Safari Freezes on New Incognito Window

Whenever I open a new incognito window in Safari, the browser becomes unresponsive and I get the spinning rainbow wheel for about 20 seconds before it starts working again.

I’ve already tried disabling several start page options like “Favourites” and “Privacy Report” from the Edit menu, but that didn’t help. I also turned off all my extensions (Awesome Screenshot, Font Ninja, AdGuard), yet the issue persists.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas on what might be causing it or how to fix it?

Mac Studio, macOS 15.4

Posted on Apr 22, 2025 08:07 AM

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11 replies

Apr 22, 2025 08:02 PM in response to nikolas.grigoriou

Yep, I'm seeing the same issue on Safari 18.4. Started with Sequoia 15.4 and continues on 15.4.1. There's also several redditors experiencing the issue over the last few weeks.

Prior to that, I saw the same issue with Safari Technology Preview a few weeks back (since resolved).

Like you, disabling start page elements and extensions did not resolve the issue.

Since Safari updates seem to be tied to macOS updates, it could be a while before it's fixed. You could try Safari Technology Preview in the meantime. Personally, I'm going to make the move over to Kagi's Orion browser.

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May 31, 2025 05:02 AM in response to nikolas.grigoriou

Same issue here.

But it only happens on one of my Macs (I have 4 available).

So it's not as straightforward as we think as it doesn't affect all systems.

The question is, what is triggering it.

Has anyone tried to remove the Safari preferences completely?

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Jul 10, 2025 08:34 PM in response to nikolas.grigoriou

Similar. Sequoia 15.5, Safari 18.5 (20621.2.5.11.8)

Very annoying

Deleting history

Turned off start page features

Uninstalled extensions

Every time I start a new private window is spikes CPU to 100+% for 5-10 seconds

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Apr 23, 2025 01:02 AM in response to dallen1400

I see, I hope they will fix it on an upcoming release.

@dallen1400 do you have FileVault turned on?

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Apr 23, 2025 08:15 PM in response to nikolas.grigoriou

@nikolas.grigoriou Yes, I do

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Jun 1, 2025 08:33 AM in response to Finalizer

Exactly, it happens to me only on one Mac (running the latest 15.5), and I haven't yet understood what triggers it.

Haven't tried to remove the Safari preferences completely though.

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Jun 20, 2025 01:59 AM in response to nikolas.grigoriou

Funnily enough, for me it started happening today all of a sudden even on the Macbook that didn't have this issue.

Has anyone had any success with solving this in any way?

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Jun 20, 2025 02:10 AM in response to Finalizer

Not yet, same here, it happens randomly on my MacBook Pro but all the time in the Mac Studio.

By the way, out of curiosity, do you have FileVault turned on Finalizer?

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Jun 21, 2025 04:34 AM in response to nikolas.grigoriou

Yes, it's turned on - does it affect this issue?

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Jun 21, 2025 11:23 AM in response to nikolas.grigoriou

Unfortunately this is still happening after the latest updates.

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Jun 21, 2025 02:08 PM in response to Finalizer

I have no clue, it shouldn't though. Let's wait to see if an upcoming update will fix the issue.

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Safari Freezes on New Incognito Window

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