Safari ...there must be an option but where?

I reinstalled Sierra this morning and the bookmarks are being added to the left again. I have made a screen recording to prove it! I will let you know if it sticks.

Over the last few months I have noticed a couple of instances of preference settings being lost. Then, a couple of days ago, I noticed that my screen shots were no longer accompanied by the SLR mirror-flipping sound. I found that the system alerts were unticked in the system preferences. There was no way I did that. So, there seems to be instability somewhere in the machine, either hardware or software.

It occurred to me that it might have something to do with my SSD, which is sort of near the bottom of the price range. So, I've changed it for a Samsung 850. We will see if that improves things. I doubt it, but I needed more capacity anyway.

Great question Eric!

Comp. 1 adds the bookmark on the right and it shows up on the right on Comp. 2, which is iCloud sync'd.

Comp. 2 adds the bookmark on the left and it shows up on the left on Comp.1.

The problem is therefore on Comp.1, which is my main machine. I'm hoping the answer does not mean reinstalling the OS. But discussing the problem made me wonder what happens if I delete Safari plist. I don't know why I did not think of it before as I have done it plenty of times for other apps. It's good to talk.

plist deleted

other account

safe mode

The problem persists under all these conditions.

Ran EtreCheck got lots of alerts, which was hardly surprising. A lot from VNC, which I recall vaguely. I don't think it is required for anything I do these days so will probably torch the files. This computer is running a freshly installed copy of Sierra, ie. did not update from an earlier version. However, I did migrate my applications from another SSD, but I moved files by drag and drop, so it was not a full migration.

EtreCheck version: 4.3.6 (4D041)

Report generated: 2018-07-18 17:19:22

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 5:01

Performance: Below Average

Problem: Other problem

Description:

Safari adds bookmarks to right of the Favorites bar

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

Unsigned files- There are unsigned software installed that could be adware and should be reviewed.

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Low disk space- This machine is running low on free hard drive space.

Apps crashing- There have been numerous app crashes.

Clean up- There are orphan files that could be removed.

Low performance- EtreCheck report took over 5 minutes to run. This is unusual.

32-bit Apps- This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)

MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro8,2

1 2 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-2635QM) CPU: 4-core

8 GB RAM - At maximum

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1333 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1333 ok

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 11

Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

AMD Radeon HD 6490M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1680 x 1050

Cinema HD 1920 x 1200

Drives:

disk0 - KINGSTON SV300S37A480G 480.10 GB (Solid State - TRIM: No)

Internal SATA 6 Gigabit Serial ATA

disk0s1 [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 - L********D (Journaled HFS+) 369.49 GB

disk0s3 - Recovery HD (Journaled HFS+) [Recovery] 650 MB

disk0s4 - D*********************n (Journaled HFS+) 109.62 GB

disk1 - Generic External 2.00 TB

External USB 480 Mbit/s

disk1s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk1s2 - 1******************m (Journaled HFS+) 230.00 GB

disk1s3 - 1*******************m (Journaled HFS+) 770.03 GB

disk1s4 - 1*******************m (Journaled HFS+) 770.03 GB

disk1s5 - 1******************m (Journaled HFS+) 229.60 GB

Mounted Volumes:

disk0s2 - L********D 369.49 GB (16.99 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /

disk0s4 - D*********************n 109.62 GB (14.25 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/D*********************n

disk1s2 - 1******************m 230.00 GB (146.38 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/1******************m

disk1s3 - 1*******************m 770.03 GB (769.20 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/1*******************m

disk1s4 - 1*******************m 770.03 GB (168.62 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/1*******************m

disk1s5 - 1******************m 229.60 GB (229.28 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/1******************m

Network:

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

One IPv4 address

System Software:

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1510)

Time since boot: Less than an hour

System Load: 3.44 (1 min ago) 6.17 (5 min ago) 3.27 (15 min ago)

Security:

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/.SM.gul.com.realvnc.VNCServerd.plist

Executable: /Library/VNC/VNCServerResurrect

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.realvnc.VNCServerd.plist

Executable: /Library/VNC/VNCServerResurrect

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/HWPortCfg.plist

Executable: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect/HWPortCfg

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/ouc.plist

Executable: /Library/StartupItems/StartOuc/StartOuc

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/.SM.gul.com.realvnc.VNCServersd.plist

