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Safari 16.6 very slow to load pages on Mac OS Ventura

I resolved this issue, which many others have posted about, but all the posts are too old to permit further replies. I am sharing the solution here, in case others have tried everything else. It seems specific to Virgin Media's broadband service.

Safari started taking a very long time to load web pages (e.g. 45 seconds to load the Google search page). I tried all the troubleshooting steps suggested in posts here and in Apple Support articles and spent about three hours working with Apple Support, but nothing worked. We finally discovered, by switching from Wi-Fi to a mobile personal hot spot, that the problem was with my network. I had recently upgraded my broadband service with Virgin Media, which was very fast for Safari on my phone and iPad, but very slow on my Mac.

THE SOLUTION was to go to System Settings | Network | Wi-Fi | Details | Proxies and switch OFF "Auto proxy discovery".

I found this solution on a Virgin Media Communities post. Apparently, "Auto proxy discovery" on Virgin Media's network wreaks havoc with Safari on a Mac. It causes no issue with Chrome or other browsers, nor with other broadband providers. The senior Apple Support technician said it is not the default for that setting to be turned on, and it's no problem to turn it off. It fixed the problem, and now web pages load instantly in Safari.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 13.5

Posted on Sep 2, 2023 11:59 AM

Fix Safari Slow Page Loading Issue in Mac

Safari is the default browser in macOS for browsing and viewing certain type of web files like CSS. The performance of Safari will be very good when the Mac is new but over the period of time undoubtedly the pages will start loading very slowly. Notably, the same page loading slow in Safari will load very fast on other browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox on the same Mac.

How to Fix Safari Slow Loading Pages in Mac?

After trying out with multiple tricks, here are consolidated list of tips for improving the page loading speed with Safari.

1. Change DNS

Though DNS servers are not directly related to the browser as such, one of the main reasons for slow page loading is the caching problems due to DNS servers. Safari obtains DNS servers from your ISP’s through default settings. You can change the DNS servers to any reliable public servers like Google Public DNS servers and try loading the page again. Learn more about changing DNS in macOS .

Note: Remember to clear your browser’s cache after changing DNS server settings.

2. Switch Off DNS Prefetching

Besides DNS servers, Safari also do DNS prefetching to resolve the domain names to IP addresses for all resources on a webpage. For example, if a page has 10 links and 3 images, then Safari proactively will try to get the server IP address of each of the links and images (10 + 3). This will help to load the links and images faster if clicked upon, but may cause slow loading of the current page you are trying to view. So you can disable the DNS prefetching option and check whether the page can be loaded faster. In Mac the DNS prefetching needs to be disabled using “ Terminal ” application as explained below:

Open “Terminal”, paste the below command and press enter.

This will disable DNS prefetching and you can enable it anytime later using the command:

Learn more Safari tips to improve daily productivity .

3. Change IPv6 Settings

Generally, IPv6 is configured as “ Automatically ” which you can change to “ Link-local only ” and check the page speed. You can change the IPv6 settings:

Go to “ Apple menu > System Settings… > Network ” section.
Click the connected “Wi-Fi” item and then click “Details” button.

Go to “TCP/IP” section, click the dropdown against “Configure IPv6” and select “Local-Link Only” option.

You should have admin access to access network settings details in a Mac.

4. Disable Low Data and Limit IP Tracking Mode

Low data mode helps to restrict the data usage while limiting IP tracking helps to protect the privacy by hiding your IP address from trackers. You can disable these settings and check if that fix slow page loading issue in Safari.

Go to “Apple menu > System Settings… > Network” section.
Click “Wi-Fi” option and then click the “Details” button against the currently connected Wi-Fi network.
On the pop-up, disable “Low data mode” and “Limit IP address tracking” options.

5. Create a New Profile

Webpages may load slowly if your current Safari profile data is corrupted. You can create a new profile and browse the pages to check if that helps to fix the issue. Go to “Safari > Settings… > Profiles” and click on “Start Using Profiles” button to create a new profile in Mac Safari .

6. Delete Safari Property File

Safari uses a property file to control the settings and the corrupted property file may also cause slow loading of web pages. You can delete the file and check whether the pages can be loaded faster. In order to delete the property file, launch “ Finder ”, press “ Command + Shift + G ” and go to “ ~/Library/Preferences ” folder. Find the file “ com.apple.Safari.plist ” and delete it.

Note: Safari will automatically regenerate this preferences file when you open next time.

7. Clear History and Website Data [Reset Safari]

The older version of Safari has a exclusive option called “Reset Safari” to make the browser to its initial factory settings. But this option was removed and no more available in later versions. Now the resetting has lengthy process of removing the cache, history and other saved data.

The browsing history and cache from Safari may sometime causes slow page loading. You can clear the history under the menu “ History > Clear History… ”. Webpages will tend to load slower after cleaning up the history as the cached scripts and CSS files were removed from the temporary browser storage. Hence, conclude the speed after using sometime instead of deciding immediately after clearing the history. You can also set how long Safari should keep your history under “Safari > Settings… > General” section. Click the dropdown against “Remove history items” and select a day, week or month option. Keeping prolonged history for month or year will affect the loading speed as webpages might have changed during that time. Similarly you can also set the time for removing downloaded items from Safari to keep your Mac clean.

Set Time for Remove History Items in Safari

In order to cleanup the cache, you should first enable “Develop” menu in Safari. Go to menu “Safari > Preferences” and navigate to “Advanced” section. Enable the checkbox “Show Develop menu in the menu bar” option. Learn more tips for developers in Safari .

Once the “Develop” menu is enabled, you can clear the cache by going to the menu item “Develop > Empty Caches”.

8. Disable Safari AutoFill

AutoFill enables you to store the data like usernames and password and fetch them when the page is loaded on Safari. You can disable this feature by navigating to “ Safari > Preferences ” and disable all AutoFill web forms options under “ AutoFill ” tab.

9. Disable or Uninstall Safari Extensions

Extensions are external program affecting Safari’s behavior thus have a chance to slow down the performance.

Check installed extensions by navigating to “ Safari > Settings… ” menu and go to “Extensions” tab.
Uncheck the extension name to disable it. Otherwise, choose the extension and click the “Edit Websites…” button. It will take you to the “Websites” tab where you can remove the sites on which you don’t want the extension to work.
Alternatively, click “Uninstall” button to delete the extension completely and check if that helps to load the pages fast.

Note: You can also disable all extensions to check the page loading speed and then enable one by one to find which plugin is causing the issue.

10. Disable Content Blockers

Content blockers in Safari allow to disable advertisements and other distracting elements on webpages. However, this can sometime affect the page and loading speed. Go to “Safari > Settings… > Websites > Content Blockers” section. Select the items in the list and remove them.

11. Check Memory Usage

All applications including Safari will be slow when your Mac is running out of memory. There are free apps to check the memory consumption and release the locked memory. These cleaning apps will also show which applications consuming more memory. You can check and close those high memory consuming apps when you are using Safari.

12. Change Search Engine

The default search engine in Safari will vary depending on your country. It is worth to change the default search engines to different one and check the page loading speed is getting affected. You can change the search engine by going to preferences and under the “Search” tab.

13. Delete Other Browser Apps like Chrome

Google Chrome is undoubtedly a wonderful browser on Windows based platforms. But on Mac it is popular for consuming more resources and slowing down the performance. Especially when you have Chrome and Safari installed on your Mac, you can expect the dead performance from Safari. As Safari is a platform dependent browser only works on Apple platforms, we highly recommend using it as a default browser on your Mac. Delete any other browsers like Google Chrome and restart the Mac to give a try on Safari. Below is the “ Activity Monitor ” status showing the memory usage of Chrome and Safari when the same webpages are opened.

14. Keep the Updated Safari and macOS Version

Above all the points, ensure to update the OS and Safari to the latest versions. The latest Safari version has additional options to improve the performance of page loading compared to previous versions. For example, latest Safari version will stop the automatic playing videos with audio which essentially will improve the loading speed of the pages with embedded videos.

15. Check Errors on SSD Drive

Low storage space not only slow down Safari but the entire Mac. So, ensure to have sufficient storage space on your Mac. Besides the space, there could be errors on the volume which might cause glitches. Go to “Disk Utility” application and use the “First Aid” option to check the errors on your volume. It will also repair the errors so that you can check that helps to load the pages faster.

