.Safari.plist file and test.

Empty the Trash.

Quit all applications.

Hold the option key down and click the "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.

Select "Library" from the drop down.

Library > Preferences > com.apple.Safari.plist

Right click on it and select "Move it to Trash".

Restart. Relaunch Safari.

If this doesn’t help, “Put Back” the com.apple.Safari.plist

Right click on the Trash icon in the Dock and select “Open”.

Right click on the com.apple.Safari.plist and select “Put Back”.

5. If this doesn’t help, please run EtreCheck and post the report here.

http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

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Answer 4

sillyvalley Author

Level 1

115 points

Oct 10, 2016 7:20 PM in response to sillyvalley

Thanks all for taking time to answer. (Sorry I couldn't respond sooner.) If I hadn't done the "usual" and lots of experimentation, I wouldn't be posting the question here; in addition, if I have to keep deleting Web content (not merely cookies) without a meaningful way to select what to delete, the workflow is unfeasible.

So my conclusion is: Safari (browser) is the new Windows (operating system). All you need to do is to keep restarting when getting stuck; and attempt cleanup without knowing whether and what will be effective. ("Registry cleanup", anyone?)

So my initial motivation to use Safari for the majority of my browsing needs is perhaps misguided. Maybe the more I use a browser, any browser, on Mac, the more likely it will "clog up"? (Firefox used to be my primary browser on Windows, and I had memory/CPU problems back then.) I haven't totally switched my primary browser but I do use Chrome more now, especially with Hotmail and sites that I know tends to "clog" Safari.

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