where is safari preferences mac

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Simple Steps to Change Your General Preferences on Safari

Last Updated: June 13, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 227,038 times. Learn more...

Do you want to increase your privacy on Safari or maybe make it more useful for you? To change your Safari preferences on an iOS device, you'll need to use your device's Settings app instead of the Safari app. On macOS computers, you can change the settings from Safari's Preferences menu. Both the mobile and the desktop share some similar settings, but the desktop version has many more options available.

Things You Should Know

• On an iPhone or iPad, go to your device's Settings app to change the general preferences of Safari.
• On Mac, change your general preferences in "Safari > Settings > General."
• Changing things like your search engine and preventing trackers will provide you with more privacy and increase your security.

• This method works for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
• Forgot your iPhone's password? You can reset it in 2 ways !

• The "Search Engine Suggestions" toggle will provide search suggestions from your default search engine as you type.
• The "Safari Suggestions" toggle provides search suggestions curated by Apple.

• Use the Safari app instead of Settings to change how your Home page behaves .

• You can enable or disable various search preferences underneath this menu, including using Safari Suggestions.

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You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265
• ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/customize-your-safari-settings-iphb3100d149/ios
• ↑ http://www.macworld.com/article/2042451/exploring-safaris-preferences.html

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How to customize Safari settings on Mac

Learn how to change Safari settings on your Mac to make it just the way you like for a personalized and productive browsing experience.

One of the things you want to do when get a new device or computer is customize it. And if you use Safari as your preferred web browser on Mac, it’s no different.

You can set an image as your home page or customize the Safari toolbar . These adjustments can make your experience more pleasant.

Change the window settings

The simplest way to start with customizing Safari is with the general settings for what you see when you open Safari windows and tabs.

Open Safari and click Safari > Settings or Preferences from the menu bar. In the pop-up window, choose the General tab. You can then adjust each of these settings.

• Safari opens with: When you open Safari, you can choose to open a new window or a private window. You can also open it with all windows from your last session or just non-private windows from your last session.
• New windows open with: If you only open a new window in Safari, you can pick what displays from Favorites to your homepage to a specific folder.
• New tabs open with: You can also choose what to see when you open a new tab from things like top sites to your homepage to an empty page.
• Homepage: Pop in a URL or click the Set to Current Page button to determine your homepage.
• Remove History Items: Choose to remove history manually or automatically after a day, week, two weeks, month, or year.
• Start Page Favorites or Favorite shows: Choose which folder you want to see for your Favorites.
• File download location: Select where the files you download are saved on your Mac.
• Remove download list items: Clear your downloads list manually, after successful download, when Safari quits, or after one day.
• Top Sites shows: Pick how many top sites to show.

Working with websites

Safari offers several features for how you want to work with the websites you visit regularly. To check out these options, open Safari , click Safari > Settings or Preferences from the menu bar and choose the Websites tab.

On the left side, you’ll see your various options like Reader, Auto-Play, Notifications, and more. When you pick an option, you can then make your adjustments to the sites that display on the right. These settings let you decide how you want to handle specific items for different websites.

You can do things like:

• Reader: Automatically open websites using Reader .
• Auto-Play: Stop websites from automatically playing media .
• Location: Allow or deny websites from accessing your location .
• Downloads: Allow or deny downloads from sites .
• Notifications: Show alerts from sites in your Notification Center.

To delete a website from the list, select it and click the Remove button.

After making your changes for those particular sites, you can select an overall setting for each option to apply to other websites that aren’t on the list. Just click the When visiting other websites drop-down box at the bottom and make your choice.

Manage Safari extensions

Extensions for Safari are just like add-ons for Firefox or Chrome. They’re third-party tools that you can install for extra features and functions. Those for Safari may not seem as plentiful as other browsers, but you can still find some useful ones.

Open Safari , click Safari > Settings or Preferences from the menu bar and choose the Extensions tab. If you already have some installed, this is where you’ll manage them. You can enable, disable, or uninstall extensions.

To shop for others, click the More Extensions button at the bottom. This will take you directly to that section on the Mac App Store, where you can browse the Safari extensions.

Miscellaneous settings

Here are settings that you’ll find on the other tabs in Safari Settings that relate to customization.

Tabs tab: Show site icons on tabs and choose to open pages in tabs or windows when you click a link. You can also choose a tab style.

AutoFill tab: AutoFill forms and credit cards.

Passwords tab: View saved usernames and passwords and enable AutoFill for them.