16. Disable Safari Suggestions

Safari will show suggestions and preload websites to help you finding the content quickly. However, these stuffs may affect the overall performance and you can disable them safely. Go to “Safari > Settings… > Search” section and disable the following items against “Smart Search Field” heading:

Include Safari Suggestions
Enable Quick Website Search
Preload Top Hit in background

17. Use Empty Home Page and New Tab Page

Some users open Safari with all previously accessed websites. This will obviously reduce the initial loading speed if you have too many tabs to open. Similarly, keeping too many shortcut icons on the browser will not only clutter the home and new tab pages but also affect browser’s performance. You can easily change the setup to open Safari in a new window and use empty page to keep a clean home and new tab pages. Go to “Safari > Settings… > General” section and select the followings:

Safari opens with – A new window
New windows open with – Empty Page
New tabs open with – Empty Page

18. Check Your Network

Sometimes, slow network could be the root cause for slowing things down:

Check your router works properly by removing the power cable and restarting.
Check with your ISP whether they had done any changes in network settings.
Ensure the site or any of the services on the site is not blocked in your country or by your ISP. For example, Google services are blocked in some countries and opening a webpage calling any of the Google services like fonts and JavaScript library links may cause delay in loading the page. In this case, Safari as a browser will not have any influence on slow page loading.

19. Change Network Service Order

The latest versions of MacBook do not have Ethernet port, hence you only have Wi-Fi option. But on the older version, you still have Ethernet and Wi-Fi . In this case, there could be connection problem when you connected to internet via both cable and wireless which may cause slow loading of webpages. You can decide which network you prefer when multiple networks are connected in your network settings.

Go to “Apple” icon on the left top corner and then to “System Preferences… > Network” section. First click on the lock pad saying “Click the lock to prevent further changes”, enter your admin password to enable editing. Select any of the network, click on the gear icon and click “Set Service Order” option.

You will see another popup screen in which you can drag the order of your network. After changing the order click “OK” button and then click “Apply” button to save the changes.

Wrapping Up

We hope one of the above mentioned solutions should fix Safari slow loading pages on your Mac. Also, we strongly recommend to upgrade to the latest browser and OS versions. If nothing worked out for you then contact Apple support team and check with them about your issue.

About Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WebNots are team of experts who love to build websites, find tech hacks and share the learning with community.

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31 Comments

Leave your reply..

I’ve solved similar problems by just disabling an option in the network preference. namely, Uncheck “Limit IP Address Tracking” Just in case, try this!

I forgot to say that I’ve also disable the option of Safari Preference> Privacy> Hide IP Address, which probably controls the same action.

When I updated to Safari 13.1.2 it would now take forever to startup. I disabled the extensions. Now Safari starts instantaneously. No idea why extensions suddenly had this effect. No problems using Safari without them ;-)

Tried these tips but it doesn’t help out much, might be domain issue from my location. I appreciate your help, thanks WebNots.

I’ve tried this and other procedures for speeding up Safari—without success—and finally found one the sped it up 500%. I changed the default search engine from Google to DuckDuckGo.

Mostly, I don’t load pages from the URL (who does?) but via Google. And it’s Google that’s been slowing things down.

Give a try.

I dont believe having chrome or any other browser on my computer with them not being open has any effect on safari. Agreed Chrome takes a lot more resources than safari but not if it is open so deleting them makes no sense.

The worst problem is the latest firefox is much faster and uses less resources than safari. I open a folder every day with about 15 websites on it. Safari chokes on it, Firefox runs it with no problem. I can see the usage direclty via iStat.

I want safari to work so im trying some of your ideas (ive tried the rest without any change to safari) like dns preloading. Hopefully they will help.

I had the same issue but a bug in Dropbox turned out the be the culprit. I had to limit Dropbox Upload bandwidth to 50KB (seems to go faster but nothing else works) to get any responsive network access at all. I’m on MacOS 10.13.6. Hope this helps anyone else.

Thanks for sharing, that should help someone looking for resolving this.

Thanks, man. You solved my problem. I’ve switched to DuckDuckGo search engine and installed its Safari extension. After I had read your article, I went ahead and removed that extension. And everything is flying again!

Thanks again! Cheers

That’s always problems with third-party extensions on browsers. Sometimes they are not updated and not compatible with the browser causing slowness.

In the point number 10 you’ve been a bit inaccurate and didn’t include the calculations of the safari tabs, they are not marked as Google does Google Chrome Helper, but instead, those are just a links like the ones visible on the screenshot you’ve provided. I some test on my iMac 2012 and will agree that native Safari feels better and consumes 30% less compared to the Chrome.

Thanks for your inputs. At the end, it is speed vs power and Chrome definitely loads the pages faster than Safari but consumes more power.

Just use Chrome. Its so much quicker than Safari its no comparison. Launches in a third the time. No stalls on loading web pages. No extensions problems with websites, compatible with YouTube. I switched a few years ago and never looked back.

Already explained about Chrome in the article, it consumes resources compared to Safari. But for a normal usage you will not find any difference.

Actually, right now I’m having better luck with Firefox. It’s not a hog like Chrome and it’s not getting hung up like Safari.

The Safari thing is still annoying, though.

I have no Safari plist in preferences. How odd is that?

The file should be there in the mentioned folder. Hope you are not searching using Spotlight search, it will not appear in the list if you do so. Go to the folder and look for the file.

I searched the Library folder, manually, more than once. There is no plist file.

same here. no such thing is found on that folder.

Same here. My list is sorted alphabetically and there’s nothing with Safari listed.

Number 4 is not possible on Mojave 10.14 or later, you will not find the plist in that location. It is located deep in another folder and has been hidden requiring you to disable SIP in order to remove it…

/Users/$USER/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist

seems easier just use Chrome

Chrome will consume lot of memory and CPU resources, also you will loose the native feel of using Mac.

#4 Worked ++++++

#4 (deleting safari preferences) seemed simplest and least disruptive, so I tried it first. It worked like a charm

Thanks for commenting and nice to see this helped you.

Apple also recommends upgrading router firmware or switching routers, and offers instructions for re-enabling DNS prefetching if a firmware update or router switch resolves the issue.

Thanks Dave for your inputs, it should be helpful for the those reading this article.

Thanks so much. I’ve been having this problem for a couple days. I really appreciate your help fixing it so I can get back to work! Kudos for you expertise.

My Macbook Air had similar problems loading images on certain websites like CNN and CNBC. Text would load with blank areas left for the missing images until they finally loaded as much as a minute later. I tried all of the techniques on this and other sites including loading a new copy of El Capitan (I did not wipe the drive first) with no success. I seem to have solved the problem by disconnecting from my Airport Extreme router and logging into a Personal Hotspot created with my iPhone 6S Plus. The sites loaded instantly when connected to my phone and continue to load instantly after I connected back to my Airport Extreme.

This is pretty easy to try if anyone else is having similar problems. Note that my Mac Mini connected to the same Airport Extreme worked fine through the whole time so I have no idea why this happened or why it now works.

Thanks for sharing, it should help someone.

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Troubleshooting Mac Issues

Why Is Safari Running Slow on Mac? 15 Ways to Fix

Hashir Ibrahim

Reviewed by

Last updated: September 25, 2023

Expert verified

Safari may run slowly on Mac due to opening too many tabs, using too many extensions, cache build-up, outdated Safari version, outdated macOS, slow internet connection, hardware limitations, and malware or adware.

Fixing these issues through updating software, managing tabs, clearing cache, and removing unnecessary extensions can improve Safari’s speed and performance on a Mac.

Managing open tabs and removing unnecessary extensions can free up valuable resources and enhance Safari’s performance.
Regularly updating Safari and macOS ensures optimal compatibility and access to performance improvements.
Clearing accumulated cache, cookies, and browsing history can give Safari a fresh start and improve loading times.
Advanced solutions like switching DNS providers and booting in Safe Mode can address more complex issues affecting Safari’s speed.

Ever found yourself drumming your fingers in frustration as Safari lags on your Mac? A slow browser can turn even the most basic online tasks into a tedious affair.

If Safari is running slow on your Mac, I’ve got your back. Dive into this guide to uncover the mysteries behind Safari running slow on Mac and explore practical solutions to get you back in the fast lane. Ready to turbocharge your browsing experience? Let’s get started!

Before We Begin

If you want to make Safari run faster on your Mac, download MacKeeper. This tool clears up RAM, removes unnecessary Safari extensions, deletes unneeded files, and more. All these features help speed up a slow-running Safari.

Why Is Safari Running Slow on Mac?

Safari running slow on Mac can be due to various reasons. Below, I’ve shared the most common reasons for Safari’s sluggishness on your Mac:

🖥️ Too Many Tabs or Windows Open : Having numerous tabs or windows open can consume a lot of memory and slow down Safari.
🧩 Heavy Use of Extensions : Some Safari extensions can use a lot of resources, causing the browser to slow down.
🍪 Cache and Browsing Data : Accumulated cache, cookies, and browsing history can impact Safari’s performance.
⌛ Outdated Safari Version : Running an outdated version of Safari can lead to performance issues.
🍎 Outdated macOS : An outdated operating system can cause compatibility issues and slow down Safari.
🌐 Internet Connection Issues : An unstable or slow internet connection on Mac can affect browsing speed.
💻 Hardware Limitations : Older Mac models with limited RAM and processing power may struggle to run Safari efficiently.
🦠 Malware or Adware : Malicious software can significantly degrade the performance of Safari.

