Safari always had a strong reputation for being the best performing web browser on the Mac. Incredibly, macOS Big Sur has made it even better. Not only is Safari now up to fifty percent faster compared to Chrome, but it’s also much more power-efficient than before. Powered by the WebKit engine, Safari offers leading performance, compatibility, and a great set of built-in web development tools. Download Safari Technology Preview.
Clean up Safari browser the right way
If you’ve ever dragged an application to the Trash in order to remove it from your Mac, you’ve been doing it wrong. Why is that? Well, the thing is that apps are more than just their application icon. When you drag an app to the Trash, you leave behind tons of leftover files which end up wasting space on your Mac. This goes for Safari application, as well. So, how are you supposed to completely remove Safari from your Mac?
By uninstalling it, of course!
So, how to uninstall Safari on Mac?
Safari is a system app which gives it a privileged status compared to other browsers. On older macOS versions it was possible to remove it for good. As for the newer systems, sorry to tell you this, but the farthest you can get is resetting Safari and clearing all the info from it
Why Safari cannot be removed completely
You might be wondering, why so? There is a pretty logical reason for that. Since the release of El Capitan 10.11, Apple introduced System Integrity Protection. It’s a security feature that mostly has your best interests in mind: there is nothing you as a user can accidentally do to damage system files in any way. You cannot possibly delete, disable, uninstall or corrupt anything critical in the whole OS.
On new macOS versions, you can’t completely uninstall Safari. The binary file of the app will remain, even if you remove every associated file and history.
Still it's possible to deep-clean some parts of Safari with an app like CleanMyMac X. You can reset Safari browser with an uninstaller tool in CleanMyMac X. It’s a Mac cleaning app that has a reset option for apps, and it will wipe clean all your plugins, history, and cache.
For older versions: How to uninstall Safari on OS X Yosemite and earlier
Warning: Before we begin, you should know that by removing Safari, you may also be removing critical files that are necessary for Mac system processes and apps which rely on Safari to run correctly. By removing the Safari browser via the steps in this guide, we are in no way responsible for what happens to your Mac when Safari is removed. We understand that you want the application gone, but we must make sure to warn you that it may affect your system and other apps on your Mac negatively, and we are in no way responsible. Just a warning!
A quick way to completely remove Safari from OS X 10.10
Uninstalling apps with CleanMyMac is incredibly easy. It has an Uninstaller module that gets rid of all the little leftovers that ragging an app to the Trash misses. To uninstall Safari and all of its parts with CleanMyMac X, follow these steps:
- Download and install CleanMyMac X (it’s free to download).
- Launch the app.
- In the top menu, choose CleanMyMac X > Preferences.
- Click on Ignore list, then choose Uninstaller on the left.
- Uncheck Ignore system applications.
- Go back to CleanMyMac X and open the Uninstaller tab.
- Find Safari on the list.
- Click on Complete Uninstallation at the top.
- Click Remove button.
And Safari is gone! CleanMyMac X has been beautifully designed to clean out applications and a whole lot more with just a few clicks. It can clean up not just applications, but gigabytes of useless junk on your Mac. CleanMyMac X will save you tons of cleaning time and help you speed up your Mac. So, why wait? Download CleanMyMac X for free and get cleaning!
How to uninstall Safari from OS X 10.10 and earlier (manually)
Let’s start by saying (again) that you have to find all the extra files that come with Safari. We can’t just drag Safari to the Trash for two reasons:
- number one, it doesn’t get rid of all the little leftover files;
- number two, “‘Safari’ can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by OS X,” pops up when you try to delete it.
So, let’s put this into perspective for a second. If you were to remove all the files for Safari manually, you’d have to remove all these types of files (note: look for Safari in the name of the file):
- Binaries, which are located in…
/Applications/ - Dock Icon, which is located in…
/Applications/ - Application Support Files, which are located in…
/Users/YourName/Library/Application Support/ - Plugins, which are located in…
/Users/YourName/Library/Address Book Plug-Ins/ - Caches, which are located in…
/Users/YourName/Library/Caches/
/var/folders/typically-two-numbers-andOr-letters/C/ - Library, which is located in…
/Users/YourName/Library/ - Preferences, which are located in…
/Users/YourName/Library/Preferences/ - Saved States, which are located in…
/Users/YourName/Library/Saved Application State/ - Crashes, which are located in…
/Users/YourName/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/
So again, if you need to completely remove Safari from Mac, you need to delete all these kinds of files. Know that some files may not exist, for instance, if Safari has never crashed on you, it may have no crash files. Also, be sure to look for “Safari” in the file name in the folders mentioned above.
Please be careful when deleting system files, you never know how it will affect your Mac if you remove the wrong ones (or the right ones for that matter!). However, you always can use an easier way to remove all these files without searching for all the specifics, and that’s by using CleanMyMac. It finds all the leftover pieces you’re likely to leave on your Mac when you delete the apps by dragging them to the Trash.
How to delete Safari data (reset Safari browser) on newer systems
Resetting Safari is deleting all of the information from the browser, leaving it pristine like the first snow. Whatever history, data, extensions or else you had in Safari browser, after resetting it will all be wiped out irreversibly, so think twice if you have anything important stored in there.
- Download and install CleanMyMac X (click here to download it).