Search tab: Pick your default search engine and Smart Search Field options.

Security tab: Identify fraudulent websites and enable JavaScript.

Privacy tab: Prevent cross-site tracking, block cookies, and enable Apple Pay and Apple Card.

Profiles tab : Use this to create new profiles and manage them.

Advanced tab: Show the full website address, enable the Reading List, and select a style sheet.

Developer and Feature Flags tab: Access settings that are mostly for developers . You can also try out experimental features.

After you finish getting the basics of your Mac set up, you might want to spend a little time customizing the way that Safari looks and works. And since the settings are all in one spot, you can move through each tab and set everything the way you want it.

Are you going to customize Safari on your Mac? Or are there only certain settings that you want to change?

On a related note: How to customize and personalize Safari on iPhone and iPad

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How to Use the New Safari Web Browser Settings in macOS High Sierra

Individual Website Settings

One of the most welcome new changes in Safari 11 is the ability to customize a range of settings for individual websites. Once these options are set up for a site, Safari applies them automatically so you don't have to bother with them again. Here's how.

• Navigate to a site you frequently visit.
• Right-click on the URL or website name that appears in the address bar, and select "Settings for This Website". Alternatively, click Safari in the menu bar and you'll see the same option under Preferences.
• Select your preferences from the drop-down pane that appears below the address bar to control how the website behaves, either by checking the boxes or selecting a setting from the available options.

Safari's built-in Reader mode strips online articles of extraneous web page furniture to make them more readable. Reader is usually enabled by clicking an icon that sometimes appears in the far left of the address bar, but you can check "Use Reader when available" to switch to this by default.

The box next to "Enable content blockers" lets you set whether to activate any ad-blocking extensions you may have installed, while the Page Zoom setting lets you adjust the size that website fonts and images display, allowing you to make them easier to read and navigate.

The last three options in the preferences pane let you choose whether to allow or deny the site access to your Mac's camera and microphone, and whether to enable location detection. If your preference is likely to change from time to time for these, set them to "Ask", and Safari will query you whenever access is requested by the site.

Safari Website Preferences Tab

Helpfully, Apple has added a new tab to Safari preferences for you to keep track of your individual website settings. You can access it at any time by clicking "Preferences" In the Safari menu bar and selecting the Websites tab.

Intelligent Tracking Prevention

Another new feature Apple has added in the latest Safari is Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP). Apple's own testing has found that popular websites can harbor more than 70 cross-site tracking and third-party cookie trackers that all silently collect data on users while making the browsing experience increasingly sluggish.

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How-To Geek

How to quickly find specific system preferences on a mac.

Want to change a setting on your Mac but don't know where to find it? Here's how to search for the system preference you need.

Quick Links

Search within system preferences, search for system preferences with spotlight.

Need to change a setting on your Mac but don't know where to find it? There are two fast and easy ways to locate the specific system preference you'd like to change. Here's how.

The most in-depth way to find a setting on your Mac is by searching within the macOS System Preferences app. To launch it, click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your screen, and select "System Preferences."

Once the System Preferences window pops up, locate the search field in the upper-right corner of the window and click it.

In the search field, type a word or two that describes what you're looking for. For example, you could type "network" to see networking options, or "mouse" and see a list of all preferences that relate to mice.

System Preferences will return a list of the most likely options and also highlight icons in the System Preferences window. Click the result that matches what you're looking for, and you'll be taken directly to the preference pane with those settings.

You can also search for specific system preferences using Spotlight Search on your Mac. This is particularly handy if you want to quickly change a setting without worrying about how to find it.

First, launch Spotlight by pressing Command+Space or clicking the "magnifying glass icon" in your menu bar.

Once the Spotlight search bar pops up, type in a word that describes the preference you're looking for. For example, you could type "keyboard" to see keyboard-related preference sections.

When you see the result you want in the list to the left, double-lick it, and the System Preferences app will open directly to the correct preferences section.

Once you've made the change you want, close System Preferences, and you're all set. Now that you know how to find everything, you'll be able to customize your Mac to just how to like it. Have fun!

How to Reset Safari to Default Settings on Your Mac

If Safari runs slow or fails to open a page on your Mac, we will show you how to reset the browser to its default state to fix those issues.

Safari helps you feel at home while browsing the web on a Mac. The latest iterations of Safari always bring improvements, but no browser is perfect. Over time, Safari tends to slow down, become sluggish, and feel unresponsive.