Addressing these issues through updating software, managing tabs, clearing cache, and removing unnecessary extensions can improve Safari’s speed and performance on a Mac.

How to Fix Safari Running Slow on Mac

A sluggish Safari on your Mac can be quite a bottleneck, especially during important online tasks. The good news is, there’s no need to let a slow browser rain on your parade. In this section, I’ll walk you through various solutions to bring Safari back to its optimal speed.

Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of boosting your Safari browser’s performance on your Mac.

1. Check Your Internet Speed

Before diving into more complex solutions, ensuring that your internet connection isn’t the culprit behind Safari’s sluggishness is essential. A slow or unstable internet connection can significantly impact your browsing experience.

To test your internet connection, follow these steps:

Open Safari on your Mac.

Navigate to an online speed test tool like Speedtest.net .
Click the Go button to start the test.

on the speed test website click the go button

This will give you an idea of your current internet speed.
Pay attention to the download and upload speeds. If they are significantly lower than what your Internet plan promises, there might be an issue with your connection.
If your internet speed is slow, reset your router. Unplug it from the power source, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back in. Wait for it to restart and retest your internet speed.
If resetting doesn’t help, try moving closer to the router or removing any obstacles interfering with the signal.
If the above steps don’t improve your internet speed, it might be time to contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for further assistance.

2. Force Close and Relaunch Safari

At times, Safari or any of its tabs might encounter errors or issues that consume excessive system resources, leading to slowdowns. Force closing and re-launching Safari can terminate these problematic processes and give the browser a fresh start.

Here’s how to force quit Safari and relaunch it on your Mac:

Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen and select Force Quit from the drop-down menu.

In the new window, select Safari and click the Force Quit button.

Click Force Quit on the pop-up.

click force quit on the pop up to close safari

After force-closing Safari, wait for a few moments to let the system properly terminate all processes related to the browser.
Find the Safari icon in your Dock and click it to re-launch the browser.
Check if the performance has improved.

3. Close Unwanted Tabs

Each open tab in Safari consumes your Mac’s memory and processing power. Having multiple tabs open, especially those with heavy content or active scripts, can significantly slow down the browser and even the entire system.

Closing unnecessary tabs can free up valuable resources and enhance Safari’s performance. Here’s how to go about it:

Take a look at all the tabs you have open in Safari. Identify which ones are not currently needed or are consuming significant resources.
Click the small x icon on the left of each tab you wish to close.

Alternatively, you can close an active tab using a Mac keyboard shortcut : Command ⌘ + W .

You can also right-click a tab and select Close Tab from the context menu.
After closing unwanted tabs, check if Safari’s performance has improved.

4. Clear Safari History

Over time, Safari accumulates a history of the websites you’ve visited, cached files, and cookies. While these elements are designed to speed up page loading times, they can also clutter your browser and consume system resources, leading to slowdowns.

Clearing your browsing history can give Safari a fresh start and potentially improve its performance. Here’s how to delete Safari’s history on Mac :

If not already open, launch the Safari browser on your Mac.
Click the Safari menu item at the top left of your screen. From the drop-down menu, select Settings .

click safari in the top menu bar and select settings

Select the Advanced tab and check the box next to the Show Develop menu in menu bar if it is unchecked.

check the box next to the show develop menu in menu bar

Return to the menu bar, click Develop , and select Empty Caches from this drop-down list.

After clearing the history, navigate through various websites to check if there is an improvement in Safari’s speed and responsiveness.

5. Clear Safari Cache and Cookies

The cache stores temporary files from websites to help pages load faster in future visits, while cookies save small pieces of information like login details. Over time, these stored files can accumulate and cause Safari to slow down.

Clearing the browser cache on your Mac can free up storage and improve browser speed. Here’s how to clear Safari cache on your Mac :

Launch Safari and click Safari in the top menu bar, then select Settings from the drop-down menu.
In the Settings window, select the Privacy tab and click Manage Website Data .

select the privacy tab and tap the manage website data button

A new window will open, showing a list of websites storing data.
Click Remove All to clear all cookies and cached data. Confirm the action when prompted.

After completing these steps, browse through different websites and assess whether Safari’s performance has improved.

6. Delete Unwanted Extensions

Extensions are additional features or functionalities added to Safari to enhance user experience. However, some extensions can be resource-intensive, causing the browser to slow down. Removing unnecessary or problematic extensions can help in optimizing Safari’s speed.

Here’s how you can delete unwanted extensions on Mac :

Open Safari on your Mac, click the Safari menu in the menu bar and select Settings .
Click the Extensions tab to view all the installed extensions.

click on the extensions tab to view all the installed extensions

Find the extension you want to remove and click it.

find the extension you want to remove and click on it

Click the Uninstall button to confirm that you want to remove the extension.

click the uninstall button to confirm that you want to remove

Alternatively, you can use MacKeeper to remove unwanted extensions from Safari. Here are the steps to follow:

Download and install MacKeeper on your Mac.
Open MacKeeper and click the Smart Uninstaller option in the left sidebar.

click smart uninstaller in the left sidebar

Click the Start Scan button to scan your computer for installed browser extensions.

Once the scan is complete, click Browser Extensions in the left sidebar and locate the extension you want to remove from the list.

click browser extensions in the left sidebar

Click the checkbox next to the extension you want to remove and tap Remove Selected .

check the extension you want to delete and tap remove selected

Confirm the action by clicking the Remove button in the confirmation dialog box.

Wait for the uninstallation process to complete.
Restart your browser to ensure the extension has been completely removed.

7. Disable Search Engine Suggestions

Search engine suggestions are generated in real-time as you type into the search bar, which can sometimes slow down Safari, especially on slower internet connections or older Mac models. Disabling this feature can reduce the load on Safari and potentially improve its speed.

Here’s how you can disable search engine suggestions on Safari:

Launch Safari, click Safari in the menu bar and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
In the Settings window, click the Search tab.
Uncheck the box next to Include search engine suggestions to disable the feature.

disable search engine suggestions in safari settings

Close the Settings window and test Safari by typing into the search bar to see if there is an improvement in responsiveness.

8. Disable Autofill

Autofill automatically completes forms using stored information, which, while convenient, can sometimes cause Safari to lag, especially if there’s a lot of data stored. Disabling this feature can help Safari run more smoothly.

Here’s how you can disable Autofill on Safari:

In the Settings window, click the Autofill tab.
You will see several options for different types of information that Safari can autofill. Uncheck the boxes next to the types of information you don’t want Safari to autofill.

disable autofill options in safari settings

After making the changes, close the window and restart Safari to apply the adjustments.
With Autofill disabled, navigate to various websites with forms and assess whether there’s an improvement in Safari’s speed and responsiveness.

9. Update Safari

Running an outdated version of Safari can lead to performance issues, as updates often include optimizations and fixes for known bugs. Ensuring Safari is up-to-date can help resolve slowdowns and enhance browser stability.

Here’s how you can update Safari on Mac:

Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen and select App Store from the drop-down menu.

click the apple menu and select app store

In the App Store, click the Updates tab to view available app updates.

Scroll through the list of updates and look for Safari. If an update is available, it will be listed here.
Click the Update button next to Safari to download and install the latest version.

Once the update is complete, close and restart Safari to apply the changes.
After updating Safari, navigate different websites and assess whether the browser’s performance has improved.

10. Disable DNS Prefetching

DNS prefetching is a feature that pre-resolves domain names before you click a link, aiming to improve page load times. However, this feature can cause Safari to slow down or become unresponsive on some networks. Disabling it can help alleviate these issues.

Here’s how you can disable DNS prefetching:

Navigate to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal to open the Terminal application on your Mac.

In the Terminal window, type the following command and press Enter :

type a command to disable dns prefetching

Close open Safari windows and relaunch the browser to apply the changes.
Navigate through various websites and evaluate whether disabling DNS prefetching has improved Safari’s speed and responsiveness.

11. Switch DNS Provider

The Domain Name System (DNS) translates website names to IP addresses. Sometimes, the default DNS servers provided by your ISP may be slow or overloaded, affecting your browsing speed. Switching to a faster, more reliable DNS provider can enhance your internet speed and Safari’s performance.

Here’s how you can switch your DNS provider:

Click the Apple logo and select System Settings from the drop-down menu.

In the System Settings window, click Network to access your network settings.

In the Network settings window, click Wi-Fi and tap the Details button next to your active Internet connection.

click on details in front of wifi causing issue

Click the DNS tab in the Advanced Settings window.

in the advanced wi fi settings window select the dns tab

Click the + button below the DNS Servers box.

click the button located below the dns servers box

IPv4 addresses: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
IPv6 addresses (if your network supports it): 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844
If there are existing DNS servers listed, make sure the Google DNS addresses are at the top of the list. You can click and drag the entries to reorder them.
Click the OK button in the DNS Servers window to save the changes.

After switching the DNS provider, open Safari and browse through different websites to check if there’s an improvement in speed and responsiveness.

