Safari does not restore last session

bluewomble88 · Jan 22, 2014

Sorry to be such a noob....

In Safari preferences, I have chosen for it to open with all windows from last session. It simply doesn't work. I have tried clearing the cache etc but every time I open Safari it just shows the homepage.

What am I doing wrong?

DeltaMac · Jan 22, 2014

You're doing nothing wrong, just expecting a different result.
The setting for "Safari opens with:" does NOT supersede the other window and tab settings.
It operates according to the setting in System Preferences/General pane.

When you open Safari, you get the home page, or whatever you have set from "New windows open with:"
When you shutdown, or restart your Mac, while Safari remains open, then you get the setting as you expect - restoring to the last setting. You can choose either to restore your last session, with all windows, or a new session.
If you prefer to see those windows from your last session reopened, then choose that from the History menu.

bluewomble88 · Jan 23, 2014

Right then.
If I close Safari with the Red Cross it does not restore my last session when I reopen. But, if I use CMD+Q and then restart, it loads my previous tabs no problem.

What the hell is going on?

honeysuckle · Nov 12, 2014

Don't hit Cmd + Q!! - it closes down Safari and somehow seems to delete the last browsing session as well!!! Why would you post this advice??

honeysuckle · Nov 12, 2014

Now I can't get any last session windows - ever since I hit cmd + Q!!!!!!!!
How do I undo this to get the last session back?

DeltaMac · Nov 12, 2014

eh?

Open Safari, then the History menu
Click "Reopen all windows from last session"

Does that do what you want?

honeysuckle · Nov 14, 2014

No - nothing. All I get is the google search page with none of the previous tabs I just had open.

What did I do when I hit cmd+Q?

bobdamnit · Nov 14, 2014

Command+Q will quit Safari. It does the same thing as clicking the Safari menu, then selecting "Quit". It does NOT do the same thing as clicking the red X. (Closes open Safari window only)

Selecting "Reopen all tabs and windows" in Safari's preferences should do exactly what it says, it should reopen all tabs and windows in Safari the next time it is started. (After selecting "Quit", or hitting command+Q)

Make sure you have selected this option in the preferences. To test, open a webpage anywhere. Once it loads, tap command+Q. Safari will quit. Now, reopen Safari. Did the webpage you had loaded come back when Safari opened?

If so, congrats. Its working. If not, the Safari preferences plist probably got corrupted and needs to be trashed.

honeysuckle · Nov 14, 2014

Thanks for the assistance.
I don't see the option to select 'reopen all tabs and windows' on preferences. Which tab should it be under?

bobdamnit · Nov 14, 2014

honeysuckle · Nov 14, 2014

This is what I get.
There is no option for 'Safari opens with'

honeysuckle · Nov 14, 2014

Ok
I seem to have found it - In my panic to try and sort out 'Reopen all windows from last session' I had unchecked the 'Close windows when quitting an application' which removed the option you mentioned.

HOWEVER - I just tested 'Reopen all windows from last session' and that is now greyed out. But 'Reopen last closed window' i.e. singular window, brought back all the tabs I'd just closed.
So not sure what's going on.

But thank you so much for helping me out.

Cheers

andywc · Nov 26, 2014

Last tabs may not open because of extensions

In my case it was caused by the Extensions. When I disabled them the tabs reopened just fine. Before that I would see them reopen then immediately disappear and be replaced by a single tab of the last tab I was viewing.

In my case it was the Selenium extension WebDrive 0.1. As soon as I disabled it everything worked fine.

Start by disabling all the extensions by clicking the big OFF button on the extensions tab. Then see if the tabs reopen. In the General tab of System Preferences, make sure "Close windows when quitting an app" is checked on . And in Safari Preferences, General tab, "All windows from last session" is selected.

cyguy48 · Jan 6, 2015

Safari closes tabs

3-4 times per day, Safari simply closes all tabs that were open. I have to go to sites and start all over. Pain in tush. Settings issue?

lilanina · Apr 14, 2015

Same problem

Hi bluewomble88,

got exactly the same problem as you here, did you find a solution?

Best regards

jubjubsan · Sep 10, 2015

lilanina said:
Same problem

Hi bluewomble88,

got exactly the same problem as you here, did you find a solution?

Best regards

So I realise I'm extremely late to the party, but so glad you guys have fixed this issue for me!
Mine was working just fine until I took it in for a Genius repair and when it came back it wouldn't save any open tabs when I quit Safari. I had to restore them all from History - so frustrating. I spent hours searching for an answer and was at the Genius Bar again today and even the Apple guy couldn't help me. Anyway, very relieved it's finally working!