While Chrome and Firefox pack a reset button, this feature is missing from Safari. We will show you how you can reset Safari to default settings on your Mac.

First, Back Up Your Bookmarks

After you've used Safari for a while, you probably have a lot of sites saved in your Bookmarks and Favorites. It's a good idea to make a copy of your Bookmarks before you proceed. Since you'll remove every bit data related to Safari, you probably don't want to erase all your bookmarks.

To do this, launch Safari, select the File tab in the top menu bar, and click Export Bookmarks . You can either set a new name or let it use the default one if you don't mind it. Click Save to save a copy of those bookmarks.

You may also want to edit, organize, and manage those bookmarks that you've collected over years.

After you've reset Safari by following the methods below, you can import the HTML copy of your Bookmarks by going to File > Import From and selecting Bookmarks HTML File . Make sure to save the file somewhere safe in the meantime.

Clear the Browsing History in Safari

To start, you should run Safari's built-in history cleaner. This will remove cookies and other browsing data from everywhere you've visited. Thankfully, the process to remove your browsing history manually from Safari is quite straightforward.

Related: How to Clear Your Safari Browsing History and Data

After opening Safari, click on the Safari item in the top menu bar and select Clear History . A window will pop up; select All History from the dropdown list. Then click on the Clear History button to erase all that data from Safari.

Remove the Temporary Files and Cache

To improve your browsing efficiency, Safari stores the data for sites that you visit regularly as cache on your Mac and uses that to load elements faster than downloading them again. That cache takes up disk space and often contributes to Safari's performance woes.

It's thus a good idea to get rid of that old data when you're resetting Safari to its defaults. Here's how to clear Safari's temporary files and cache:

• While you have Safari running, open Safari > Preferences from the menu bar.
• A window will pop open. Head to the Advanced tab and select the check box for Show Develop menu in menu bar .
• The Develop menu will appear next to Bookmarks on the menu bar. Select Develop > Empty Caches or use Option + Cmd + E to quickly clear the web cache.

Delete All Cookies

Like other browsers, Safari stores site cookies whenever you visit websites. These cookies contain details about your interactions with the site, such as registration and form data, your cart contents, and similar. It's a good idea to remove those cookies when starting fresh.

Here's how you can clear all cookies from Safari:

• Launch Safari and in the menu bar at the top of the screen, go to Safari > Preferences .
• In the window that pops up, go to the Privacy tab and click the Manage Website Data button. That'll pop open a window showing the list of cookies in Safari.
• You can hold down Cmd to select cookies to remove individually, or click Remove All to delete the entire list.

Turn Off Website Access/Delete Safari Plugins

While Apple builds Safari for efficiency, some outside plugins and website access rules can cause Safari to slow down. It's best to ensure that those plugins ask you before Safari runs them. You can also confirm which sites can access your Mac's camera, microphone, and other settings.

With Safari open, go to Safari > Preferences in the menu bar on the top of the screen. Go to the Websites tab and check each item in the sidebar for website access. We recommend disabling Auto-Play , Camera , Microphone , Location , and Pop-Ups , unless you have some reason not to do so.

If you're using an older version of Safari that doesn't have these options, you can head to Safari > Preferences and click on Security > Plug-In Settings . Then set all the plugins to Ask before Safari runs them, and disable the ones you don't need.

Disable or Uninstall Safari Extensions

Unlike Chrome and Firefox, Apple allows only a handful of extensions to work with Safari. Even with this filtering, some of them might impact your browsing performance and slow everything down. Whether you use extensions for saving articles to Pocket or applying dark mode on every website, they could affect Safari.

You can disable these extensions by going to Safari > Preferences and clicking the Extensions tab. Uncheck each extension listed to disable it. To remove all of them, you'll need to select each extension and click on the Uninstall button in the adjacent pane.

You can always find and install new Safari extensions later after resetting the browser. Try to only install high-quality ones you absolutely need.

Reset Safari Using Terminal

Even after removing cookies, cache, browsing history, and extensions, Safari still has some underlying metadata. To wipe everything in a true sense, you can use the Terminal app.

Using the Terminal to reset Safari to its default state means you'll have to use a series of commands. Refer to our beginner's guide to the Mac Terminal for using it effectively.

To reset Safari using Terminal:

• Open the Terminal app (you can find it easily using Spotlight with Cmd + Space ).
• Next, open the Apple menu at the top-left corner of your screen. Click Force Quit and select Safari to completely close it.
• Enter the below commands commands, one line at a time. After you run each command, the Terminal will prompt for confirmation to delete said files. Type y to confirm, then hit Enter .