- Launch the app.
- In the top menu, choose CleanMyMac X > Preferences.
- Click on the Ignore List, then choose Uninstaller on the left.
- Uncheck Ignore system applications.
- Go back to CleanMyMac and open the Uninstaller tab.
- Find Safari on the list.
- Click on the Application reset at the top.
- Click Remove button.
Resetting Safari sometimes fixes bugs and resolves conflicts with other software.
How to remove Safari data from macOS 10.15 Catalina
The previous macOS Catalina has brought major changes to the operating system we all love. With the good old iTunes app being replaced by Music, Podcasts and Apple TV and other novelties, the release brought a lot of great enhancements to macOS. Safari has been updated too.
New OS requirements don’t make it possible to remove Safari on Mac with CleanMyMac X. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t optimize your Mac’s storage and remove Safari-related files. So, to remove those, open CleanMyMac X and go to the menu and select Preferences. Here move to Ignore List and uncheck Ignore system application.
Then you can go to CleanMyMac X’s Uninstaller module and click the down-arrow to see Safari files. Check the items to delete them from your Mac and click Remove.
How to set the default browser to other than Safari
Although you can't completely uninstall Safari, you may safely ignore it. Just set your default browser to something different.
Open System Preferences > General.
Look for the Default browser setting.
We hope this guide has helped you, we’re sorry if it didn’t (because you’re running macOS Catalina and just found out that you’ll have to deal with Safari on your Mac forever). Don’t forget to retrieve important info from your browser before uninstalling or resetting it, and have a nice day. Cheers.
Safari is arguably the safest and fastest of browsers. Its Apple’s own application and comes preloaded on its devices. Yet not all users are equally excited about it. The reason? It needs to be configured frequently. One of the safest ways to reconfigure this is to reset Safari from the Terminal using the Command Prompt.
Why does Safari need resetting?
Over time, Safari fails to holdback pop-ups. Unmonitored dialog boxes that refuse to close may make your system vulnerable to malware or expose underage users to restricted sites. Or, while you sit down for work or leisure, you may be redirected to irrelevant pages repeatedly. In both cases, the browser stops working.
How do you reset Safari from the Command Prompt?
You can safely do this by following the steps listed below. These do not need users to be particularly tech-savvy. So let’s get started.
Resetting Safari
#1. Open the Terminal application, like so:
Finder > Applications > Utilities
#2. The next step requires users to copy a series of commands and paste it onto the Terminal window.
The codes must be identical to the ones given below. Any modification is likely to damage the system beyond repair.
The codes are as follows:
mv ~/Library/Safari ~/Desktop/Safari-`date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S`;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Caches/Apple - Safari - Safari Extensions Gallery;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Safari;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.WebKit.PluginProcess;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Cookies/Cookies.binarycookies;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/Apple - Safari - Safari Extensions Gallery;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.LSSharedFileList.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.RSS.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.WebFoundation.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.WebKit.PluginHost.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.WebKit.PluginProcess.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/PubSub/Database;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Saved Application State/com.apple.Safari.savedState
After you’ve pasted it, hit Enter to complete changing the setting. To use Safari once more, restart your system and launch the browser.
These commands are all you need to erase the old browser settings and get a new Safari browser that can block pop-ups, dialog boxes, and redirects. What you achieve through this is essentially a factory reset. Safari goes back to its earliest default setting before you began to customize it.
Alternative solution
Another way to bypass these issues is to migrate to a secure browser or use a different browser for specific activities online. There are some great browsers out there, for instance, Kingpin that hides all your browsing behavior. With it set to confidential browsing by default, you can go around several web risks like phishing or loss of passwords.
Kingpin does not save cookies or the data you enter online. Once your browsing session is over, the browser is wiped clean. You can block ads and recommendations too. It always works on the Incognito mode which is especially useful when one is making online transactions or browsing sensitive content. An additional browser is a safer option today.
Three things to keep in mind before resetting Safari
- Check for updates on the Mac OS and install if they have been released: Safari must run on the latest version of Mac OS to utilize its full set of features
- Close all running applications: It ensures your data loss is minimal during the Safari reset process and other applications are not affected.
- Create a backup file for all your bookmarks: You must have a list of bookmarks that takes you swiftly to useful sites. By deleting all stored data, you risk erasing all bookmarks too. Here is how you can find your bookmark file.
Apple icon > Go to Folder > type˜/Library > open folder Safari > find file Bookmarks.plist
This file records all your saved bookmarks. Better create a backup document of them before you go all blitzkrieg on browsing data.
Common solutions like disabling wireless network and deleting browser history along with stored data are usually enough to run Safari smoothly on Mac. But the fixes mentioned above fall short in your case since Safari can’t even be launched without the various dialog boxes and windows opening automatically. Even force quitting the browser does not help at all. Some users suggest holding the Shift key down while launching Safari but the effect is not consistent across all systems and versions.
In this case, you need to take a different approach – resetting Safari from the Terminal using the Command Prompt. A step-by-step solution has already been provided above. Follow the code sequence and your browser should be up and running just like before.
All in all, Safari is prone to malfunctioning from time to time like many other browsers. However, its fixes are easy to apply. If you would rather avoid tampering with system setting you can always continue online activities with an additional browser like Kingpin.