A few users have reported slow page loading and other performance issues under the newly released Safari 5.0.
Apple Discussions poster Douglas Fritz writes:
“I downloaded Safari 5 andinstalled it last evening. Why is it so slow to open common URLs? I tried clearing the cache and deleting the history. But after opening my regular sites since the clearing, the sites still load very slow. ”
There are a number potential causes and fixes for this issue, but the most likely remedies of slowness after a Safari update include:
Disable errant plug-ins and add-ons Some plug-ins and add-ons may be incompatible with the new release of Safari, causing performance issues.
In Safari, go to Safari > Preferences in the menu bar. Click the “Security” tab, then deselect “Enable plug-ins.” Restart Safari. If the slowness is gone, a plug-in may be to blame. Look in the folders ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins and /Library/Internet Plug-Ins and remove the items to a safe location (but don’t delete them). You can then re-enable plug-ins in the “Security tab”, and add the items back one by one, restarting Safari after each, to identify the problem plug-in.
Perform the same process for any items in the following folders:
- /Library/Input Methods/
- /Library/InputManagers/
- ~/Library/Input Methods/
- ~/Library/InputManagers/
Clear AutoFill and favicons Go to Safari > Preferences and select AutoFill. Click the “Edit” option next to “Other Forms” and remove all of the items.
Next, navigate to ~/Library/Safari and drag the folder “Icons” to the trash, then restart Safari.
Reset Safari Although you’ll lose some potentially valuable stored data, this very simple procedure can resolve the slowness in some cases. Simply go to Safari > Reset Safari (in the Safari menu bar) and check all items.
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June 9, 2010 at 9:06 AM
I’ve got a fix for Safari 5 that also is along the same line, you must clear all of your cookies… this fixed several problems i had in some websites…
June 9, 2010 at 8:12 PM
In my /Library/Internet Plug-Ins folder, I have the following plug ins:
ContentUploaderPlugin.plugin
DirectorShockwave.plugin
DivXBrowserPlugin.plugin
Flash Player.plugin
flashplayer.xpt
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.webplugin
iPhotoPhotocast.plugin
JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.plugin
JavaPluginCocoa.bundle
NP-PPC-Dir-Shockwave
npdivx.xpt
npUpload.xpt
nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt
Quartz Composer.webplugin
QuickTime Plugin.plugin
Silverlight.plugin
Unity Web Player.plugin
I’m not sure which of these I should delete?
June 10, 2010 at 12:03 AM
I spent a couple days trying to get the update Safari 5.0 to get out of the ditch and after resetting Safari and doing all sorts of rubbish, I finally figured out a fail proof fix; FIREFOX!
Jobs really screwed the pooch with this update. Steve should really put a warning with these updates: Warning, installing this update means you accept that we didn’t beta test it and you are our guinea pigs.
June 18, 2010 at 9:38 AM
Why would you release something that is so slow and causes problems with plug ins. My solution is switch to Firefox or any other browser.
June 25, 2010 at 2:30 PM
I’m not going to sift through all these plug-ins. Oh yeah, and now I can’t use my bank’s web site now with this version of Safari. Nice! Had to use Firefox. Thx Apple! Please fricken fix this!
June 29, 2010 at 1:44 PM
None of these things help. Safari 5 is just unusably slow and broken. The only real solution is to figure out how to downgrade to Safari 4, to switch to another browser like Firefox or Chrome, or to wait until Apple eventually fixes #$@#$@ Safari 5!
July 15, 2010 at 2:30 PM
Both iOS4 and Safari 5.0 stunk up the house. I’m a 25yr Apple user — Just awful experience — Cannot recall 2 software updates this bad. Must have some linkage to Prez Obla Bla. Jobs has never overseen such a mess. Gotta be a muslim socialist conspiracy to further damage our free market capitalist society.
July 28, 2010 at 2:30 AM
It sucks. Read about my experience here:
http://www.netawd.com/i/item.php?id=1045
But I fixed it up a little bit.
July 31, 2010 at 12:01 PM
I wish ms woul make IE9 for mac.i always liked ie,but everything else i hate about ms.
August 5, 2010 at 5:04 AM
After pulling my hair out with Safari 5, I went back to Safari 4.O using Time Machine, plus use the OpenDNS numbers in my settings. That did the trick, but put a dent in my trust in Apple’s ability to get things right.
August 5, 2010 at 5:04 AM
After pulling my hair out with Safari 5, I went back to Safari 4.O using Time Machine, plus use the OpenDNS numbers in my settings. That did the trick, but put a dent in my trust in Apple’s ability to get things right.
August 10, 2010 at 6:14 PM
I have experienced none of the slowdowns mentioned here though curiously, my webpage will not save any changes. It crashes and alerts me that there may be an issue with the installed Flash plug-in. i assume there is a newer version…
My guess is that many of the issues above are likely related to plug-ins.
August 19, 2010 at 8:16 PM
I wish I had read this before talking to apple techs over and over for days, then backing up, full format, reinstall Snow Leopard, 3 Gig of updates!, restore all of my files, only to find that Safari 5 was just as slow! Would have put 4 back on if I knew about this thread.
Also it has huge problems with an almost new Belkin ADSL2+ modem router, so had to dig out an old Netgear modem router. In both cases AP Extreme set to bridge mode. Should have just bought a “simple” modem. Still we live and learn – in my case bitch a lot due to the days lost fixing a MBP that used to be amazing.
September 3, 2010 at 1:01 PM
Can someone explain how to use Time Machine to get back to Safari 4???
September 3, 2010 at 1:04 PM
Also, can I do this without losing other files, pictures, music, etc??
I can’t remember when I “UPGRADED” to Safari 5..Is there a way to tell?
December 11, 2010 at 11:22 AM
rm -R /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/[Ff]lash*
Will eliminate Adobe Flash and Safari will work perfectly. Just speaking for myself, having Flash gone is a net gain because this eliminates all the ads and garbage from many web pages.
If you like YouFace and sites like that you probably cannot play your farming game, lol.
St. Steve says Flash is bad, so this command is really his command.
April 27, 2011 at 11:21 PM
Thanks! : \ I am NOT happy at all with this 5 update, it has caused me an tremendous amount of stress, its causing my business to loose time and money. How much is your business and time worth Mr. Jobs? And how are you going to make it up to all those supporters who support you and pay your bills while we sit here with slow computers and loose money because we can’t conduct our businesses within a timely manner?
April 27, 2011 at 11:21 PM
By the way, it took 12 seconds to load that comment