Reset Safari for a Fresh and Fast Browser Experience

Now you know how to effectively reset Safari to factory settings. It should feel faster after this—though all the sites you visit at first will take a couple of seconds to load completely, since they'll create new cookies and cache.

To get even more out of Safari, make sure you're applying the best Safari tweaks for a better experience.

The 10 best Mac tips and tricks you need to know about

A pple’s macOS operating system is full of clever tips and tricks that you might never have heard of. Master a few of them, though, and you’ll be able to ramp up your productivity and save yourself a bunch of time.

With that in mind, we’ve put together our favorite Mac tips and tricks to help you get more from macOS. Here are our top picks.

Get more from your photos

Want to identify something in a photo? Open it in Photos, then right-click on the object in the picture. In the context menu, select Look Up . You’ll then get a bunch of info on the topic of your image – useful facts about a breed of dog, for example, or recipes for a type of food. You can find directions to a store, look up the meaning of symbols on laundry tags, understand the meaning of road signs, and more.

Similarly, the Photos app has a form of OCR, or optical character recognition. Just click and drag over any text to highlight it. You’ll then be able to copy it, look up its meaning, share it, and more.

Resize a window from its center point

Want a quick way to resize an app window in every direction at once? Instead of clicking and dragging an app’s corner, hold the Option key as you do it. This will expand or contract the window in every direction as you move your mouse.

Use modifier keys with Hot Corners

Hot Corners are a great way to access common features—just move your mouse pointer to a corner of your screen, and your chosen event will happen, whether that’s locking your screen or showing the desktop. But this can lead to you accidentally triggering a Hot Corner every time you move your mouse into the far reaches of your display.

To fix that, add a modifier key that you have to hold before the Hot Corner launches. Open System Settings, go to Desktop & Dock, scroll to the bottom, and select Hot Corners . Click one of the dropdown menus, then press and hold either Shift, Control, Option, or Command (or any combination of those keys). You’ll notice the Hot Corner options now show these keys – choose one to confirm. Now, it’ll only launch when you move your mouse to the corner while holding your selected modifier key or keys.

Sign documents with your signature

Signing a document with your signature is quick and easy. Open the file you want to sign in Preview, then select the Markup button in the toolbar (it looks like a pen). From here, select Sign > Create Signature . You can use your trackpad, Mac camera, or iPhone. For the former, select Trackpad > Click Here to Begin, then start signing your signature on your trackpad. To use your camera, select Camera and hold a piece of white paper with your signature up to the camera. For your iPhone, click iPhone – your iPhone screen should automatically light up, and you’ll be able to sign on a dotted line.

In each case, tap Done when you’re finished. Next time you want to sign a document, select the Sign menu again and drag and drop your signature onto the page, where you can move and resize it if required.

SnapBack to your Safari search results

Often, you’ll search for something in Safari, click a link, then another, and before you know it, you’ve forgotten your original search. To quickly head back to the search page when you’re several links deep, just press Command-Option-S . Alternatively, select Safari’s menu bar and pick History > Search Results SnapBack .

Quickly change file save location

Instead of constantly navigating to the right folder when you save a file, there’s a quicker way if you already have the destination folder open. While the save dialog box is open in, say, Safari, go to Finder and make sure you can see the destination folder. Now click and drag on the folder and drop it onto the save dialog box. Your save destination will now be updated to show the folder you selected in Finder.

Access specific macOS settings

Most Mac keyboards have a row of Function keys with quick settings to control the volume, brightness, and more. If you hold Option while pressing the brightness, Mission Control, or volume Function keys, the System Settings app will launch to that control’s settings page, letting you swiftly change how it works without wading through the System Settings app itself.

Flip between app windows

You might already know that Command Tab lets you flip between different apps, but what if you want to switch between Windows and the same app? For that, simply press Command-`.

As a bonus tip, there’s also a trackpad gesture for this. Open System Settings and go to Trackpad > More Gestures. Next to App Exposé, pick a gesture. Your new gesture will show the open app windows of your currently selected foreground app only, not any other app windows.

Quick access to your favourite actions

The Quick Actions menu in macOS is full of useful time-savers. Right-click an image and go to Quick Actions, for example, and you can rapidly remove its background or convert it to another file type.