12. Kill Resource-intensive Processes

Some processes running on your Mac can consume a significant amount of system resources, affecting the overall performance of your computer and, consequently, Safari. Identifying and terminating these resource-intensive processes can free up system resources and improve Safari’s responsiveness.

Here’s how you can kill resource-intensive processes on your Mac :

Open Activity Monitor by going to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor .

In Activity Monitor, you’ll see a list of active processes sorted by their usage of system resources such as CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, Network, or Cache .
Identify the background process you want to terminate by browsing the list or using the search box at the top-right corner.

Select the process you want to terminate to highlight it, and click the X button in the top toolbar.

click x in the top bar to close a program

Click the Quit button in the confirmation window to terminate the selected process.

click quit on the activity monitor pop up

Alternatively, you can use MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner to free up RAM on your Mac and kill background processes. Here’s how:

Open MacKeeper and click Memory Cleaner under the Performance tab.

Click Open .

Click Clean Memory .

It will clean your Mac and free up available memory. You can see how much memory it freed under Last Cleanup .

13. Reset Safari to Factory Defaults

Resetting Safari to factory defaults will remove all your settings, history, bookmarks, and other data. It’s like starting fresh with Safari, which can be helpful if the browser’s performance is severely affected by configurations or corrupted data.

Here’s how you can reset Safari to factory defaults:

Before resetting, backup your bookmarks, saved passwords, and any other important data from Safari.
Navigate to the Extensions tab and uninstall all extensions.
Then, go to the Privacy tab and click Manage Website Data to remove all website data.
Close Safari.
Open Finder, click Go , and select Go to Folder .

click go in the menu bar and select go to folder

Type the following path and press Enter :

type library preferences directory in the box

Locate the file named com.apple.Safari.plist and move it to the Bin.

drag the com apple safari plist file to the bin

Open Safari again. It should now be reset to its factory defaults.

14. Scan Your Mac for Virus

Malware and viruses can significantly degrade the performance of your Mac and affect Safari’s functionality. Running a thorough virus scan can identify and remove malicious software, potentially resolving any slowdowns in Safari.

Here’s how to run a virus scan on your Mac using MacKeeper:

Download and install MacKeeper.
Launch MacKeeper and navigate to the Antivirus tab in the left sidebar.

click antivirus under the security section

Initiate an instant virus scan by clicking the Start Scan button.

If any viruses are detected during the scan, click the Fix Items button to resolve the issues.
If your system is threat-free, you’ll see a No threats found message. You can tap the Restart button to run the scan again.

Enable real-time antivirus protection to safeguard your Mac from future threats by clicking the Enable button.

click enable to allow real time protection

Once you have configured your security settings, MacKeeper will continue to operate in the background, diligently scanning for threats and actively blocking any malicious activity.

What Else Can MacKeeper Do?

Besides removing browser extensions from Mac and scanning it for viruses, MacKeeper can remove junk files , uninstall applications , and optimize Mac storage . Check out my in-depth MacKeeper review to learn about all its features.

15. Boot Your Mac Into Safe Mode

Safe Mode starts your Mac in a basic state with only the essential system software. It checks for issues and deletes certain system caches, potentially resolving Safari’s performance problems.

Here’s how to boot your Mac in Safe Mode :

Apple Silicon Macs

Click the Apple icon and choose Shut Down from the drop-down menu.

Wait for your Mac to shut down completely, and press the Power button to turn it on.

Keep holding the Power button until you see the Loading startup options screen.

Select a volume from the options.

Press and hold the Shift ⇧ key and click Continue in Safe Mode .

Your Mac will restart automatically, and you will see Safe Boot in the menu bar when the login screen appears.

Intel-Based Macs

Restart or turn on your Mac and press and hold the Shift ⇧ key immediately.
Keep holding the Shift ⇧ key until you see the login screen.
Release the Shift ⇧ key and log in to your Mac.
You may be asked to log in again.
You’ll see Safe Boot in the menu bar on your first or second login window.

Open Safari and navigate through various websites to assess whether the browser’s performance has improved in Safe Mode. After checking Safari’s performance, restart your Mac normally without holding any keys. This will exit Safe Mode.

Speed Up Safari on Your Mac

Navigating through a sluggish Safari can be a test of patience, but armed with the solutions outlined in this guide, you’re well-equipped to tackle any slowdowns head-on. To improve your Safai experience further, here are some more tips for you:

If your Safari bookmarks disappeared on Mac , many ways exist to restore them without panicking.
If you don’t want Safari to keep your browsing history, go incognito on a Mac in Safari browser .
Some pop-ups can be a nuisance and slow down your browser. So, disable unnecessary pop-ups on Safari and improve its speed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will i lose important data by resetting safari to factory defaults.

Yes, you will lose data by resetting Safari to factory defaults. It erases all your settings, history, bookmarks, and saved passwords, so back up important data like bookmarks and passwords before resetting to avoid losing valuable information. After the reset, you can restore the backed-up data as needed.

Is it safe to switch to a different DNS provider?

Yes, it is safe to switch to a different DNS provider like Google DNS or OpenDNS. It can even improve your internet speed and security. However, it’s crucial to ensure the DNS addresses are correct and from a trustworthy source to avoid any connectivity or security issues.

How often should I scan my Mac for viruses to maintain Safari’s performance?

You should regularly scan your Mac for viruses to maintain Safari’s performance. Ideally, once a week or monthly is advisable, but the frequency can vary based on your internet habits, the websites you frequent, and the types of files you download. Regular scans detect and remove malicious software promptly.

I'm Hashir, a tech journalist with a decade of experience. My work has been featured in some of the top tech publications like MakeUseOf and MakeTechEasier. I have a bachelor's degree in IT, a master's in cybersecurity, and extensive knowledge of Apple hardware, specifically MacBooks. As the senior writer at MacBook Journal, I write in depth guides that help you solve any issues you have with your mac and unbiased reviews that help you make the right buying decisions.

Hi there! I'm Ojash, a tech journalist with over a decade of experience in the industry. I've had the privilege of contributing to some of the world's largest tech publications, making my mark as a respected Mac expert. My passion lies in exploring, using, and writing about MacBooks, and I enjoy sharing my expertise to help others make informed decisions and get the most out of their MacBook experience. Join me as we delve into the fascinating world of MacBooks together!

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Web Performance Monitoring

Page Load Time Explained: What Is It And How To Optimize It

Delivering a fast and seamless website is essential for ensuring an excellent end-user experience. Amazon's famous study found that every 100 ms of added latency cost them 1% in sales . This is why numerous resources are available on the topic, and companies often invest significant resources in optimizing their websites.

Tools like Cronitor RUM help you understand your website's speed by measuring the performance of every page view. You can filter data by country or page to analyze it more thoroughly. In addition to measuring website traffic, you can also set up page speed alerts and get notified when your website is underperforming.

What is Page Load Time?

Page load time is the duration it takes for a web page to load and display all its content in the user's browser, from the initial request to the final rendering. A website's load time significantly affects user satisfaction, engagement, and conversion rates. A fast-loading website provides a seamless user experience, while a slow-loading site can lead to user frustration and, ultimately, users leaving the site.

However, it's important to understand that the page load time only measures the time it took to initially load a site - it doesn't measure requests that happen after the initial load (e.g., fetch requests or async scripts).

In other words, once the page has loaded and a visitor starts interacting with your page, no additional measurements are made as it's not considered part of the initial page load.

How does the browser load a web page?

When a user clicks on a link, the web browser starts a multi-step process to load all synchronous resources required to show the web page on the screen. This process is what's counted towards the page load time of a site.

The longer this process takes, the longer a visitor must wait to interact with the website.

Here is a simplified view of what happens when someone opens your website:

The page load begins when a user initiates the navigation . For example when typing your website's URL in the browser or clicking on a link.

The browser queues the request , and tries to resolve the domain name for the URL. It then attempts to establish a secure connection to your server, and sends the request.

Your server processes the request . This step includes all server side logic (e.g. database queries, rendering the HTML), and your server begins sending the response back to the browser.

The browser parses the HTML, and renders the web page to the user. This initial HTML may initiate further resource requests, such as stylesheets, Javascript files, images, etc.

Once all synchronous resources have been loaded and rendered into the browser window, a page load event is fired , marking the completion on the web page load for your visitor.

Averages vs percentiles

Your page load time, as well as other performance metrics, are usually presented as averages and percentiles (eg. p50, p75, p95, p99).

Page Load Average : This is the average page load time. It's usually a good enough metric to quickly tell you how fast or slow your overall performance is. However, averages can be misleading because they "hide" outliers - they are far from the full picture - and that's why we also include percentiles as explained below.

50th Percentile (p50) : It indicates that 50% of the page views are accounted for in the value shown. For example a p50 of 2 seconds means that half the users experienced a load time longer than 2 seconds.

