callthescribe
Level 1 (9 points)
Desktops

Q: Safari has slowed to a crawl.

Not sure if it started with updates to Yosemite or latest Flash Player, but it seems to be getting worse. It's most noticeable when I try to check  my email (www.mail.com). It's designated as  my opening page, but though logging in takes  me to that page,  accessing my email takes forever. The same is true if I type in the  server's address manually.

 

Firefox also recognizes my log-in information immediately, while Safari makes me keep trying over and over again.

 

I'm not sure how long intakes to open eventually, because after what feels like a reasonable length of time, if I switch to Mozilla Firefox, access to my mail is immediate there; then, after a quick check of new messages, if I return to  Safari, it's finally open.

 

I have already started to delete items (like cookies on sites I rarely visit . . .  passwords I no longer use . . . and history that's more than a year old, but none of that seems to help).

 

I don't know if the current browser upgrade is any better, but after  my experience with  Yosemite, I'm reluctant to try.

 

I've been a Mac user long enough to remember when deleting  plists  was an easy fix for most problems.  Had all but forgotten about it until I read a  response  to a MacUser that recommended it as a  solution to a specific problem, but have delayed  looking for and deleting Safari plist until I'm sure it won't make matters worse.

Posted on Jul 19, 2016 6:40 AM

by callthescribe,Solvedanswer
callthescribe callthescribe
Level 1 (9 points)
Desktops
A:

Thanks to all  who have responded.

 

It's now clear to me that the  solution is to clear all caches on my system.  I think I was aware of it, but just haven't wanted to face it, because I'm not sure of what information those caches hold,  or may want to refer to some day.

 

Although I didn't recognize it at the time, my difficulty  accessing  accessing my financial  records  was the first clue.  A casual comment from one of the  institution's representatives suggesting that  my computer's system might need some "housekeeping." The call was transferred to the support team, which walked me through the process of deleting  old data on the  institution's website. The problem was solved so quickly, that I wondered if it would work on other websites, as well.

 

I 've forgotten which cache I opened first . . . but  when I did, it was obvious that some of  that information was so old, it probably would be useless today. Some of the folders dating back to early 2015 apparently contained dozens of files. Although I wasn't ready to delete the entire cache at  one time,  I started by just  removing items the from last year. It's probably too soon to judge if selectively deleting files will work, but if not, I will bite the bullet and follow the advice each of you has offered.

 

Thanks to each of you for your help.

Posted on Jul 20, 2016 6:37 AM

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Q: Safari has slowed to a crawl.

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Jul 19, 2016 6:45 AM in response to callthescribe
    Level 9 (55,682 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 19, 2016 6:45 AM in response to callthescribe

    Restart Safari holding the Shift key. If you still have problems Empty Caches (Safari menu > Preferences > Privacy > Remove all website data. (This will also remove history) If the problem persists download and run MalwareBytes.

  • by Ella Fitzgerald,

    Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald Jul 19, 2016 6:47 AM in response to callthescribe
    Level 4 (1,668 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 19, 2016 6:47 AM in response to callthescribe

    Try to reset Safari. Go to Safari menu, choose "Quit Safari"

    press "Shift" button and while holding this button on your keyboard single click on the Safari icon on your Dock.

    Open Safari - Preferences - Privacy - Remove All Website Data.

    Open the Go menu with Option (Alt) key pressed - Library - locate Safari folder and move it to your desktop. Restart your Mac, open Safari and delete the folder from your desktop.


  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 19, 2016 7:43 AM in response to callthescribe
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 19, 2016 7:43 AM in response to callthescribe

    Safari 9

     

    Safari/Preferences/Advanced - enable the Develop menu, then go there and Empty Caches. Quit/reopen Safari and test. Then try Safari/History/Show History and delete all history items.  Quit/reopen Safari and test. You can also try try Safari/Clear History…. The down side is it clears all cookies. Doing this may cause some sites to no longer recognize your computer as one that has visited the web site. Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J.  When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder.  Select Library./Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db and move it to the trash.

     

    Go to Safari Preferences/Extensions and turn all extensions off. Test. If okay, turn the extensions on one by one until you figure out what extension is causing the problem.

     

    Safari Corruption       See post by Linc Davis

     

    Safari 8

     

    Safari/Preferences/Advanced - enable the Develop menu, then go there and Empty Caches. Quit/reopen Safari and test. Then try Safari/History/Show History and delete all history items.  Quit/reopen Safari and test. You can also try try Safari/Clear History and Web Site Data. The down side is it clears all cookies. Doing this may cause some sites to no longer recognize your computer as one that has visited the web site. Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J.  When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder.  Select Library./Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db and move it to the trash.

     

    Go to Safari Preferences/Extensions and turn all extensions off. Test. If okay, turn the extensions on one by one until you figure out what extension is causing the problem.

  • by callthescribe,Solvedanswer

    callthescribe callthescribe Jul 20, 2016 6:37 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 20, 2016 6:37 AM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks to all  who have responded.

     

    It's now clear to me that the  solution is to clear all caches on my system.  I think I was aware of it, but just haven't wanted to face it, because I'm not sure of what information those caches hold,  or may want to refer to some day.

     

    Although I didn't recognize it at the time, my difficulty  accessing  accessing my financial  records  was the first clue.  A casual comment from one of the  institution's representatives suggesting that  my computer's system might need some "housekeeping." The call was transferred to the support team, which walked me through the process of deleting  old data on the  institution's website. The problem was solved so quickly, that I wondered if it would work on other websites, as well.

     

    I 've forgotten which cache I opened first . . . but  when I did, it was obvious that some of  that information was so old, it probably would be useless today. Some of the folders dating back to early 2015 apparently contained dozens of files. Although I wasn't ready to delete the entire cache at  one time,  I started by just  removing items the from last year. It's probably too soon to judge if selectively deleting files will work, but if not, I will bite the bullet and follow the advice each of you has offered.

     

    Thanks to each of you for your help.