Better yet, you can add shortcuts to the Quick Actions menu. Open the Shortcuts app and simply drag a shortcut into the Quick Actions section in the left-hand sidebar. This puts even the most complex shortcut within easy reach.

Add an app to Finder's toolbar

Want to pin an app, folder, or file to the top of Finder so it’s always available to open? Launch Finder, go to the file or app, then hold Command and start dragging it up to Finder’s top toolbar. You’ll see some boxes appear in the toolbar — drop the file or app onto one. Now, just click it to launch it. You can remove it from the toolbar by holding Command and dragging it away – let go when you see an X next to your pointer.

That's it; our favorite Mac tips and tricks on macOS Sonoma will help you save some time, make your life easier, and give you a new outlook on the way you use your Apple devices. Using these tips and tricks will make even the best Macs better.

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

Safari says there's 2 tabs in settings while I only have one open

So I was going to clear all of my history in settings and then I saw I somehow only had two tabs open but when I check in safari, I only had one open and I didn’t have any private tabs and it says that when you are going to clear history in safari. I think it is a hacker

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone XR, iOS 17

Posted on Dec 29, 2023 5:09 AM

Posted on Jan 20, 2024 5:22 PM

This has occurred with me as well. I cleared my history recently with only 2 tabs open, that I was aware of, and it said I was about to clear 9. Where are these tabs? Are they on someone else’s screen, somehow? I’d love for someone at Apple to have an answer for this as well as safari’s disappearing tabs and how any of these “hidden” tabs can be seen and who may be accessing them.

Similar questions

• Seems that my safari has been hacked I can not, for the life of me, change the first page that safari starts on and right now, it defaults to this shady search "engine".... I wouldn't recommend clicking on it. But I want it gone and can't figure it out!!! http://search.anysearchmanager.com/?_pg=C7765675-ADD7-5A99-BBC6-C581E23C0AEB&affid=A1ATP_set_bsf_T&type=t 525 5
• I think my iPhone SE has possibly been hacked I think my Apple SE 2020 phone has be hacked. At times throughout the day a new tab will open in safari which is not one I have opened. Is there a way to fix this? [Re-Titled by Moderator] 649 1
• Is Safari pop-up legit Today a Safari pop-up suggesting password for apple.com and others have appeared in a data leak. I have not clicked on where it suggests I can remedy this but when I go into Safari > Preferences > Passwords, I do see an ! on numerous sites. I deleted and/or changed these passwords but really, is this a thing? Thank you! 900 4

Loading page content

Page content loaded

Jan 20, 2024 5:22 PM in response to kATHY324

Feb 19, 2024 4:58 AM in response to kATHY324

Start Page changed.

Top Right now has See All (or less), when ‘seeing all’ your favorites are displayed by default, ‘seeing less’ shows Privacy Report and an Edit button, when the update occurred that was default view. Select Edit and find all new features/options.

The one that is bringing up your concern is iCloud is on.

This feature allows you to see the open tabs on your other logged in Apple devices. I am not Apple savvy, using iPhone only 2 years and this utterly drove me crazy. I’m not on reddit either but it was also asked there and someone suggested malware, it certainly felt like that to me.

Turning off iCloud tabs resolves this.

Home > News Tips

[Simple]How to Change Default Web Browser on Mac

Updated on Monday, May 13, 2024

Approved by

Make Google Chrome/Firefox/Safari the Default Browser on Mac

Summary:  You can change the default web browser on your MacBook Air/Pro/iMac within simple steps. Read to know how to make Google Chrome/Firefox/Safari the default browser on Mac.

Usually, Safari, the browser that comes with your MacBook Air/Pro/iMac, is the default web browser on Mac. When you click on a link, it automatically opens the page in the default browser. Sometimes you don't want to open the link in Safari, and you may want to change the default web browser on Mac to Google Chrome, Firefox, or  open a private browser on your Mac . Then this post is right for you to change the default browser on a Mac.

Apple's pre-set Safari performs excellently on Mac computers. But it may fail you when  Safari is not working on Mac . And some users reported that it runs slower than Google Chrome. Besides, some extensions are not available in Safari. Whatever the reason, you will know how to change default browser on Mac after reading this post.

How to change your default browser on Mac via System Preferences

If you want to set a web browser as the default browser on MacBook, you need to  install the app on Mac  in the first step. Once you have installed the preferred browser, it's time to follow the steps here to change the default browser on Mac. 

By accessing macOS  System Preferences , you can customize various system settings such as  Mac parental controls , Network,  Trackpad settings , etc. Here, you can also check and change the default browser on Mac through System Preferences.

