Why is Mac Safari not Working after Update?

Summary: How do I fix Safari not loading web pages after updating into Monterey? Is that the question? In this blog, we have mentioned some of the effective workarounds to fix Safari not working on Mac after the update to Monterey.

User Query: “I’ve updated to Monterey and now Safari is unusable. It crashes on launch, even in safe mode. I have reinstalled the OS and the problem persists. I’ve been advised to either roll back to Big Sur or wait for an OS update. Does anyone here have a different solution? Thanks!” User Query: “I installed the Monterey 12.0.1 yesterday on my MacBook Air (Early 2015). After the update, the safari won’t open or work. It shows this message, “Safari quit unexpectedly”. I contacted Apple. They asked me to restart in safe mode but the problem persists. So I reinstalled Monterey. However, the issue is still not resolved. Please advise how I can fix this.”

इस पोस्ट को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें

Apple introduced its latest macOS version, macOS 14 Sonoma, in September 2023. After updating to Monterey, several Mac users on various platforms reported that they were facing issues with the Safari web browser. It keeps crashing, stops working, or starts lagging. If you’re facing similar issues, read this post to know the methods to fix the Safari not working issue on Mac.

Also, Read Best Mac Data Recovery Software

Table of Contents:

• Methods to Fix Mac Safari Not Working Issue
• Follow these steps if you come across the issue ‘Safari lagging in MacOS Ventura’ 
• FAQs

Methods to Fix Mac Safari Not Working Issue

Follow the below-given methods to fix Safari not working issue after the Mac OS update:

Method 1: Force Quit Safari

If Safari stops working or becomes unresponsive, try to force quit it. This will refresh Safari which might reduce the chances of it keeps crashing. To do so:

• Click on the Apple logo and choose Force Quit.
• Alternatively, press the Command + Option + Esc keys simultaneously to open the Force Quit Application Box.
• Choose Safari and click on Force Quit.

Method 2: Restart Mac

Restarting the Mac can fix various issues, such as software-related glitches, third-party application errors, etc. When you restart your Mac, it frees up your Mac’s memory and rotates system logs. To restart the Mac, click on the Apple logo and choose the Restart option.

Method 3: Delete Safari History, Cache, and Cookies

Accumulation of cache files and cookies can be a reason behind this issue. You can delete the history, cache, and cookies to try to resolve the issue. Here are the steps to clear your Safari cache and browsing history:

• To clear history and cookies, navigate to Settings > Safari > Clear History and website data.
• To clear cookies and keep your history, navigate to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data and then click on Remove all website data.

Read: Top 10 Data Recovery Software for Mac [2024]

Method 4: Disable Safari Extensions

Safari may stop working or can come across various other problems if your extensions aren’t updated. Thus, you need to disable such extensions.

• Choose Safari> Preference> Extensions.
• To turn off an extension, unmark its checkbox.
• To uninstall an extension, select the specific extension and click on Uninstall.

Method 5: Check Network Settings

Several factors can affect your access to the internet. This includes certain network settings, especially those related to using a proxy server or custom DNS server. Well, if it’s not you that has changed the network settings, the installed software can do that for you.

To ensure that the issue is with the network settings on your Mac, try visiting a website from some other device connected to the same network. Besides, to confirm if the issue is with the network itself, try visiting a website after connecting your device to a different one.

Read: How to Recover Data after macOS Update?

Method 6: Delete Preference Files

One of the reasons why Safari stops working or keeps crashing is the corrupted Safari preferences files. To fix it, you need to clear these files. To do so, proceed with the below-given steps:

• Quit Safari, if running (Safari> Quit Safari).
• Now open the Library folder. In Finder, hold the option key and click on Go> Library.
• Navigate to Containers> Safari> Data> Library> Safari.
• Search for the below-listed files and move them to Trash.

1. db
2. db-shm
3. db-wal

• Restart your Mac. Then, open Safari and check if it works or not.

Follow these steps if you come across the issue ‘Safari lagging in MacOS ’ :

User Query: “Safari lagging heavily since the 12.1 update. Did not have problems in Monterey 12.0.1. Anyone?”

You can fix Safari lagging, unresponsive, or not loading issues after macOS update by changing the DNS settings:

• Open System Preferences and click on Network.
• Navigate to Advanced and click on the DNS tab.
• Click on the + icon to add a new DNS server.
• Then, add a public DNS server. You may also use Google’s ones as well, such as 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4.
• Click OK to save the changes.

Note: If the lagging issue continues, then you have to restart your computer.

Summing It Up

We hope the above-mentioned methods would have helped you fix the Mac Safari not working issue after updating the OS to Monterey. If not, you might need to reinstall MacOS.

FAQs

1. On a Mac, how do I uninstall and reinstall Safari?

Because it is a part of the operating system, it is impossible to entirely delete Safari from Mac, but you can disable it using Terminal. Installing again requires downloading the most recent macOS version from the App Store, which will also bring back Safari.

2. Is it possible for Safari to experience corruption?

Safari can indeed get corrupted. Your Mac could experience the same problem if Safari contracts a virus that affects browsers.

3. On a Mac, how do you reset Safari?

On a Mac, open the Safari browser, select “Safari” from the top menu bar, click “Preferences,” go to the Privacy tab, and select “Manage Website Data” to delete cookies. In the Safari preferences panel, you can also uninstall extensions and change security parameters.

4. On a Mac, where are the safari settings?

On a Mac, launch Safari, choose “Safari” in the top menu, and then choose “Preferences.” Open the desired website, select “Settings for this website” from the top menu in Safari, and make the necessary changes.

5. Even after force quit, safari not responding, how to fix it?

Safari remains unresponsive on Mac despite force quit. To resolve this, clear the website cache, cookies, and history, restart Mac, and update Safari.