Just for future reference, as lilanina didn't seem to understand the solution...

First you need to go to System Preferences > General and make sure the "Close Windows When Quitting an App" box is checked. This was my issue, it must have been unchecked at Apple. If this is unchecked you will not see the option in Safari Preferences "Safari Opens With". So, once checked, simply go to Safari > Preferences > General and change "Safari Opens With" to "All Windows From Last Session".

Thanks for the help guys!

Jadegirl · Sep 27, 2015

Hi all

New to Mac and having the same problem. What I'm confused about is what does the red x do that's different to using quit. The red x closes all my tabs and quit doesn't!

DeltaMac · Sep 27, 2015

When you close a Safari window (the red X), that's all that happens. The Safari app stays open.
It's a major difference between OS X and Windows.
The red X closes an OS X app window, but usually nothing else happens. The app itself stays open. If you have multiple Safari windows open, each with its own tabs, then the red X closes only that one window, with its associated tabs.
And, that window is no longer part of the Safari session. So, no reopen of that window that you manually closed. But when you Quit Safari (from the Safari menu), something different happens. All open windows quit with Safari, but are stored and available to use from Reopen All Windows from Last Session, under the History menu.
Another item in OS X that is relevant is your System Preferences/General. Look at the setting "Close windows when quitting an app". If that box is un-checked, then you will get all windows back when you reopen an app, without needing to go to the History menu, if that's what you prefer.

Jodiuh · Aug 26, 2017

honeysuckle said:
Ok
I seem to have found it - In my panic to try and sort out 'Reopen all windows from last session' I had unchecked the 'Close windows when quitting an application' which removed the option you mentioned.

Haha, I did the same thing! Thanks!

jubjubsan said:
So I realise I'm extremely late to the party, but so glad you guys have fixed this issue for me!

Just for future reference, as lilanina didn't seem to understand the solution...

First you need to go to System Preferences > General and make sure the "Close Windows When Quitting an App" box is checked. This was my issue, it must have been unchecked at Apple. If this is unchecked you will not see the option in Safari Preferences "Safari Opens With". So, once checked, simply go to Safari > Preferences > General and change "Safari Opens With" to "All Windows From Last Session".

Thanks for explaining that in detail. I guess I don’t need this tho as I want all windows to reopen whenever I open the app…I think? LOL!

Jadegirl said:
Hi all

New to Mac and having the same problem. What I'm confused about is what does the red x do that's different to using quit. The red x closes all my tabs and quit doesn't!

Yup, it’s freakin me out.

DeltaMac said:
When you close a Safari window (the red X), that's all that happens. The Safari app stays open.
It's a major difference between OS X and Windows.
The red X closes an OS X app window, but usually nothing else happens. The app itself stays open. If you have multiple Safari windows open, each with its own tabs, then the red X closes only that one window, with its associated tabs.
And, that window is no longer part of the Safari session. So, no reopen of that window that you manually closed. But when you Quit Safari (from the Safari menu), something different happens. All open windows quit with Safari, but are stored and available to use from Reopen All Windows from Last Session, under the History menu.
Another item in OS X that is relevant is your System Preferences/General. Look at the setting "Close windows when quitting an app". If that box is un-checked, then you will get all windows back when you reopen an app, without needing to go to the History menu, if that's what you prefer.

Can you help me understand why I would want this? So…I’m used to Firefox on a Windows machine and closing that w/ the X will close the program, take it out of RAM, etc. Opening the program will restore my last session.

But I would have to drag the mouse to the bottom, do the 2 finger dance on the track pad, then select quit if I want to actually CLOSE a program? I suppose that makes sense, but what’s the point of closing a window if I have the option to minimize or the - button? I guess I just see this is as an extra step that’s unnecessary.

Being new to MAC has been an experience and there’s some really cool stuff…but some of it just seem so closed off and backwards. I thought iOS was nasty with files, but OS X is nearly as bad!

For example, if I want to work with some photos, I need to export them from a huge database file. I can’t just look @ them. Then when I imported them from a huge google dump, all the timelines got screwed up and the dates were reset for all the pics.

If I didn’t already have an iPhone & iPad, I would consider returning the MBP 13 for a Spectre x360 13/15 or an XPS 13/15…the only thing really keeping me’s the screen. Even the upgraded screens on those notebooks lack the color accuracy or DCI-P3…which I really, really like. And or course that trackpad’s SICK. I guess I might have to go to Best Buy and check them out again…or maybe drive up to Fry’s or Microcenter since Best Buy doesn’t have the XPS 13 or 15 notebooks…just the 2in1’s.

