In Safari Netflix video webpage, two fingers on trackpad causes unwanted zoom and hiding of text and Netflix control icons.

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Level 1

19 points

In Safari Netflix video webpage, two fingers on trackpad causes unwanted zoom and hiding of text and Netflix control icons.

When I use two fingers on the trackpad of my early 2015 MacBook (MacOS 10.13.2), webpages in Safari will properly scroll but for one (known) exception: Netflix video. In a Netflix video screen, those two fingers on the trackpad in any direction cause text and icons in the Netflix control bar to shrink until they disappear, requiring reloading of the page. Netflix pages that are not video properly scroll. YouTube video is likewise unaffected. This anomaly started a few weeks after upgrading to High Sierra. This symptom only effects one user. When logged in as a test user, there is no such symptom.

So far with hours of guidance Apple Support assistance over several days: diagnoses run with no reported problems; Safari history cleared; trackpad and zoom settings checked; all Safari preferences checked; MacOS High Sierra reinstalled; plug-ins checked; MacOS and Safari preferences adjusted ad infinitum; hardware OK. (I've probably forgotten a few efforts.)

How do I return the trackpad to proper operation on Netflix video pages in Safari, and stop the trackpad from interfering with Netflix video controls?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Dec 13, 2017 10:42 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

PN2

Level 4

1,052 points

Dec 13, 2017 12:33 PM in response to FredOK

Netflix can be very picky indeed. I just tried to use it here, only to try & recreate your problem, and nothing would play at all. Found the cause of that, then reset all the unrelated things & it starts trying to play but 'freezes' with no controls/sound/movement or even an X to return to browse. Putting back all those unrelated things makes no immediate difference.

In ~/Library/Preferences there's usually a file named com.apple.safari.plist

Quit Safari, move it to the Desktop or trash, then restart the computer : a new one will be created when Safari next runs.

The way Netflix is here (today anyway) cookies/cache etc might well need clearing after every little change. It seems very anti refreshing the page, too.

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Answer 2

PN2

Level 4

1,052 points

Dec 13, 2017 11:18 AM in response to FredOK

It'd help if we knew rather more about what has been tried : Safe mode ?; moving com.apple.Safari.plist ?; the whole ~/Library/Safari folder ?. Can we assume that the test account was using the same Netflix account ?. All Safari extensions off ?.

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Answer 3

FredOK Author

Level 1

19 points

Dec 13, 2017 11:36 AM in response to PN2

Safe mode

Reinstall MacOS

Erase and complete restore of MacBook

Remove all libraries from Safari and restart Safari

Remove bookmarks from Safari and restart Safari

Erase Safari history

All plugins and extensions off and on in various permutations

Yes, same account for test on different user and on another early 2015 MacBook.

Just finished talking to Netflix support which, after cookies were deleted to no effect, said "Use another browser."

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Answer 4

PN2

Level 4

1,052 points

Dec 13, 2017 11:45 AM in response to FredOK

It's probably quicker overall to use a new user account & copy/migrate software/settings from the old one or a backup.

Do you recall which 'libraries' other than ~/Library/Safari & ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist were moved before restarting & testing ?.

Purely for elimination/testing : does another browser have the same problem ?. You can try say Opera or Firefox without their installing anything beyond a few preference & cache files.

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Answer 5

FredOK Author

Level 1

19 points

Dec 13, 2017 12:03 PM in response to PN2

Thank you! Interesting about just creating a new user account. Backup is always ready to go. Is copy/migrate software/settings into a different user a simple task? But wait, wouldn't that be a new Apple ID with all the accounts that go with it?

~/Library/Safari was moved, but not ~/Library/Preferences/ or any other.

This turns out to be an Apple Safari issue. Browsers Brave or Google Chrome run under the same user account do not have this problem.

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Answer 6

FredOK Author

Level 1

19 points

Dec 13, 2017 12:53 PM in response to PN2

Okay! Thank you. This is what solved it:

"In ~/Library/Preferences there's usually a file named com.apple.safari.plist

Quit Safari, move it to the Desktop or trash, then restart the computer : a new one will be created when Safari next runs."

The old file was 1.3MB, while the file newly created is only 4KB! Now, there's no free lunch; what's the downside of doing this? Will I have to rebuild anything?

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Answer 7

PN2

Level 4

1,052 points

Dec 13, 2017 2:38 PM in response to FredOK

>>Will I have to rebuild anything?

Most settings from Safari - Preferences are stored there; have a quick look through to see if there's anything that jumps out… or skip it unless you notice that something is different now. No rebuilding required.

Some Safari extensions store data there, not much you can easily do if any show problems because of this. Post again if there's a whole raft of extension settings gone.

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Answer 8

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

Dec 13, 2017 2:01 PM in response to FredOK

Normally, there is little to do, but you may have to change some of your Safari/Preferences if you changed them from the default settings.

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