You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Safari history not deleting - driving me crazy!

Every so often I like to clear out my browser history so things don't pile up. I also try to do a weekly sweep just to get rid of excess stuff, though that doesn't always happen...


A month ago I did an entire clear history, but several pages wouldn't delete - no matter what I did or how many times I cleared. Not only did they not delete, but they then disappeared from their browsed date and appeared under "Monday January 1st 2001". Having bought my MacBook a year ago you can see why this is weird.


I now have 15 or so random sites (there seems to be no link between them) that just won't delete from my browser history. It concerns me these may be bugged/damaging. I can't seem to access my Safari history through finder (other than as a .db file) to delete it manually. Can anyone help? It's driving me crazy!

MacBook Pro with Retina display

Posted on Feb 27, 2018 2:50 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 27, 2018 3:38 AM

Go step by step and test.


1. If Safari is slow, stops responding, quits unexpectedly, or has other issues


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203353


Section: Manage Extensions

https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-safari-extensions-sfri32508/mac


2. Delete Caches and test.



Backup your Mac.


Force Quit Safari.

Close all windows and quit all applications.

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

Library will appear between “Home” and “Computer” entries in the dropdown.

Select "Library" from the dropdown.

Click the “List” view button in the Finder toolbar.

Move these files to trash and test.


1. Click open the Caches folder and scroll down the list.

User uploaded file

Click open the com.apple.Safari folder.

You should see the Caches.db file.

User uploaded file

Right click on it and choose “Move to Trash”.


2. Scroll down the list, click open the Safari folder, select History files and LastSession.plist


User uploaded file

Right click on it and choose “Move to Trash”.


3. Scroll down the list and click open the Saved Application State folder.


User uploaded file

You should see the com.apple Safari.savedState folder.


User uploaded file

Right click on it and choose “Move to Trash”.


Close Finder window.

Restart and relaunch Safari.

Test.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 27, 2018 3:38 AM in response to jdavey25

Go step by step and test.


1. If Safari is slow, stops responding, quits unexpectedly, or has other issues


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203353


Section: Manage Extensions

https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-safari-extensions-sfri32508/mac


2. Delete Caches and test.



Backup your Mac.


Force Quit Safari.

Close all windows and quit all applications.

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

Library will appear between “Home” and “Computer” entries in the dropdown.

Select "Library" from the dropdown.

Click the “List” view button in the Finder toolbar.

Move these files to trash and test.


1. Click open the Caches folder and scroll down the list.

User uploaded file

Click open the com.apple.Safari folder.

You should see the Caches.db file.

User uploaded file

Right click on it and choose “Move to Trash”.


2. Scroll down the list, click open the Safari folder, select History files and LastSession.plist


User uploaded file

Right click on it and choose “Move to Trash”.


3. Scroll down the list and click open the Saved Application State folder.


User uploaded file

You should see the com.apple Safari.savedState folder.


User uploaded file

Right click on it and choose “Move to Trash”.


Close Finder window.

Restart and relaunch Safari.

Test.

Safari history not deleting - driving me crazy!

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.