75th Percentile (p75) : It indicates that 75% of the page views are accounted for in the value shown. For example a p75 of 3 seconds means that 75% of the users had a load time of 3 seconds or less (or 25% of the users experienced a load time longer than 3 seconds).

95th Percentile (p95) : It indicates that 95% of the page views are accounted for in the value shown. For example a p95 of 5 seconds means that 95% of the users had a load time of 5 seconds or less (only 5% of the users experienced a load time longer than 5 seconds).

Browser timings: network, backend and frontend

In tools like Cronitor RUM, you can also aggregate the page load time by stage. This helps you to understand where most of the time is spent during the page load process.

Backend: An approximation for the time your backend server took processing the request, and preparing the response. We use the time to first byte (TTFB) as a proxy for your server response time.

This corresponds to the time it took from sending the request, to when the first byte of the response arrived back from the server.

Network: Time spent on network related phases. These can vary greatly based on the connection speed that a visitor has, the type of connection (e.g. cable, 3G, 4G, 5G), etc.

The network phase includes the following steps:

Establishing connection to server
Downloading response from the server

Frontend: This metric tells you how much time was spent on parsing the server response, preparing the page resources and rendering them to the visitor's browser.

For example, the DOM processing and rendering stages are counted as part of the time spent on the frontend.

How to speed up page load time

In case you're looking to further improve your site's speed and end user experience, you should look into keeping your page load time to a minimum.

Here's some general recommendations to help you speed up your website:

Compress your resources using gzip or Brotli if available on your web server.
Bundle static assets using tools like Webpack , to reduce the number of HTTP requests.
Set cache headers whenever possible to avoid unnecessary HTTP requests between page loads.
Consider using a CDN to cache static assets at the edge.
Use defer or async for non-essential HTML script tags (eg. analytics). This avoids blocking render during the initial page load.

Additionally, you might want to check out our introduction to Core Web Vitals - a new set of standards proposed by Google which paint a more complete picture about the end user performance. After all, page load time is just one of many factors that affect your site's end user experience.

Optimizing page load time is a critical aspect of delivering a satisfying user experience. As a developer, it's essential to be aware of the various factors that impact load time and utilize best practices to improve your website's performance.

By leveraging tools like Cronitor RUM, you can gain valuable insights into your website's speed and take informed decisions to enhance its performance.

Remember, a fast website not only keeps users engaged but also contributes to better search engine rankings and higher conversion rates. Continuously monitoring and optimizing your website's performance metrics will ensure that you deliver a seamless experience to your users even as you deploy changes over time.

Why Is Safari So Slow? Top Fixes to Speed up Browsing!

Written By Jordan Baldo

Last updated: January 6, 2024

Almighty writing expert who is proficient in analyzing Mac issues and providing efficient solutions.

Just like any other browsers, Safari also has a DNS prefetching which makes your browsing experience faster. Once that it is working well when you click on a website and your browser already knows the IP address then it is ready to load the web page. This actually means a fast response.

However, you may encounter the issue that Safari slow to load . There are instances that once that Safari loads a website, the page might appear ready. But then, when you try to move it up and down, you will just see a spinning cursor. It may be caused by your system running out of application memory , or other various reasons.

Also, you will be able to notice that the refresh button is also just spinning as well. If you are experiencing this on your Safari browser, then this only means that the page was rendered successfully but there is something that is preventing it to respond.

People Also Read: Top Solutions to Firefox Keeps Crashing on Mac

Contents: Part 1. Why Is Safari So Slow on Mac and How to Fix It? Part 2. What Can You Do If Safari Slow to Load? Part 3. In Conclusion

Part 1. Why Is Safari So Slow on Mac and How to Fix It?

It is not only MacBook would run slow as time goes by, but Safari would also be slower. As we also know, Safari is actually not the fastest browser and it can get sluggish.

This is because of several reasons as to why is safari so slow or sometimes it is freezing:

There are too much data and cache on Safari.
Corrupted preferences.
Extensions that have bugs.
Autofill data.
You have outdated plugins like Java and Flash.
Safari slow after Catalina update.

For you to know some of the reasons why you are experiencing this, we have listed below some of the main causes and as well as the fix for each of the causes listed below.

Reason 1. There Are Too Much Data and Cache on Safari

Your safari browser actually stores information of all the website that you have visited so if you are an average type of user then there might be a lot of data stored in your Safari browser.

Aside from the stored website that you visited, there are also other aspects like HTML files, and images that are all saved in your cache which is actually another burden for the browser resulting in a slow response whenever you try to use it. Here is the fix for this.

How to Clear Your Browser’s History and Cache：

PowerMyMac's Privacy is one of the best browser cleaners today. This is the perfect tool that you can use for you to improve your online experience when using your Safari browser. It can clean up your junk files, cookies, and your history on your browser . It can also remove any deceleration reasons and can clear up privacy traces for you to help protect your confidential data.

Here is how to use the iMyMac PowerMyMac 's Privacy:

Download PowerMyMac then have it installed on your Mac.
Launch the program to choose Privacy and scan your browsing data.
Once that the scanning process is complete, you will see a list of browsers that you have on your Mac.
Choose Safari and select the browser cache, histories, browser cookies that you want to clean up .
Click on the CLEAN button and PowerMyMac will begin to clean up your Safari browser.

If you need the manual methods to fix Safari slow to load, we also provide:

Clear your Safari’s history:

Launch your Safari browser on your Mac.
Then click on History in the menu bar.
Choose the Clear History option
Choose the time span and then click on the Clear History button again.

Doing the steps above can help you clear out your history in your Safari browser. However, if in case you do not want to lose your browser’s history and you only want to get rid of your cache, then here is what you should do.

Launch your Safari browser on your Mac
Click on Safari in the menu bar.
Then, click on Preferences
Choose the Advanced tab.
Then put a checkmark on the Show Development menu in your menu bar.
Click on Develop from the menu bar.
After that, choose Empty Cache.

Tip: In case the Safari is quite slow and you want to uninstall it and then reinstall it again, you can also use this app uninstaller to completely remove it .

Reason 2. Corrupted Preferences

Once that you have assigned a homepage or search engine or if you choose where you would want to save all your downloads from your Safari browser, it is all stored in a preference file.

Because of this, once that this file becomes corrupted, then this will start an issue on your browser. If you are experiencing any issues in using your Safari browsers such as lags or freezing, then there is a tendency that the problem is with preference. Here is how you can fix this.

How to Remove Your Preference File?

Here, once that you have deleted those corrupted preference file, then your browser can easily generate a new one. Here is how you can do this.

Close your Safari browser.
Launch Finder on your Mac and use these keys: Command + Shift + G .
Then enter the following in the pop-up and press Enter: ~/Library/Preference/
Then, go ahead and look for the file name “ com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing.plist ” and then click Delete.

Reason 3. Extensions That HaveBugs

Your extension has a lot of extras in your Safari browser such as it stored passwords or it can translate words with just a single click. However, since it is a third-party add-on, then this could have an effect on the performance of your Safari browser.

How to Delete your extensions?

For you to be able to determine which is causing a problem to your Safari browser, go ahead and run a test. Here is how.

Choose Safari in your menu bar.
Choose Preferences.
And then, choose the Extension tab.
Uncheck all the extensions one by one and find out if the problem will be gone.
Once that you have determined the problem, just go ahead and click on the Uninstall button beside the extension in the Preference tab.

Reason 4. Autofill Data

Autofill is one of the handiest features especially when it comes to your passwords and phone number. But, if you have tons of data in your autofill, then there is a chance that your Safari might freeze up. For this, you can just simply turn it off or you can disable those that you do not need.

How to Remove Autofill History？

Here is how you can manage your autofill.

Launch the Safari browser on your Mac.
Then click on Preferences in the menu bar.
Then choose the Autofill tab.

From the autofill tab, you will be able to disable any user for your Autofill. Just go ahead and click on the Edit button and you will be able to see all the data that is stored in your autofill. From there, just go ahead and delete the autofill that you no longer want and need.

Reason 5. You have Outdated Plugins like Java and Flash

As what we all know, several websites actually require you to have a Flash or Java on your Safari browser for you to be able to play videos or any animated content on the website that you are visiting.

However, once you have an outdated plugin on our Safari, then this could affect the performance of your browser.

How to Update Your Java and Flash Player？

Now, this is a very simple solution. Since you have an outdated Flash or Java, then all you need to do is to have it updated. For you update your Flash player to the most recent version, then the best way to do this is by going to the Adobe’s website.

This is because once you visited their site, it will immediately identify if you have an updated or an outdated version of your Flash player.

For you to be able to update your Java, just go ahead and go to the Oracle’s website. From there, you will be able to see if you have the updated version. If you do not have the updated version, then the website will give you instructions on what you should do.

Part 2. What Can You Do If Safari Slow to Load?

You may be so confused about the slow loading problem of Safari. Don't worry, you can check how to quickly and securely solve Safari slow to load below:

Change your search setting.
Change your network service order.
Turn off your dashboard.