• Open the  Apple Menu  located in the upper left corner.
• Choose System Preferences on the menu.

• Tap the box next to the Default web browser, and choose the browser you want to set as the default browser from the expanded menu.

Change the default web browser on Mac with this post? Share it with more people!

How to set your default browser on Mac from the browser's settings

Alternatively, you can access the settings of the target browser to set it as your default browser. Hence, it automatically opens links through the default browser you set. Safari also enables you to convert the default web browser to Safari with an option in its settings.

Make Google Chrome the default browser on Mac

• Launch Chrome on your Mac.
• Tap Chrome > Preferences on the top toolbar.
• On the Settings page, find and select Default browser on the left sidebar.

Make Firefox the default browser on Mac

• Open the Firefox browser on your Mac.
• Choose Firefox > Preferences from the app's menu bar.
• On the Settings page, choose the General tab on the left sidebar.

• Choose Use Firefox when asked. Then it says Firefox is currently your default browser.

Make Safari the default browser on Mac

• Open the Safari browser, and choose Safari > Preferences from the top toolbar.
• On the new window, choose the first General tab.

• Confirm the change on the pop-up dialogue.

[Easy Steps] How to Set Default Apps on Mac

This article tells you how to set default apps on Mac. Also, you'll know how to change the default web browser and email reader on Mac by reading it.  Read more >>

If you think this post is useful, share it with more people now!

If you don't like the pre-set Safari to open any links you click on your Mac, you can change the default web browser on Mac through System Preferences and the browser's settings. With the steps above, you can easily set any browser you like such as Chrome and Firefox as the default web browser. 

Amanda is one of the main columnists at iBoysoft. She loves exploring new technologies, focusing on macOS, Windows OS, data recovery, data security, disk management, and other tech-related issues. She takes delight in providing technical and informative articles to help people out of problems and get the utmost out of their devices.

Jessica Shee is a senior tech editor at iBoysoft. Throughout her 4 years of experience, Jessica has written many informative and instructional articles in data recovery, data security, and disk management to help a lot of readers secure their important documents and take the best advantage of their devices.

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Fix: iPhone Lagging and Freezing After iOS 17.5 Update

iOS updates bring in new features, enhance the security of the iPhone, and also optimize it to perform better. Sadly, multiple users have reported that ever since they updated to iOS 17.5, their iPhones have been lagging. Moreover, there are constant frame drops while scrolling, keyboard freezing when typing and even the browsing experience on Safari has deteriorated. If you’re facing similar problems, here are ten fixes to try.

How To Fix iPhone Lagging and Freezing After iOS 17.5 Update

1. change keyboard settings.

With iOS 17, Apple updated the Auto-Correction feature with a transformer language model which also improves the Predictive Text feature. The keyboard has inline predictive text recommendations too. While this is a step in the right direction, it consumes a huge chunk of resources, especially if you have an older iPhone. 

Therefore, we suggest disabling the Auto-Correction and Predictive Text feature on your iPhone as it might help fix your iPhone lagging. Especially because other users have reported that doing so helps resolve the issue.

Time needed:  2 minutes

Steps to disable Auto-Correction and Predictive Text in Keyboard settings.

2. Remove Dictionary and Add It Back

The Dictionary feature helps you “Look Up” the meaning of words on your iPhone. You can add dictionaries of several different languages. But for some reason, these dictionaries might be the reason your iPhone is lagging. 

Yes, it does not make a lot of sense, but a user on the Apple Discussion Community has reported that removing all the dictionaries and then adding back only the ones you use helps fix iPhone lagging issues. Therefore, we suggest you do the same. 

• Open Settings on your iPhone and head to General . 
• Tap the Dictionary option. 

• Restart your iPhone. If you’re unaware of the steps to do so, ask Siri to restart your iPhone . 
• After your iPhone restarts, head back to Settings > General > Dictionary . 

3. Disable Siri Contact Suggestions

• Open Settings on your iPhone and head to the Contacts option.
• Tap the Siri & Search option. 
• On the next screen, disable the Learn from this App toggle. 
• Disable the Show Contact Suggestions toggle too. 

4. Clear Safari History and Data

If Safari is lagging, freezing, or crashing on your iPhone running on iOS 17.5, the first thing you must do is to clear Safari’s History and Website Data.

