Hi Apple Vis members,
I hope you're all doing well.
I am currently using macOS 26 on an M3 iMac. I am experiencing the Safari Not Responding problem more frequently. It becomes severe when I use the navigation keys, such as links and headings.
I need to completely quit Safari.
Are there any recommendations to mitigate the effect of the safari not responding problem?
This really drives me crazy. It affects my workflow and wastes lots of time.
Thanks very much for your recommendations.
Best,
Bill
By Bill, 27 October, 2025
Forum
macOS and Mac Apps
Comments
Strange
I've never had this problem since I got my M4 Mini running Sequoia. Well, that's not strictly true. It's happened a few times, but it's what I'd consider normal behavior, in that VoiceOver exhibits the behavior for a couple seconds and then returns to normal. I wonder what causes this issue and makes it more severe for others? I thought it was fixed in Sonoma?
When I used to experience it on an Intel MacBook Air running Big Sur, one of the recommendations was to disable JavaScript. Go to Settings with Command-comma, select security in the toolbar, and find the checkbox for JavaScript and uncheck it. However, this might break important web functionality, so you'll have to experiment.
Comes in waves
I find that this bug comes in waves. Sometimes it doesn't bother me for ages and then I just can't do anything without Safari hanging. I think Jira is often susceptible to it, particularly if I am following a link from an email. But then it can also go a long time without annoying me much. I suspect Jira has a fair bit of Javascript going on there.
I'm on an M2 Pro Max Macbook Pro, still on Sequoia. I can't imagine that many of the sites I have to use will do very well without Javascript.
The other thing you could try is using a Chromium browser like Chrome or Edge. I find these hang a lot less frequently although I often need to bounce between them and Safari to get things done.