Change Your Search Setting

This is one of the things that you can try once that you are experiencing that Safari Slow to load. Here is how you can change your search settings.

Launch Safari on your Mac and then go to the Preference tab.
After that, click on the Search tab.
Then, change your search engine into Bing.
After changing your search engine, close Safari and launch it again.
Check if there is any difference between its performance.
After that, do the same steps and change your search engine into Google.
Then, try to check it again.

Here, you can also uncheck all the options such as your search engine suggestions, Safari suggestions, quick website search and more. This is for you to be able to see any difference that will happen.

Change Your Network Service Order

If in case that you have a machine that is connected to your Wi-Fi and your Ethernet, then there is a possibility that the cause if you are connected to two different ways.

All you have to do here for you to check is go to your System Preference and then choose Networks. From there, go ahead and try to disconnect one of your network sources and try to run your Safari browser for you to see any difference.

Turn off Your Dashboard

If you are still using a 2010 Mac or earlier, then this could mean that you have a graphics card issue. Because of this, you can go ahead and try to use other things and see if it will help improve the performance of your Safari browser.

This is by disabling your Dashboard feature in your Mission Control Settings. For you to do this, just go ahead and launch your System Preferences. After that, go ahead and click on Mission Control. From the drop-down box located beside Dashboard, go ahead and toggle it off.

Part 3. In Conclusion

As you can see, there are many reasons as to why your safari running slow. Keep in mind that the Safari browser is just like those other browsers that you have installed in your Mac. It can also get stuffed. Besides that, you may also encounter Safari loading slow on your iPhone.

Once that a browser is full of all the activities that you made using your browser, then they are actually stored there and those will greatly affect the performance of your browser. Because of this, it is advisable for any Mac users to have a browser cleaner installed on their Mac to maintain the speed and high performance of the Safari browser so that you won't suffer Safari Slow to load.

PowerMyMac is clearly the most recommended software that you must have to maintain everything on your browser. This software does not just work on your Safari browser but it can also work with any browsers that you have or help remove Apps on Mac.

In other words, once that you have removed everything that is not needed in your browser, then this could be a great help with its performance.

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (based on 88 ratings)

Clean up and speed up your Mac with ease

Navigation and resource timings

Navigation timings are metrics measuring a browser's document navigation events. Resource timings are detailed network timing measurements regarding the loading of an application's resources. Both provide the same read-only properties, but navigation timing measures the main document's timings whereas the resource timing provides the times for all the assets or resources called in by that main document and the resources' requested resources.

The general performance timings below have been deprecated in favor of the Performance Entry API, which provides for marking and measuring times along the navigation and resource loading process. While deprecated, they are supported in all browsers.

Performance Timings

The performanceTiming API , a JavaScript API for measuring the loading performance of the requested page, is deprecated but supported in all browsers. It has been replaced with the performanceNavigationTiming API.

The performance timing API provided read only times, in milliseconds(ms), describing at what time each point in the page loading process was reached. As displayed in the image below, the navigation process goes from navigationStart , unloadEventStart , unloadEventEnd , redirectStart , redirectEnd , fetchStart , domainLookupStart , domainLookupEnd , connectStart , connectEnd , secureConnectionStart , requestStart , responseStart , responseEnd , domLoading , domInteractive , domContentLoadedEventStart , domContentLoadedEventEnd , domComplete , loadEventStart , and loadEventEnd .

With the metrics above, and a bit of math, we can calculate many important metrics like time to first byte , page load time, dns lookup, and whether the connection is secure.

To help measure the time it takes to complete all the steps, the Performance Timing API provides read only measurements of navigation timings. To view and capture our app's timing we enter:

We can then use the results to measure how well our app is performing.

entering window.performance.timing in the console lists all the timings in the PerformanceNavigationTiming interface

The order is:

Calculating timings

We can use these values to measure specific timings of interest:

Time to first byte

Time to First Byte is the time between the navigationStart (start of the navigation) and responseStart , (when the first byte of response data is received) available in the performanceTiming API:

Page load time

Page load time is the time between navigationStart and the start of when the load event is sent for the current document. They are only available in the performanceTiming API.

DNS lookup time

The DNS lookup time is the time between domainLookupStart and domainLookupEnd . These are both available in both the performanceTiming and performanceNavigationTiming APIs.

The time it takes for the TCP handshake is the time between the connection start and connection end:

TLS negotiation

secureConnectionStart will be undefined if not available, 0 if HTTPS in not used, or a timestamp if available, and used. In other words, if a secure connection was used, secureConnectionStart will be truthy , and the time between secureConnectionStart and requestStart will greater than 0.

Performance Entry API

The general performance timings above are deprecated but fully supported. We now have the Performance Entry API , which provides for marking and measuring times along the navigation and resource loading process. You can also create marks:

In supporting browsers, you can use performance.getEntriesByType('paint') to query the measure for first-paint and first-contentful-paint . We use performance.getEntriesByType('navigation') and performance.getEntriesByType('resource') to query the navigation and resource timings respectively.

Navigation Timing

When a user requests a website or application, to populate the browser the user agent goes through a series of steps, including a DNS lookup, TCP handshake , and TLS negotiation, before the user agent makes the actual request and the servers return the requested assets. The browser then parses the content received, builds the DOM, CSSOM, accessibility, and render trees, eventually rendering the page. Once the user agent stops parsing the document, the user agent sets the document readiness to interactive . If there are deferred scripts needing to be parsed, it will do so, then fire the DOMContentLoaded , after which the readiness is set to complete . The Document can now handle post-load tasks, after which point the document is marked as completely loaded.

The performance.getEntriesByType('navigation') a returns an array of PerformanceEntry objects for the navigation type .

The results of when performance.getEntriesByType('navigation'); is entered into the console for this document

A lot can be garnered from these timing. In the above image, we see via the name property that the file being timed is this document For the rest of this explanation, we use the following variable:

We can check the protocol used by querying:

It returns the network protocol used to fetch the resource: in this case h2 for http/2 .

Compression

To get the compression savings percentage, we divide the transferSize by the decodedBodySize, and subtract that from 100%. We see a savings of over 74%.

We could have used

but using transferSize includes the overhead bytes.

For comparison, we can look at the network tab and see that we transferred 22.04KB for an uncompressed file size of 87.24KB.

View of the bytes transferred and the size via the network tab

If we do the math with these numbers, we get the same result: 1 - (22.04 / 87.24) = 0.747 . The navigation timings provide us a way to programmatically check transfer sizing and bandwidth savings.

Note that this is the size for this single document alone: for this resource alone, not for all the resources combined. However, the duration, load events and DOM related timings have to do with the entire navigation, not this single asset. Client-side web applications may seem faster than this one with transfer sizes under 10000 and decoded body sizes under 30000, but that doesn't mean JavaScript, CSS, or media assets aren't adding bloat. Checking compression ratios is important but ensure to also check duration and the time between when the DOMContentLoaded event ended and when the DOM is complete, as running JavaScript on the main thread for long periods of time can lead to a non-responsive user interface.

Request time

The API doesn't provide every measurement you may desire. For example, how long did the request take? We can use measurements we do have, to get our answer.

To measure the response time, subtract the request start time from the response start time. The request start is the moment immediately before the user agent starts requesting the resource from the server, or from relevant application caches or from local resources. The response start is the time immediately after the user agent's HTTP parser receives the first byte of the response from relevant application caches, or from local resources or from the server, which happens after the request is received and processed.

Load event duration

By subtracting the timestamp from immediately before the load event of the current document is fired from the time when the load event of the current document is completed, you can measure the duration of the load event.

DOMContentLoaded event

The DOMContentLoaded event duration is measured by subtracting the time value immediately before the user agent fires the DOMContentLoaded event from the time value immediately after the event completes. Keeping this at 50ms or faster helps ensure a responsive user interface.

We are provided with the duration. The duration is the difference between the PerformanceNavigationTiming.loadEventEnd and PerformanceEntry.startTime properties.

The PerformanceNavigationTiming interface also provides information about what type of navigation you are measuring, returning navigate , reload , back_forward or prerender .

Resource timing

Whereas navigation timing is for measuring the performance of the main page , generally the HTML file via which all the other assets are requested, resource timing measures timing for individual resources , the assets called in by the main page, and any assets that those resources request. Many of the measurements are similar: there is a DNS look up, TCP handshake and the secure connection start is done once per domain.

The main thing to look at for each resource.

PerformanceNavigationTiming
PerformanceResourceTiming ,
PerformanceMark
PerformanceMeasure
PerformancePaintTiming

Optimizing Page Load Time (and a little about the Debug menu)

Oct 30, 2006

by Maciej Stachowiak

@othermaciej

We don’t usually just repost content from other blogs here. But a lot of web developers seem to read this site, and those of us who work on WebKit are totally into loading web pages as fast as possible. With that in mind, here’s a great article on Optimizing Page Load Time . I recommend reading and applying much of the advice here. However, I’ll note that we have experimented with using HTTP pipelining for Safari in the past, too many major servers gave garbage results in the face of it. While we may periodically re-evaluate this, we are not holding back on it out of spite or anything.

