Reset Safari To Default Settings On Mac and iOS [2023 Guide]

Reset Safari for Mac via Settings

1. Go to Safari’s “Preferences”.

   On the menu bar, click the “Safari” menu and select “Preferences”.
   

2. Check Homepage.

   This will open a new window with your Safari preferences, opened to the “General” tab. Some browser hijackers may change your default homepage, so in the Homepage field make sure it’s a web page you want to use as your start-up page.

   

3. Click “Extensions”

   Next, click on the “Extensions” tab.
   

4. Find and uninstall malicious extensions.

   The “Extensions” screen will be displayed with a list of all the extensions installed on Safari. Look out for any suspicious browser extension that could be behind all the drama – anything you don’t remember downloading or that doesn’t sound like a genuine extension. By default, there are no extensions installed on Safari so it’s safe to remove an extension
   

5. Remove spam notifications ads

   Click Preferences, click Websites, then click Notifications. Deselect “Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications”.

   

6. Remove all data stored by websites on your computer.

   In the Safari menu, choose “Preferences…”, select “Privacy” at the top of the new window that appears, and then click the “Manage Website Data” button.
   

   In the next dialog box, click “Remove All“. It will ask you if you are sure you want to remove all data stored by websites on your computer. Select “Remove Now” to clear data that could be used to track your browsing.

   

7. Empty Safari Caches.

   From your Safari menu bar, click Safari and select Preferences, then select the Advanced tab. Enable the checkbox to “Show Develop menu in menu bar“.
   

   From the menu bar select Develop, then click on Empty Caches as seen in the image below.
   

Reset Safari for Mac via Terminal

1. Open the Terminal app (you can find it easily using Spotlight with Cmd + Space).
2. Next, open the Apple menu at the top-left corner of your screen. Click Force Quit and select Safari to completely close it.
3. Enter the below 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.

mv ~/Library/Safari ~/Desktop/Safari-`date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S`;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Cache/*;
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/*;
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/Safari/*;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.apple.Safari.savedState;

Reset Safari for iOS (iPhone or iPad)

If you’re using Safari on your iPhone or iPad, we will restore its default settings by using the built-in “Clear History and Website Data” feature.
“Clear History and Website Data” allows you to delete the browsing history and website data that is stored on your device. This can include information such as the websites you have visited, your search history, and any data that has been stored by websites you have visited, such as cookies and cache.

1. Tap the Settings app.
   
2. Toggle on Airplane Mode to temporarily disconnect your phone from the internet and block unwanted access.
   
3. Scroll down and tap Safari.
   
4. Tap Clear History and Website Data.
   
5. Confirm that you want to clear the history and data by tapping “Clear History and Data” in the pop-up window.
   
6. While in Safari settings, make sure to toggle on Block Pop-ups and Fraudulent Website Warning.