Executable: /Library/VNC/VNCServer.app/Contents/MacOS/VNCServer service

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/.SM.gul.com.bombich.ccc.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.bombich.ccc

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.ARM.***.plist

Executable: /Applications/Adobe Acrobat X Pro/Adobe Acrobat Pro.app/Contents/MacOS/Updater/Adobe Acrobat Updater Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Acrobat Updater Helper

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist

Executable: /Library/ScriptingAdditions/SIMBL.osax/Contents/Resources/SIMBL Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/SIMBL Agent

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bombich.ccc.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.bombich.ccc

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/SwitchBoard/SwitchBoard.app/Contents/MacOS/launch.switchboard

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.realvnc.VNCServersd.plist

Executable: /Library/VNC/VNCServer.app/Contents/MacOS/VNCServer service

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.echo360.dts.uploaderD.plist

Executable: /Users/***/echo360/bin/uploader/echo360_uploaderd /Users/***/echo360/data/uploader/input /Users/***/echo360/data/uploader/output

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/.SM.gul.com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

32-bit Applications:

98 32-bit apps

Kernel Extensions:

/Library/Application Support/Roxio

[Not Loaded] TDIXController.kext (1.6)

/Library/Application Support/Viscosity

[Not Loaded] tap.kext (SparkLabs Pty Ltd, 1.2)

/Library/Extensions

[Loaded] TrackballWorks.kext (Kensington Computer Products Group, 1.3.0 - SDK 10.8)

[Not Loaded] MBBDataCardECMDriver_10_9.kext (HUAWEI DEVICE USA INC., 5.00.00.00 - SDK 10.8)

[Not Loaded] ZTEUSBCDC_10.10.kext (ZTE CORPORATION, 4.2.1 - SDK 10.9)

[Not Loaded] ZTEUSBCDCECMControl_10.10.kext (ZTE CORPORATION, 4.2.1 - SDK 10.9)

[Not Loaded] ZTEUSBCDCECMData_10.10.kext (ZTE CORPORATION, 4.2.1 - SDK 10.9)

/Library/Extensions/MBBDataCardECMDriver_10_9.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[Not Loaded] MBBAppUSBCDCECMControl.kext (HUAWEI DEVICE USA INC., 4.2.1 - SDK 10.8)

[Not Loaded] MBBAppUSBCDCECMData.kext (HUAWEI DEVICE USA INC., 4.2.1 - SDK 10.8)

/System/Library/Extensions

[Not Loaded] EyeTVAfaTechHidBlock.kext (1.1)

[Not Loaded] EyeTVCinergy450AudioBlock.kext (1.1)

[Not Loaded] EyeTVCinergyXSAudioBlock.kext (1.1)

[Not Loaded] EyeTVEmpiaAudioBlock.kext (1.1)

[Not Loaded] EyeTVVoyagerAudioBlock.kext (1.1)

Startup Items:

HWNetMgr Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

VNCServer Path: /Library/StartupItems/VNCServer

System Launch Agents:

System Launch Daemons:

Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

User Launch Agents:

User Login Items:

EyeTV Helper Application (Elgato Systems GmbH - installed 2014-11-07)

(/Library/Application Support/EyeTV/EyeTV Helper.app)

SpamSieve Application (C-Command Software, LLC - installed 2018-05-07)

(/Applications/SpamSieve.app)

Cookie Application (SweetP Productions, Inc. - installed 2018-06-22)

(/Applications/Cookie.app)

Backup and sync from Google Application (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-05-30)

(/Applications/Backup and Sync.app)

Calendar Application (Apple - installed 2017-08-01)

(/Applications/Calendar.app)

TrackballWorksHelper Application (Kensington Computer Products Group - installed 2018-04-01)

(/Library/PreferencePanes/TrackballWorks.prefPane/Contents/Resources/TrackballWo rksHelper.app)

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: (installed 2016-09-22)

Flash Player: (installed 2018-07-10)

AdobePDFViewer: (installed 2016-09-22)

iPhotoPhotocast: (installed 2016-09-22)

RealPlayer Plugin:

npDDRia: (installed 2016-08-18)

QuickTime Plugin: (installed 2018-07-18)

FlashPlayer-10.6: (installed 2018-07-10)