Another tip you might find handy as a web developer is the “Show Page Load Test Window” option in the Safari Debug menu. You can turn on the Debug menu by typing defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu YES at a shell prompt, and then restarting Safari. This menu includes a number of rough debugging tools that we created mainly for browser testing, but you may find some of them handy for web development. The page load test in particular is interesting because it measures page load time in a more precise way than either onload timing or just using a stopwatch. If you change the “Suite” pop-up menu to “URL”, you can type the URL of your choice and get a fairly precise time for loading it. If you empty the cache first, you can get an uncached time.

I recommend trying this a couple of times as you test your site. We’ve found that it’s a lot easier to improve performance when you have a precise way to measure it.

Safari and page load timing

Skip navigation .

Site search

Site navigation.

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Is Safari faster?

At the release of Safari 3 beta for Windows, there were several claims about Safari's page load performance. It was giving results that showed it was clearly faster than other browsers. Since I generally like to check things for myself instead of trusting what companies say, I gave the new Safari a whirl. Sure enough it was very fast. Its CSS was quick, its page loading was quick, its JavaScript was quick. Perhaps quick, but certainly not as fast as they seemed to claim it was.

I have a variety of machines that I tested it on, and all showed the same thing; it was fast, but not really faster than the competition (Opera, for example, but other browsers were also faster in some cases). But when tests used JavaScript to check the page loading speed, Safari produced numbers far smaller than other browsers, even though the actual page load was not faster when tested with a stopwatch. Simple CSS float tests would produce times of less than 100ms, while the actual page load (from disk, so no network lag is involved) could take as much as 5 seconds.

(Note: before any of you ask, I will not be adding results to the browser speed tests article - it is retired.)

When does onload fire?

The tests all relied on the onload event. That has always seemed trustworthy until now. However, Safari does not fire onload at the same time as other browsers. With most browsers, they will wait until the page is loaded, all images and stylesheets and scripts have run, and the page has been displayed before they fire onload . Safari does not.

In Safari, it seems onload fires before the page has been displayed, before layout has been calculated, before any costly reflows have taken place. It fires before images have completed decoding (this can also happen in rare cases in Opera, but Safari seems to do it everywhere), meaning that a substantial part of the load time is not included (note that part of this bug is marked as fixed in their bug tracking system, and the fix could turn up in a future release, but is not yet in any stable releases). So basically, onload is not trustworthy in Safari for checking page loading times.

It is possible to force Safari to layout the page before checking for the time. To do this, check for the offset values of any element, such as the offsetWidth of the body :

Note, however, that this still does not include actually displaying the page, only calculating what will be displayed, so it is not perfect, but it does make it slightly closer to the behaviour of other browsers.

You can force the browser to scroll using window.scrollBy(0,1) to make Safari display the page (this is what iBench uses), but then this is no longer testing display speed. It tests display and scroll (with associated repaint) speed in browsers that have already displayed the page. This means it actually penalises other browsers to make up for Safari's strange behaviour, making the results more unreliable. In some cases, other browsers may display the page fast enough, but take much longer to actually scroll - an example would be testing opacity and fixed backgrounds in Opera.

Does progressive rendering play a part?

Many browsers, Opera and Firefox included, use progressive rendering during initial load. As soon as they start to receive page data, they start to parse it, generate the DOM, and display it. Scripts run as soon as they are received, while loading continues in the background. This means that if you start timing in an inline script at the start of the page, Opera and Firefox will start the timer before the page has completed loading, and therefore rest of the page load is taken into account by the timer.

A server that intentionally fed the test page slowly to the browser caused Opera and Firefox to show the expected long difference between the initial time, and the onload time. In Safari, onload fired about when it was expected, just before the final displaying of the page. But the time difference between the initial time and the onload time was very small; close to 0ms. So it would seem that Safari waits for the page to load before starting the parsing and script interpretation, meaning that it only showed the time to parse the DOM, not the time to load or display the page, while the other browsers would show the complete time.

Of course, progressive rendering itself does take a few more reflows, so it can take more time than a single render, but it also means you can begin to read the page earlier, so which one feels faster to a user may differ. However, I am only referring to completed load times here.

Can pages really load that fast?

How quickly can a browser load a page over a network? Can it establish a network connection, load a page, parse the HTML, initialise the script engine, and create a date object, all within 0ms? If it can, what about if the network lags a little; what happens if the network introduces several milliseconds worth of delays into the page load - can it still load within 0ms? Safari seems to think so.

To avoid the problems of progressive rendering vs. offscreen buffering, it is fairly easy to start a timer in one page, and then load the test page into an iframe. The test page can then check the difference between the completed page load time, and the time stored by the parent page. It would be nice if it were that simple. However, this shows a bug in Safari.

Safari does not update the date objects correctly. It appears to pause the date object while iframe src changing, page loading, and parsing is taking place, so the next request for a date object produces one with the same time as the one in the parent page. Even when forcing it not to cache the page, this still happens (and yes, I tested many times since I did not believe it myself). The page load itself could be seen to take about half of a second when timed with a stopwatch. Clearly, Safari has a bug with date objects here.

Was Safari cheating on the test?

Well, its results are almost certainly wrong, and it will appear a lot faster than it really is, if JavaScript is used to time it. The results are completely unreliable. As for whether or not it was intentional, I doubt it. The paused date object is almost certainly a bug that they need to fix. The offscreen buffering is intentional as it can improve load times on small pages or exceptionally long pages. It makes script timers unreliable, but there is nothing that says that a browser has to use progressive rendering.

As for onload firing early, that feels like a bug, but the spec does not say what counts as "loaded" - it does not say that the page has to be displayed (however, all images should have loaded, so that part is definitely a bug). Safari is not wrong to fire it before layout, but it is inconsistent with the other browsers. In some cases, this is useful, as a developer may want to manipulate the page before it displays, at the end of parsing, and with Safari's behaviour, it can do that without needing any extra reflows. Safari then adds in the offset measuring behaviour to allow for authors whose scripts expected the other behaviour. It works for real Web pages, but it is not good for performance timing. Firefox and Opera have a better approach, which is to use onload normally, and to use the DOMContentLoaded event to say what parsing is complete.

Are there other ways to test?

Since the browser itself has proven to be so unreliable in giving page loading times, it is not possible to use JavaScript alone to test page load/display times. Something more trustworthy needs to be used. The obvious solution is the trusty old stopwatch. It introduces reaction time errors, but it's not too bad for most tests as long as the test takes sufficiently long on its own.

To automate the tests, only a server is reliable enough. Use an outer page with an iframe initially displaying about:blank . Then do an XMLHttpRequest to the server to retrieve the time on the server (this is best done with a server on localhost to avoid network lag). The server can return the timestamp as a number (such as with PHP's microtime(true) function), and should return it with a mimetype of text/plain to make sure the browser does not waste time trying to parse it. Make sure the response cannot be cached. Change the src attribute of the iframe to be the test page (which should also not be cached).

When onload fires, check if there were any images, and if so, make sure they are all complete by checking their complete property. If not, wait for onload to fire for each of them before continuing. Once loading is complete, check the offsetWidth of the body , then make a second request to get the timestamp from the server. Check the difference to get the time. Note that this still does not include time to display the page, and I do not know any useful way to get around that limitation. It also includes the time used to make the XMLHttpRquests, which will alter the results slightly, though certainly not as much as Safari's own failure to use onload and date objects correctly.

So is Safari actually slow?

No. Safari is not slow. It is still a very fast browser, but it is certainly not as fast as it has been claimed to be. This is not an excuse for other browsers, and it is not a complaint. It is simply a warning; do not rely on performance benchmarks in Safari. They are wrong if they ever use JavaScript to detect page load times, which most of them do. Until the Webkit project can fix these problems, Safari benchmarks are not accurate or reliable.

This may not cause a problem for you (and I am not interested in receiving any emails saying that problems do not exist or are not really problems for you - they do exist and they are problems for others), but they are a problem for benchmarks. If you know a good workaround for them that can produce reliable benchmarks in Safari, please feel free to share. One of my readers has suggested using a video capture to time the load and then crop the video to test the time between link click and page load. As long as the capture software runs on another machine (to avoid CPU usage swaying the time), this should work, but it will not be easy to automate.

Web Browser Grand Prix: Firefox 15, Safari 6, OS X Mountain Lion

Today we're breaking out the Hackintosh for our first-ever Web Browser Grand Prix on Apple OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion). How will Chrome 21, Firefox 15, Opera 12.02, and Safari 6 stack up against each other, and to IE9 and the rest of the Windows 7 browsers?