• Open Settings on your iPhone and navigate to Safari .
• Scroll down and tap the Clear History and Website Data button. 
• Select the All History option from the Clear Timeframe menu. 
• You can also enable the Close All Tabs toggle. It won’t delete any tabs that are in a Tab Group. 
• Finally, tap the Clear History button. 
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and tap the Advanced button. 
• Tap the Website Data button. 
• On the Website Data page, tap the Remove All Website Data button. 
• Tap the Remove Now button to confirm your selection. 

If the aforementioned steps don’t fix the freezing issues on your iPhone, please refer to our detailed guide on how to fix Safari Freezing on your iPhone . 

5. Clear Background Apps

Apps running in the background can also be the reason why your iPhone is lagging. Please clear all the background apps and it might free up the RAM and fix lagging issues. 

• For iPhone with Face ID: Swipe up and hold on to the Home Screen .  For iPhone with Touch ID: Double tap the Home Button .
• Swipe up on all the app s in the Recent Apps tray. 

6. Force Restart iPhone

Temporary bugs and glitches in the software, apps, or services can also cause the iPhone to lag. Force restarting your iPhone can help get rid of these bugs and fix the lagging issues. 

Steps to Force Restart iPhone (iPhone 8, iPhone SE 2nd Gen and above) 

• Press and release the volume up button .
• Press and release the volume down button .
• Next, press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears. 
• As soon as you see the Apple logo, release the Side button . Please do not release the Side button before the Apple logo appears on the screen. 

Steps to Force Restart iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus

Press and hold the Volume down and Side buttons simultaneously. Release the buttons once the Apple logo appears. 

Steps to Force Restart iPhone 6s or below 

Press and hold the Side and Home buttons simultaneously. Release the buttons once the Apple logo appears. 

7. Update All Apps

• Open the App Store on your iPhone.
• Tap on your Profile at the top right corner. 
• Scroll down to the Available Updates section and tap the Update All button. 

8. Check Storage Space

Most of us are aware that iPhones tend to lag when running extremely low on storage space. If you haven’t already, please check the free storage space on your iPhone. If it is low, we suggest uninstalling apps or unused media files to free up storage space as it might help fix the lag or stutters on your iPhone. 

• Open Settings on your iPhone and head to the General option.

• The next screen will display the amount of occupied and total storage space on your iPhone. You can delete apps that you don’t use often to free up storage space on your iPhone. 
• Tap on any app you want to delete.

Also, in case your iPhone displays a “Recommendations” option, tap on it and follow the recommended actions to free up storage space. The quickest way to empty storage space is to use a maintenance tool. One of the most popular apps is the Intego Washing Machine because it fully declutters your iPhone and increases its health significantly.

9. Factory Reset iPhone

If none of the aforementioned methods help resolve the issue, the last option you’re left with is to factory reset your iPhone. Please refer to our guide on How to Factory Reset Your iPhone for detailed instructions. 

We hope this guide helps fix your iPhone lagging after the iOS 17.5 update. If you have any doubts, please let us know in the comments below. 

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Fix Safari Can’t Open PDF on Mac and iPhone

Why Won’t Safari Open A PDF?

Safari has a built-in PDF reader that lets you open PDF online without downloading . However, why can’t Safari open PDF on your Mac or iPhone? Here are some possible reasons.

❌ The browser is not updated. Outdated Safari may not work properly, so the PDF is not displayed as expected.

❌ Extension conflict. Safari uses built-in support or plug-ins to open PDFs, but when they conflict, you will encounter the “PDF will not open in Safari” issue.

❌ The PDF is corrtuped. Safari cannot open a corrupted or damaged PDF file.

❌ Incorrect settings. Maybe it's because Safari is set to automatically download PDFs instead of opening them.

❌ Cache and cookies. The corrupted cached data may also prevent you from opening the PDF in Safari.

Next, I’ll show you how to fix Safari can’t open PDF issue on Mac and iPhone.

Part 1. Fix Safari Can’t Open PDF on Mac

Usually, when you click on a PDF link, Safari opens the file in a new tab and does not download it. You can see the controls by moving the pointer to the bottom center of the window. If the PDF will not open in Safari, try these methods.

Fix 1. Try Another Browser/URL

The first thing you can do is to confirm whether something is wrong with the PDF.

• Maybe the PDF is damaged, so the PDF will not open in Safari. Try accessing other PDF files and see if the problem still exists.
• All major browsers have built-in PDF readers, so you can copy and paste the PDF URL into Google Chrome, Firefox, or Edge to see if they will open it.

