While many users prefer third-party web browsers like , FireFox, Brave Browser or Opera, Apple’s native Safari browser is pretty good. That is, assuming it works as intended. If you suddenly find that Safari just won’t open on your Mac, follow these steps to track down the problem. Discover how to fix if Safari won’t open on your Mac
6 ways to fix when Safari won’t open on Mac
The following solutions are ordered from least complicated to most complicated, so starting from the top ensures that you try the quickest and easiest solutions first.
1. Force close Safari
Safari may be refusing to start because it never closed properly in the first place. If so, using the Force Quit command on the app can bring it back to life.
- Press Option-Command-Escape.
- In the Force Quit Applications window, search for Safari and select it .
- Now select the force quit button to completely close the application.
- Try running Safari again.
If the issue was simply a bug preventing Safari from closing, things should be back to normal now.
2. Restart your Mac
If a force quit doesn’t work (or Safari wasn’t listed), the next step is to simply restart your Mac. Doing this will clear temporary files, logs, and end any updates that require a restart. Any of these could be to blame for Safari refusing to open.
Even though Safari doesn’t seem to load web pages, the Safari menu bar can still load and work in many cases. If you still see the Safari menu bar after trying to open the app, you should try clearing your browser data:
- Opens Safari .
- Opens Record > Delete history .
- Clear your history as directed.
- Then go to Safari > preferences > Privacy and manage website data .
- Select Delete everything.
Close and restart Safari to see if it works now.
4.Make sure everything is up to date
Modern computing life is an endless stream of updates. Whether it’s a Safari update or a macOS update, it’s worth checking that both are on the latest version. This ensures that any bugs or compatibility issues that may be preventing Safari from running are resolved. At least as far as Apple knows about them, of course.
5. Try safe mode
As with Microsoft Windows, macOS has a safe mode that you can use to diagnose software problems. Unlike Windows, the macOS version of this mode can solve some problems just by running it.
Accessing Safe Mode is easy, but the exact method varies depending on the type of Mac you have. Specifically if it’s an Intel-based Mac or one of the newer Apple Silicon models.
To enter safe mode on a mac intel :
- Turn on or restart your computer.
- From the moment the machine starts to turn on, press and hold the shift key .
- When you see the macOS login screen, release the shift key and log in from the usual way.
- You may be prompted to log in again, but you should still see the words “Safe Boot” in the upper right corner of the window.
To enter safe mode in a Apple Silicon Mac :
- Shut down your Mac (don’t sleep).
- Hold down the power button until you see the startup options.
- Choose your startup disk, then press and hold shift key while selecting
Continue in safe mode.
- Now login as usual, you may need to do this twice.
While in Safe Mode, try opening Safari again. If it does open, it could point to another element in the normal startup process that is preventing Safari from opening. However, hopefully running the app in safe mode will allow you to fix these issues, in addition to the fixes that macOS applies in safe mode.
After you’ve tried running Safari in safe mode, restart your Mac as usual and try again in the normal startup environment.
6. Disable Safari Extensions
Extensions can be a problem in any web browser, Safari is no different! Although Safari will not fully open and show you web pages, in many cases the Safari menu bar will still be functional. Which means we can disable the extensions to see if one of them is the reason for the startup problem.
- First, try opening Safari.
- If the Safari menu bar loads, select Safari > Preferences.
- Select the Extensions tab .
- Disable all extensions.
- close and restart Safari .
If Safari starts normally after disabling all extensions, enable them again one by one until you find the extension that is causing the problem. Then update it, leave it disabled, or remove it permanently.
Additional steps
If none of these steps on How to fix Safari won’t open on your Mac work for you and Safari still won’t open, there are a few more things you can try. You can simply ignore the problem and go ahead with a different browser such as Chrome or Firefox.
You might want to try something more drastic, like restoring your Mac from a Time Machine backup. If that doesn’t work, a full factory reset is always on the table, though these major interventions may not be worth it simply to get Safari working.
Finally, there is nothing wrong with contacting Apple Support. After all, Safari is supposed to work perfectly with your Mac, and Apple should be happy to help you get things working again.
In addition to knowing how to fix if Safari won’t open on your Macbelow you can see more related topics of related to this article:
Facebook Comments
Disqus