Page Load Time

Page 1: The Top Four Browsers, Tested And Ranked
Page 2: Chrome, Firefox, IE9, Opera, Safari
Page 3: Test System Specs And Software Setup
Page 4: Test Suite And Methodology
Page 5: Start Time
Page 6: Page Load Time
Page 7: JavaScript Performance
Page 8: DOM And CSS Performance
Page 9: HTML5 Performance
Page 10: Hardware Acceleration Performance
Page 11: Plug-In Performance: Flash, Java, Silverlight
Page 12: Memory Efficiency
Page 13: Reliability, Responsiveness, And Security
Page 14: Standards Conformance
Page 15: Test Analysis
Page 16: OS X And Windows 7 Winners' Circle

The page load time tests are the same eight pages in our start time tests: About, Amazon, Ask, craigslist, Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, and Yahoo.

Composite Scoring

Composite scores are the geometric mean of the uncached and cached page load times.

Chrome is in first place on OS X, followed closely by Safari, at 0.65 and 0.7 seconds (respectively). Opera places third at just over three-quarters of a second, with Firefox placing last with a time just over 0.8 seconds.

The page load times are also lower across the board on Windows 7 than OS X. Here, Microsoft's own IE9 takes the lead at just 0.4 seconds. Close behind in second place is Chrome at 0.44 seconds, followed by Opera in third with a time of almost 0.47 seconds. Firefox comes in last place at nearly 0.6 seconds.

The charts below contain the geometric mean for uncached and cached page load times, as well as the individual page load time averages.

Opera seems to have more trouble than the rest of the OS X browsers at uncached page loads of About and Ask. However, this behavior goes away when loading from cache.

Firefox for Windows also reveals longer load times for About and Ask, but when loading from cache. In a reversal of what we observe on OS X, Opera for Windows 7 displays an advantage over the other browsers when performing an uncached page load on About and Ask.

Current page: Page Load Time

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glurg chrome ftw Reply
Eggrenade It would be nice if I could view the additional charts with only one click, and not in a separate window. Reply
lahawzel It's nice to see Chrome performing so well, but I'm still waiting on the Chrome equivalents of all the plugins I use in FF before I think about switching. The web just doesn't feel the same without them. (The nice popular ones like ABP, Lazarus, Greasemonkey all have equivalents; some lesser-used plugins like Rikaichan also have ports by now. Only a matter of time!) Reply
bennaye chrome is absolutely deserving of the award. say what you will about the frequent patch releases touted as upgrades, chrome is a very good browser, as shown by this month's article. even on OSX there is only a small margin separating chrome and safari. but the one qualm i do have with chrome is the lack of add-ons compared to firefox. and i a lot of people share this concern. the add-ons do make the experience that much better. as always, a great read. Reply
Would like to see this again after IE10 is released. Reply
JOSHSKORN How about 64-bit Internet Explorer 9 vs Waterfox 15.0? Reply
adamovera bennayechrome is absolutely deserving of the award. say what you will about the frequent patch releases touted as upgrades, chrome is a very good browser, as shown by this month's article. even on OSX there is only a small margin separating chrome and safari. but the one qualm i do have with chrome is the lack of add-ons compared to firefox. and i a lot of people share this concern. the add-ons do make the experience that much better.as always, a great read.All versions of Chrome hold up incredibly well cross-platform, if you look back at the two Linux WBGPs, it won there, too. Thanks for reading! Reply
adamovera AdamsTaiwanWould like to see this again after IE10 is released.Absolutely, a Windows 8-based WBGP is already in the cards for October. Reply
adamovera JOSHSKORNHow about 64-bit Internet Explorer 9 vs Waterfox 15.0?When we have more stable 64-bit browsers, I'll definitely do a 64-bit WBGP - including versus their 32-bit counterparts. Reply
I wish Tom's would fiddle around with the settings of these browsers for these tests. In every System Builder Marathon you overclock the builds, why not try and crank the most speed while ensuring better memory management out of the browser as well? Testing these browsers at stock doesn't reveal even an eighth of the picture. Reply
View All 57 Comments

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COMMENTS

mobile
BTW, if I want to design an iphone app to do this monitoring, is it possible? such as open the app and input web address, the app can call safari's function to request and render the webpage, so that i can monitor the page load event in the app. How can I achieve that? -
Safari 16.6 very slow to load pages on Ma…
Safari started taking a very long time to load web pages (e.g. 45 seconds to load the Google search page). I tried all the troubleshooting steps suggested in posts here and in Apple Support articles and spent about three hours working with Apple Support, but nothing worked. We finally discovered, by switching from Wi-Fi to a mobile personal hot ...
Fix Safari Slow Page Loading Issue in Mac
5. Create a New Profile. Webpages may load slowly if your current Safari profile data is corrupted. You can create a new profile and browse the pages to check if that helps to fix the issue. Go to "Safari > Settings… > Profiles" and click on "Start Using Profiles" button to create a new profile in Mac Safari. 6.
Why Is Safari Running Slow on Mac? 15 Ways to Fix
Click the Safari menu item at the top left of your screen. From the drop-down menu, select Settings. Select the Advanced tab and check the box next to the Show Develop menu in menu bar if it is unchecked. Return to the menu bar, click Develop, and select Empty Caches from this drop-down list.
How to Fix Slow and Non-Loading Webpages in Safari
Safari, from version 5.0.1 onwards, employs a technique known as DNS prefetching. This is designed to ensure that webpages load faster. On occasion it can, unfortunately, have the opposite effect meaning that webpages can take a long time to load. Or simply not load at all.
Speed Lab: Run Website Speed Test on Real Devices
Test website speed. on real browsers & devices. SpeedLab scores your website on important performance metrics so you can optimize your page speed to deliver the best user experience. Type or paste your public URL *. Get free report. The test will run from US (East), throttled at Broadband on the Desktop. Select the combination you wish to test on.
WebPageTest
In-Depth Metrics. Dive into the anatomy of your webpage with components like DNS, TCP, TLS, and more. Run a free website speed test from around the globe using real browsers at consumer connection speeds with detailed optimization recommendations.
Page Load Time Explained: What Is It And How To Optimize It
Page load time is the duration it takes for a web page to load and display all its content in the user's browser, from the initial request to the final rendering. A website's load time significantly affects user satisfaction, engagement, and conversion rates. A fast-loading website provides a seamless user experience, while a slow-loading site ...
Safari slow to load pages? Here are a few workarounds
When Safari is slow to load pages on your Mac, it's time to jump into action and boost performance. We'll show you why Safari is slow and, more importantly, how to fix it — let's get started. Why is Safari slow to load? The native browser from Apple — Safari — is not immune to performance issues; let's take a look at some of the possible ...
Fix Safari Running Slow on Mac [Slow to Load Pages]
Click on the CLEAN button and PowerMyMac will begin to clean up your Safari browser. If you need the manual methods to fix Safari slow to load, we also provide: Clear your Safari's history: Launch your Safari browser on your Mac. Then click on History in the menu bar. Choose the Clear History option.
Navigation and resource timings
Navigation timings are metrics measuring a browser's document navigation events. Resource timings are detailed network timing measurements regarding the loading of an application's resources. Both provide the same read-only properties, but navigation timing measures the main document's timings whereas the resource timing provides the times for all the assets or resources called in by that main ...
Benchmark Results: Page Load Time
When loading pages that are already in the browsing history, Chrome takes the lead at 1.3 seconds. Maxthon, Dolphin, and Safari practically tie for second place, running between 1.4 and 1.5 seconds.
Optimizing Page Load Time (and a little about the Debug menu)
Another tip you might find handy as a web developer is the "Show Page Load Test Window" option in the Safari Debug menu. You can turn on the Debug menu by typing defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu YESat a shell prompt, and then restarting Safari. This menu includes a number of rough debugging tools that we created mainly for ...
Safari and page load timing
It is possible to force Safari to layout the page before checking for the time. To do this, check for the offset values of any element, such as the offsetWidth of the body: window.onload = function () {. var ignoreMe = document.body.offsetWidth; var endTime = new Date(); };
Performance Benchmarks: Page Load Time
Chrome 13, Firefox 6, Safari 5.1, and Mac OS X Lion (10.7) have all emerged since our last Web Browser Grand Prix. Today, we test the latest browsers on both major platforms. How do the Mac-based ...
What is a reliable way to calculate actual (web) page loadtime
0. The most accurate way to calculate load times is on the server side: once the page is built, how much it takes to display on the user's browser will depend on: Which browser he's using. So, using JavaScript is not a great measure because there are a lot of factors you can't change in there.
Page Load Time
The page load time tests are the same eight pages in our start time tests: About, Amazon, Ask, craigslist, Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, and Yahoo. ... Opera 12.02, and Safari 6 stack up against ...
Page taking way too much time to load in Safari Mac
One easy way to do this (ASP.NET 2.0+) is to store the viewstate in Session State on the server (which should be fine as long as your app doesn't have heaps of users and your server has enough RAM and Session State is enabled etc.). You can easliy do this by adding the following to your page's code-behind file: PageStatePersister _pers;

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