CitrixICAClientPlugIn: (installed 2016-09-22)

VLC Plugin: (installed 2016-09-22)

GarminGpsControl: (installed 2014-03-31)

NP_2020Player_IKEA: (installed 2016-09-22)

CANONiMAGEGATEWAYDL: (installed 2016-09-22)

Silverlight: (installed 2016-09-23)

OVSHelper: (installed 2016-09-22)

Google Earth Web Plug-in: (installed 2016-09-22)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: (installed 2017-10-12)

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: (installed 2016-09-22)

JavaAppletPlugin: (installed 2016-09-24)

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: (installed 2016-09-22)

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Citrix online plug-in (installed 2010-03-01)

Flash Player (installed 2018-06-25)

Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2007-12-12)

FUSE for OS X (OSXFUSE) (installed 2015-06-14)

TrackballWorks (installed 2018-04-01)

Perian (installed 2011-07-23)

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: No

Mobile backups: Yes

Auto backup: Yes

Volumes being backed up:

L********D: Disk size: 369.49 GB - Disk used: 352.50 GB

Destinations:

1*******************m [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 770.03 GB

Total number of backups: 49

Oldest backup: 2017-08-22 01:49:03

Last backup: 2018-07-18 16:37:26

Top Processes by CPU:

Top Processes by Memory:

Top Processes by Network Use:

Top Processes by Energy Use:

Virtual Memory Information:

Software Installs (past 30 days):

Clean up:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.5117BB2F-8DCE-4768-934E-E7E E1A72DC6D.plist

/Applications/Carbon Copy Cloner.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper

Executable not found

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.E8B946BA-4753-4E60-8998-585 8DAC41B0E.plist

/Applications/Carbon Copy Cloner.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper

Executable not found

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.6774FD2D-64A2-4D12-89B2-DF5 BB822EBBB.plist

/Applications/Carbon Copy Cloner.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper

Executable not found

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.78C1163D-86DD-475A-BFB3-7DA 7C844F62D.plist

/Applications/Carbon Copy Cloner.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper

Executable not found

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.bombich.ccc.scheduledtask.E32B2A92-19C5-420A-99D3-237 B77397758.plist

/Applications/Carbon Copy Cloner.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper.app/Contents/MacOS/ccc_helper

Executable not found

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

2018-07-18 17:11:22 SIMBL Agent.app Crash (30 times)

/Library/ScriptingAdditions/SIMBL.osax/Contents/Resources/SIMBL Agent.app

2018-07-18 17:06:28 Papers.app Crash (6 times)

/Applications/Papers.app

2018-07-18 09:47:34 mdworker CPU

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadata .framework/Versions/A/Support/mdworker

2018-07-15 20:11:58 Adobe Acrobat Pro.app CPU

/Applications/Adobe Acrobat X Pro/Adobe Acrobat Pro.app

2018-07-15 19:30:54 PDFelementStd6.app CPU

/Applications/PDFelementStd6.app

End of report

Now, I am beginning to doubt my senses or think there must be a ghost in the machine.

I reinstalled Sierra selecting the option that maintains the rest of the data on the disk. When I booted up, my user account was intact and my keyboard shortcuts were still there: ie. I use command-F to do a find-by-name search. So far so good.

I was very happy to find that my bookmark problem was fixed and new ones were inserted on the left of the favorites bar. But then the next morning the problem was back and bookmarks were adding to the right again. I then cleared all the user and systems caches but that made no difference.

Any ideas please?

Just an FYI:

The performance on the EtreCheck above was "below average". I just ran it again after the reinstall:

EtreCheck version: 4.3.6 (4D041)

Report generated: 2018-07-28 15:41:11

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 2:56

Performance: Excellent

I don't know if it signifies but the run time was over two minutes less on exactly the same machine except the reinstalled system on the new SSD mentioned above. BTW, the new SSD had a CCC clone of the old SSD before I performed the reinstallation.

Hi, thanks for your reply.

Both computers are running Sierra and the version of safari is the one that came with the OS, 11.1.2 (12605.3.8.1).

I am sorry to report that it did not work.

It lasted 36 hours. Now we are back to adding bookmarks to the right of favorites.

Sorry, I did not mean to mark this as solved. How is it in High Sierra?