DeltaMac · Aug 26, 2017

If you want to quit an app, then simply press Command-Q.
If you only want to close that window, then click the Red widget in the corner. Difference is that macOS does not quit the instance of that app, only the window. You can also press Command-W, which would close the currently open tab, or the current active window if there are no tabs active at the moment.

macOS system is pretty good at doing what it needs to do to handle memory. if the system needs memory, and some is available in apps that are idle (such as an open app with no windows open), then the system will take the memory that it needs. There's not too much that you need to do manually. Just let the system do it.

You DON'T have to use the native Photos app for your pictures. You can search on this site for photo library alternatives, or photo editing apps, unless you already have one that you like, such as Adobe Lightroom, or Photoshop Elements.

Jodiuh · Aug 28, 2017

DeltaMac said:
If you want to quit an app, then simply press Command-Q.
If you only want to close that window, then click the Red widget in the corner. Difference is that macOS does not quit the instance of that app, only the window. You can also press Command-W, which would close the currently open tab, or the current active window if there are no tabs active at the moment.

macOS system is pretty good at doing what it needs to do to handle memory. if the system needs memory, and some is available in apps that are idle (such as an open app with no windows open), then the system will take the memory that it needs. There's not too much that you need to do manually. Just let the system do it.

You DON'T have to use the native Photos app for your pictures. You can search on this site for photo library alternatives, or photo editing apps, unless you already have one that you like, such as Adobe Lightroom, or Photoshop Elements.

Thanks, command+Q will work. I'm just so USED to NEEDING to close my Windows apps and especially Android as they like to go nuts w/ memory management. Also, I'm getting old and it's nice to just use whatever apps come with the notebook instead of adding more to the chaos, lol!

DeltaMac · Aug 28, 2017

Ah...
Muscle memory can sometimes be a rough partner, eh?

AivaLight · Aug 16, 2018

Screen Shot 2018-08-16 at 11.19.15 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-08-16 at 11.19.36 AM.png

Hello Everyone!
I am new to mac and have some troubles with my browsers. I have High Sierra 10.13.6
Either Safari or Opera do not save my preferences, I set up after the browser closed to open where I left.
There are screenshots of my settings.
Can smbd advise me what else can I do to keep my settings in browsers?

mariGEMINI · Jul 15, 2020

AivaLight said:
View attachment 776319 View attachment 776320 Hello Everyone!
I am new to mac and have some troubles with my browsers. I have High Sierra 10.13.6
Either Safari or Opera do not save my preferences, I set up after the browser closed to open where I left.
There are screenshots of my settings.
Can smbd advise me what else can I do to keep my settings in browsers?

I would uncheck the "CLOSE Windows when quitting an APP " . below it, it says that it would not reopened window (even if you have it checked under the General of Safari app ! .. I guess it comes Second in command!

mariGEMINI · Jul 15, 2020

bobdamnit said:
bla bla bla ...yari yari yari ...
"......... Did the webpage you had loaded come back when Safari opened?
If so, congrats. Its working. IF NOT, THE SAFARI PREFERENCES PLIST PROBABLY GOT CORRUPTED AND NEEDS TO BE TRASHED.

BOBDAMNIT!! sorry to bother you but you are the only one who got close to my need with what you said!

I work with hundreds of websites and when Closing&Opening continuously websites I make my 36GigRAM mad and more sooner than later, to avoid cursing, I have to turn off myiMAC refreshing a new start! Hundreds of Websites recalled and presented in 10 Desktops of the same iMAC.

The Issue: many times when I reboot system all re-opened window are not PRECISELY the last ones in TIME, but missing time and therefore proposing an fresh old scramble of previous work time (it can be hours before! ) and also showing me some websites I cancel as not needed anymore; so leaving me with a sort of just "previous very last" history, but not the VERY LAST!!

I Wish there was a way to Save my Last Moment I want to preserve in case I want to reboot!

Because in your intervention you said:
"... If not, the Safari preferences PLIST (!!!) probably got corrupted and needs to be trashed"
I am chasing your good intelligent idea so to try to understand if there is a way, maybe because there is a file saved somewhere... ?!?!

I have to admit I called Apple and they thought the rebooting shows me the last session: WRONG ! and I have years of - every 2 days - rebooting to justify my empiric feelings ..

If you do not know precisely the problem, can you think on where should I research?

It is a big deal for me, as if I lose one last website that is not in the last pList, and I forget about it, then it is a missing strength for me.

LOVELY!!
and thank you
marino - Los Angeles

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