Safari 17 Hangs
Hi, I’ve got a really frustrating, intermittent problem with Safari, and I’m stuck on what to try next!
The Problem…
On opening a new link when there are no Safari windows, but Safari is already active, Safari will hang (complete with beach ball) for ~10–30 seconds.
Reproduction Steps
- Have Safari Open but with no windows
- Click a link in any app, open a bookmark with Alfred/Spotlight, or enter a URL with Alfred/Spotlight.
- If Safari opens both the link and a blank tab, Safari beach balls for between 10–30 seconds.
Specs
- Safari v17.1 (19616.2.9.11.7)
- macOS v14.1.1 (23B81)
- MacBook Pro 14" (2021, M1 Pro, 32GB RAM)
Things I Have Tried…
- Disabling all extensions.
- Occurs with or without network connection.
- Doesn’t reproduce on a test user account.
- Clearing website data: Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data → Remove All.
- Setting Safari as the default browser (previously BetterTouchTool was) from Settings → General → Set Safari as Default Browser.
- Quitting BetterTouchTool just to be safe.
- Restarting my Mac.
Things I have noticed…
- Whenever the hang happens, I have noticed that Safari will open a second, blank tab. So although I have only clicked one link, two tabs open.
- In Activity Monitor, the Safari process says it is using ~100% CPU when the beach ball happens. All the other Safari processes (extensions, networking SafariLaunchAgent etc) all seem normal.
- Frustratingly, it doesn’t happen every time! It will be fine for 3-4 fresh links and then the problem will reoccur.
- Doesn’t matter what URL I go to.
- Doesn’t happen at the same point. Sometimes happens before the page loads, sometimes after the page loads. But always within about 60 seconds of the new window opening.
- Clicking on Safari in the dock to open a new window, entering the URL into the address bar, doesn’t cause the fault.
Help!
I am a bit stumped about what to try next. Every time I think I’ve narrowed the culprit down, I manage to reproduce the problem. Suggestions for things to try or ways to narrow down the fault, gratefully received!
