BLOG


Stupid Simple Mac Tips #54 – Cleaning Safari in Five Simple Steps

Stupid Simple Mac Tips #54 – Cleaning Safari in Five Simple Steps

By Tom Lambotte | November 3, 2020

Ever find yourself waiting impatiently waiting for a search to populate in Safari? 

All web browsers collect internet junk over time, like the junk drawer in your kitchen 😱.

Every time someone visits a website, including social media, it leaves traces on the computer that are harmless in a perfect world.

How do you think a website remembers your username and action history?

It drops cookies in Safari to improve your experience the next time you visit the same site.

Eventually, all those cookie crumbs add up and slow down Safari’s performance.

Cookies receive all the attention, but it’s not the only thing dragging your surfing speed down. Other data collects and clogs up Safari too.

Every interaction with a website creates data, such as icons and the list of downloaded items. They’re helpful, yes, but not very useful.

Here’s how to clean up Safari and keep it running as good as new. [Warning] This WILL delete your history, so if you often find that really useful, keep it. If you don’t, move ahead!

Clean Safari in five steps

  1. Open Safari
  2. Select History (shown across the top menu bar)
  3. Select ‘Clear History’
  4. Choose a time to erase > Options are to clear the:
    • Last hour
    • Today
    • Today and yesterday
    • All hisotry
  1. Select ‘Clear History’ again

This can also be useful if you want to wipe any cookies that were stored in a recent browsing session, during which you’d choose the short time frame that best fits your needs.

That’s all there is to it. Simple, isn’t it?

OK, what did I clean out?

I promise, you didn’t delete anything irreplaceable; browsing history, cache, autofill and cookies are included in the cleaning process. So, the next time Safari seems slow, clear that History and get it back up to speed!

  • November 3, 2020

About the Author

Tom Lambotte is a legal technology expert, author and the CEO of GlobalMac IT. He helps Mac-using lawyers with super simple technology, security and efficiency strategies that work. He’s on a mission to help attorneys using Apple computers reduce their security risk and get more out of their technology. Get his free 33 Stupid Simple Mac Tips and score some quick wins to boost your productivity.