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In privacy settings on my MacBook, I noticed since my upgrade that when i go to manage website data that it really doesn't remove the databases just the cookies and cache. It never used to be this way. How do I remove the ones that are called databases permanently? It used to be just highlight and hit remove, but now they stay. Not sure I like this.
Safari/Browsers – can’t delete cookies
Quit Safari.
In Finder go to Go menu and then Go to Folder.
Copy and paste this ~/Library/Safari/Databases.
Delete the contents of the folder.
Launch Safari again and check if all is ok.
If that doesn’t work, copy and paste this ~/Library/Safari/Local Storage.
Delete the contents of the folder.
Test.
Safari/Browsers – can’t delete cookies
Quit Safari.
In Finder go to Go menu and then Go to Folder.
Copy and paste this ~/Library/Safari/Databases.
Delete the contents of the folder.
Launch Safari again and check if all is ok.
If that doesn’t work, copy and paste this ~/Library/Safari/Local Storage.
Delete the contents of the folder.
Test.
Hello, I too have been having the exact same issue. Did you figure out how to remove these stored/locked databases? If so, how? I have three that forever reappear since the most recent update - they won't "remove" either by clearing history or by selecting "remove" within preferences/manage website data. While all three seem rather innocuous, I don't want them stored on my computer. Please let me know if you have figured this out. Thanks very much.
Thank you very much for posting that. Unfortunately, I don't have those locations within my Library directory. If I open Library, there is no Safari subdirectory/folder nor is there any Databases subdirectory/folder. Additionally, a search in Terminal for ~Library/Safari/Databases produced this: "-bash: ~Library/Safari/Databases: No such file or directory". The same reply was received for ~Library/Safari: "-bash: ~Library/Safari: No such file or directory". I spent hours and hours yesterday going through every directory, folder, and subfolder - nothing came close to resembling anything other than what should be there. In addition to being an Application, Safari showed as a few subfolders deep within other folders or subfolders, but nothing indicating databases or the names of those things remaining on my computer were found. Not sure why my MacBook Pro is set up so differently than yours, but where directory lists Applications to Sites, mine lists only four. Thus, after going through a zillion directories, folders, and subfolders, I was thinking these "databases" must be hidden, but ... where? For what it is worth, a pic of how my hard drive initially breaks down follows. Thanks again!
BRAVISIMO!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! Once I checked "Show Library Folder" from Command J, I could locate all else as indicated in your previous post/image. Oh my gosh!!!! The hours I have spent dorking around with this!!!! Why would something like a Library Folder need to be checked to be seen??? Makes zero sense!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂!!!!
Aaarrrghhh, THEY LIVE!!!! I just deleted the databases, cleared history, went into Safari/Preferences/Privacy/Manage Website Data and removed everything only for all of them to reappear!!! WTH?! I am stupefied! How could this happen? Where are these "evil things" residing within my computer?! (As previously stated, I do not have any of them as bookmarks.) I repeated all above, rebooted, repeated all above, rebooted, and still they are somewhere on my computer. Despite our collective efforts, this is what remains. Absolutely freakish!!! Your thoughts (shy of taking a hammer to my MacBook)?
Okay ...
Thinking more about what @P.Phillips replied to me, I went back to Eric Root's earliest advice to Wdman22 and justinclove10. There, he mentioned to “delete all" with respect to what was showing in the databases folder, and if that did not work, to delete all from the local storage folder. Up until that point, I had only deleted the http subfolders within the ~Library/Safari/Databases folder, the ones which bore the names of the links which kept reappearing after "remove all" (Safari/Preferences/Privacy/Manage Website Data). (You can see similar website folders in Eric Root's image above.) Exasperated with the time sink this has caused, I deleted everything from the ~Library/Safari/Databases folder and the ~Library/Safari/Local Storage folder before returning to Safari/Preferences/Privacy/Manage Website Data. And, a miracle happened!!! None of the websites reappeared after going through “remove all” for the millionth time!! So, another HUGE hooray to Eric Root and a big thanks to P.Phillips for getting me to rethink all of this!!! For those of you in this predicament, I have attached pics of the file names I deleted from the databases folder and the local storage folder; prior to that, I had only deleted the website/http subfolders (which are shown in Root’s image), yet that was clearly not sufficient. Thanks so much for this wonderful teamwork, most especially to Eric Root 🙂 😉 😀!
