3 Common Safari Issues and Ways to Fix Them

The Safari web browser in your Mac computer is designed to offer you the best online surfing experience. So, what happens when Safari starts running slow, freezing up, not working properly, or even crashing? The experience can be inexplicably annoying. Fortunately, most problems that you can encounter with the Safari on your Mac have easy fixes. Let us take a look at some of the common issues and corresponding fixes.

Safari running slow

Depending on the type of machine that you are using, you might experience Safari performing slower than expected, from time to time. While this decreased speed could be a hint that the computer has a greater problem, you should figure out how to correct it to enhance and optimize its performance.

How to fix a slow Safari

• Close all the extra tabs: if you have many tabs open at once, that could be a possible reason why Safari is slowing down. Usually, some tabs use more resources on your computer than others. Hence, opening many apps could reduce the performance of Safari by 90%. You can open the Activity Monitor and then start closing tabs in Safari to free some space.
• Clear caches, cookies, and the website data: Your Safari browser hangs onto cached files and cookies every time you visit a website. It would help if you cleared them out to help speed up your browsing experience.
• Disable DNS prefetching: The feature allows you to load links before clicking on them to ascertain that they are safe to visit. However, they can slow down the performance of the Safari browser. You need to disable it to see if you increase its performance.

Safari quits unexpectedly

Another issue that is common with Safari is unexpected crashes. You could be browsing through the web, then Safari quits unexpectedly disrupting your session. This could be annoying and may cost you a lot if you are working. That’s why you need to fix the issues quickly.

How to fix Safari quits unexpectedly problem

• Try to browse with fewer tabs open: Safari might crash if you have multiple tabs open at once. You should consider closing some tabs to see if that problem gets resolved.
• Use Safari incognito: You can do so by going to File > New Private Window to see if it is the cookies or the website data that are weighing the Safari down.
• Remove extensions, plugins, and website data that might be causing the issue
• You can also use a cleaner app to help do this faster and better, rather than going the manual way

Safari is not responding

There are times when you open Safari, and it fails to launch. The Safari browser fails to respond to your clicks, and your cursor turns into a circle that keeps loading without opening. Usually, you can easily fix this problem by doing the following:

How to fix Safari that is not responding

• Quit and relaunch Safari: try to press on Command + Q to quit the app that is not responding. If the problem persists, right-click on the Safari Icon and select Force Quit. Alternatively, you can use a shortcut, Cmd + Option + Esc. This will close the app, and you can then relaunch to continue browsing.
• Clear cache and manage extension: If Safari gets overloaded with extra scripts and website data for the sites you visit, it might slow down or fail to work all the same. You need to clear caches and cookies from your browser for it to respond.
• Reset Safari: if the challenge persists, you might want to reset the Safari to near default state. Alternatively, you can uninstall it and install a new version of Safari to enhance performance.

You might also like to read about How To Protect Your Online Privacy?

Wrap up

Safari is one of the best bowsers around, but just like others, you might run into glitches. You could experience several performance issues as you use it to surf. Fortunately, there are easy fixes to common Safari issues, as explained above.