Fix 2. Update Safari

Please make sure you have installed the latest version of Safari. Since it is the default browser for Mac, you need to update macOS to update Safari.

• Click the Apple icon in the top left corner.
• Go to System Settings > General > Software Update .
• Wait for a while > Click Upgrade Now and enter the password.

Fix 3. Check Safari Settings

Safari opens PDF instead of downloading. The issue could happen when you have turned off the viewing feature. You can go to Safari preferences to uncheck the Open “safe” files after downloading option.

Fix 4. Disable Extensions

Some extensions may prevent Safari from opening the PDF. If you have installed some plug-ins, you can temporarily disable them and refresh the page to see if you can successfully open the file.

How to disable extensions: open Safari > go to Preferences > Extensions and turn them off.

Fix 5. Delete AdobePDFViewer Plug-ins

The built-in viewer and Adobe reader plug-in conflict may cause the Safari can't open PDF problem. To solve the problem, follow the steps below.

• Go to Finder > Choose Go > Select Go to Folder .
• Copy and paste /Library/Internet Plug-ins into the box > Click Go to confirm.
• Find all files with AdobePDFViewer in their names and drag them to the Trash .

• Refresh the Safari and see if you can display the PDF.

Fix 6. Clear Website Data

• Click the Safari icon in the top left corner > Click Settings > Choose Privacy .
• Select Manage Website Data .
• Choose Remove All .

Part 2. Fix Safari Can’t Open PDF on iPhone

If you're having trouble opening PDF files in Safari on your iPhone, here are a few steps you can take to try to fix the problem:

Fix 1. Try A Different PDF

Safari can’t open a corrupted PDF file. You can try to see if you can open other PDF links. If it can, then it's not a Safari problem. If the problem still exists, then move on to the following methods.

Fix 2. Disable Content Blockers

The content blocker can block PDFs. If you have installed one, you can temporarily turn it off to see if you can open the PDF. Go to Settings > Safari > Extensions to make it.

Fix 3. Restart iPhone

The can’t open PDF in Safari on iPhone issue may be casued by glitches. A force restart will help refresh your phone and troubleshoot any glitches!

• Press and quickly release the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons in turn.
• Long press the Side button until you see the Apple logo.

Fix 4. Clean Cache and History

Clearing cache and history helps to solve the loading problem. So when the PDF will not open in Safari on iPhone, you can try to clear the website data.

Open Settings app > Choose Safari > Tap Clear History and Website Data > Choose All history and tap Clear History .

Fix 5. Update Safari

The last method you can try is to update Safari. Unknown bugs in the old system can cause the can’t open PDF in Safari on iPhone problem. However, you need to upload the iOS to update Safari. Go to Settings > General > Software Update > Tap Download and Install .

Final Words

That’s all about how to fix Safari can’t open PDF issue. Hopefully, something will work. If the problem persists after trying these solutions, contact Apple support for further assistance. Tell them what you've already tried and see if they have any other ideas.

Lena has been in the editing industry for 8 years. She is familiar with a variety of products that can make things easier, such as PDF tools, video recording software, iOS location changer, etc. She enjoys sharing her knowledge with users to help them solve problems in their work and life. In her spare time, she likes to play with her cat.

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Safari User Guide

• Change your home page
• Import bookmarks, history and passwords
• Make Safari your default web browser
• Go to websites
• Find what you’re looking for
• Bookmark web pages that you want to revisit
• See your favourite websites
• Use tabs for web pages
• Pin frequently visited websites
• Play web videos
• Mute audio in tabs
• Pay with Apple Pay
• Autofill credit card info
• Autofill contact info
• Keep a Reading List
• Hide ads when reading articles
• Translate a web page
• Download items from the web
• Share or post web pages
• Add passes to Wallet
• Save part or all of a web page
• Print or create a PDF of a web page
• Customise a start page
• Customise the Safari window
• Customise settings per website
• Zoom in on web pages
• Get extensions
• Manage cookies and website data
• Block pop-ups
• Clear your browsing history
• Browse privately
• Autofill username and password info
• Prevent cross-site tracking
• View a Privacy Report
• Change Safari preferences
• Keyboard and other shortcuts
• Troubleshooting

Change Websites preferences in Safari on Mac

The settings you can customise (such as Reader and Content Blockers) are listed on the left.

To apply a setting to a website on the right, first select the setting, then choose the option you want from the pop-menu next to the website.

Open Safari for me