Holy cow! Thanks Eric!!! This is what i see in my computer.. It seems I have "customized" access to my own laptop!!! On top of that I see a Wheel user that I have never ever created... is this a frigging hacker pegged to my mac?
Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.
Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem or a suggestion for change. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem/suggested change solved sooner.
Well, can only suggest we all send feedback directly to Apple if we hope to get this fixed. Apple does not read these message boards.
If interested in sending Apple The Message follow this link
https://www.apple.com/feedback/
The more feedback sent the better chances we have in getting this fixed 🙂
Hello !
tanstaafl_42
As per this article Safari for Mac: Databases stored on your computer using Safari
You can use some websites to create and edit documents that are saved on your computer—for example, a travel log about your latest vacation. When you save the document, the website uses space on your computer to store your document as a database.
By default, a website can use up to 5 MB of space on your computer. If more space is required, Safari asks you to allow more space. If you don’t allow more space, the website may not be able to save your information.
To see a list of websites that store information, including databases, on your computer, choose Safari > Preferences, click Privacy, then click Manage Website Data.
its not a bug , generally Mac users avoid deleting all history and website data for months , to view a website cookies is essential and without enabling cookies the websites cannot be opened sometimes , take an example of Facebook if you block cookies , you can't even sign in the Facebook account , so the best settings in safari preferences is allow from websites I visit .
So , some Mac users switch their settings permanently to private browsing , and website data is never saved .Browse in private - Apple Support
I can confirm this is still an issue in Safari Version 10.1 (12603.1.30.0.34). Even after clearing all history and website data, quitting safari and relaunching in Private Browsing, setting Cookies and Website Data to "Always Block", the databases still reappear after selecting "Remove All" under Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data...
Within a few seconds of supposedly clearing the cache, "Loading Website Data..." appears, and the databases reappear in the table. The files are never actually deleted from the filesystem.
-- It appears these "databases" are directories containing lock files in ~/Library/Safari/Databases.
@Eric, I could not find a subfolder named Safari within my Library folder. However, within the Cache subfolder of my Library folder, there were three items -- all of which seem to be needed with two being unremovable (indicated by a minus sign in a red circle at lower left). I also could not find any subfolders named Databases or Local Storage. Not sure if this helps or not, I am running Safari Version 10.1 (12603.1.30.0.34) on a mid-2015 Macbook Pro with macOS Sierra Version 10.12.4.
Also, the problem of these website "databases" remaining on my Mac is only getting worse. As a previous reply mentioned, he was able to remove them by going through his bookmarks and deleting the ones associated with the databases. Well, I was trying to do that, only to discover the more bookmarks I opened and removed, the more "databases" remained on my computer, and yes, even from bookmarks which have subsequently been removed. Worse yet, these "databases" could not be cleared using any of the methods already stated (either clear History or Safari, Preferences, Privacy, Manage Website Data). Additionally, I went into System Preferences and removed all temp files, etc from Flash and Java, yet received the exact same results: absolutely nothing changed, all the website "databases" remained. WTH? All of this cached info used to be removed with clear History. In fact, I never, never ever, recall seeing any website "databases" remain; I don't even think they were there in the first place! What is happening now started with the most recent Sierra update - these cached website databases cannot be found within my computer, but must exist somewhere - they are either masked or hidden. Whatever the reason behind this, this issue needs to be resolved by Apple Developers as something is very much amiss with the most recent Sierra update! I don't like it and it seems like a real security vulnerability!
Hi, removing the http_<website_name> directories and contents in ~/Library/Safari/Databases did the trick for me. See Eric's post above for more specific instructions. The files may be hidden in Finder--I used the command-line (terminal) to find and remove them.
remove databases in privacy settings
