How To Reset Safari Mac App To Factory Default State?

[Miscellaneous]

Hi All!

MacBook Pro 15” (MID-2014)
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 (18G103)
Safari (Version 12.1.2)

I am writing on behalf of a family member who is having issues with Safari behaving oddly/slowly and redirecting searches to other sites. From what they have described I believe that a factory reset of the Safari app would be the best solution.

This may have been covered somewhere else but I couldn’t find a guide to COMPLETELY RESET the macOS SAFARI app to a factory state?

Hope someone can help with this.

Cheers!

 

[Dave Braine]

Safari behaving oddly/slowly and redirecting searches to other sites.

That could be some Malware.

Try down loading Malwarebytes and running it to see if anything is found. The free version is good enough.

Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy

Malwarebytes offers real-time antivirus, advanced anti-malware and privacy protection for all your devices. Launched in 2004 as a free virus scan, we still offer a free basic version 20 years later. Learn more.

www.malwarebytes.com

 

[Gregg2]

Hmm... The menu used to have Reset Safari as a choice. I'm in Mojave, but I don't see that.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Hmm... The menu used to have Reset Safari as a choice. I'm in Mojave, but I don't see that.

It's now Clear History

 

[Dave Braine]

It's now Clear History

Yes, but that(probably) just clears the History. The Reset used to clear the cache and cookies IIRC.

 

[G4DPII]

You could restore Safari to default settings. Not sure when the option was hidden or possibly removed. However, just as they have with Disk Utility, it has probably been ruined or taken out completely.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Yes, but that(probably) just clears the History. The Reset used to clear the cache and cookies IIRC.

 

[Miscellaneous]

Thanks for your help guys!

We were able to solve the issue by downloading and installing Malwarebytes and running a free scan as advised by @Dave Braine much appreciated!

If anyone does know how to factory reset the Mac Safari App that would be really great. I remember in previous versions of OS X there was a Reset Safari option but now I believe it has to be done manually by deleting certain files and folders.

Another issue I've noticed is that although the latest macOS 10.14.6 Security Update is installed, Safari doesn't seem to be updated to the latest version. There is not an option to update Safari in the software updates window.

Thanks Again!