safari bookmarks favicons missing

Safari Favorites Icons Missing? 7 Ways to Get Them Back

Ujjwal Image

If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full Disclosure Here…

Safari favorites icons, or favicons, are a celebrated convenience that allows you to quickly see the website you want in history, bookmarks, or tabs. Unfortunately, these favicons tend to appear incorrectly or go missing. This article shows you how to get back missing favorite icons on your Mac.  

Safari Favorites Icons Missing [How To Get Them Back]

If you notice that your Safari favorites icons are missing , clearing your cache and restarting Safari is the fastest way to get them back . There is another alternative way of opening the affected website in a private Safari window; I will look at it in detail later in the article.

How to Find Safari Favorites Icons Missing? 

  • Method 1: Clear Safari favorites icons cache 

Method 2: Use Safari Private Window

Method 3: create new user, method 4: verify your preferences, method 5: restore items from time machine, method 6: download updates.

  • Method 7: Use the safe mode        

In Conclusion

If the favorites icons are missing in Safari on your Mac, try going to “Safari” > “Preferences” > “Tabs” and check the box next to “Show website icons in tabs.” If this doesn’t solve the issue, try resetting the Safari browser by going to “Safari” > “Reset Safari” and selecting the appropriate options. If the issue persists, try restarting your Mac or updating the operating system.

How to bring back Safari Favorites Icons

When Apple first introduced the favicon feature on Safari, most people unsurprisingly jumped on it enthusiastically. The convenience of quickly locating your favorite website on a tab or bookmark list was too good to pass up. Precious seconds are saved by that little image appearing in the history list of the Safari browser, while not seeing it can put some people off whatever they are doing on the internet. Even though the Safari favorites icon appears distorted or missing, we’re here to tell you that you can quickly recover the icon by following a few simple steps on your MacBook. 

Method 1: Clear Safari favorites icons cache  

Clearing the Safari favorites icons cache and starting over is the universal way of solving the problem of incorrect and missing favicons on your computer. Follow the steps below to get your favorite icons back. 

  • Shut or quit Safari.
  • Go to Finder on your Mac.  
  • Next, click on Go, then select Go To Folder on the visible menu.
  • A pop-up menu will appear, and you will need to type in/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache/ 
  • Once you’ve typed that in, you need to click on Go.
  • You must send all the items in the folder on your screen to Trash. Pressing the Command and the A key simultaneously selects all the files in the folder, then you can drag them to the trash. You can also right-click the files and select Move To Trash on the menu that appears on the screen. 
  • Empty the entire trash or delete the items from the favicon cache folder only. The simplest way to empty your trash is by right-clicking the trash icon on your dock and selecting Empty Trash. 
  • Open your Safari browser again and visit your saved sites. 

The incorrect or distorted images should appear correctly. The favicon cache rebuilds itself as you visit your saved sites. However, in rare cases, some alternatives might help. I’ll now look at some of the methods that you can use. Feel free to try them all, as none take a long time to complete.

Also Read: How to Fix Finder Not Responding on Mac

There is no guarantee that this alternative method will work, but it is worth a try if clearing the favicon cache is not working or if you prefer not to use it. Safari has a private window that does not store browsing history, and you can use this feature to try and refresh your favicons.

  • Right-click on Safari in the Dock
  • Select New Private Window
  • Visit the site with the incorrect or missing favicons
  • Close Private Window

The favicons should return to normal working conditions after this. You can try these further steps in the Private Window.

  • Select Preferences and click on Privacy on the Safari menu
  • Click on Manage Website Data, and a list of sites will appear
  • Choose the site that is causing issues and click on Remove
  • Click on Done to finish the process
  • Go back to the non-private window and open the website again.

Your Mac should be able to rebuild the favicon cache on its own. If you know your way around the device, you can manually make another favicon cache folder, but this is not a recommended route. It is better to contact the Apple Support center.    

If you continue having issues with favicons, create a new user on your Mac. This method has worked for others on the Apple Community Forum , where users try to help each other solve various challenges with Mac. One user managed to retrieve all the missing favicons using this method. 

  • Select System Preferences (System Settings on macOS Ventura and above) on your menu and click Users & Groups
  • Click on Add at the bottom of the dialogue box.   
  • Choose the type of user, preferably the Administrator. 
  • Enter the name of the new user and a password.
  • Click on Add User.

The first time you open Safari under the new user profile, favicons should all work perfectly. \

Also Read: How to Change Admin Name on Mac

The Mac has a preference setting that allows tabs to display icons when you’re on Safari. Check that your preferences are set correctly by following these simple steps. 

  • Open Safari 
  • Click on Safari in the menu bar
  • Select Preferences 
  • Click on Tabs, and a list of preferences will show up
  • Tick the box allowing website icons to be shown. 

The image below shows the box that you should tick. You can try doing this a couple of times while restarting your device. Try this method several times, restarting your device each time. 

safari favorites icons missing - Verify your preferences

If you use Time Machine to backup files, then you can use it to retrieve files and items. The good thing about Time Machine is that it works with almost all Mac apps. Here is a reminder of how to open Time Machine and retrieve files and items. 

  • Click on the Time Machine icon. If the icon is not there, go to System Preferences (System Settings on macOS Ventura and above) and click Time Machine on the Apple menu.
  • Click on Show Time Machine in the menu bar to browse backups and local snapshots.
  • Use the arrows to look through your missing files and items. When you see the files you need, click Restore. 

You can restore all the files at once or one by one. When restored, the files return to the original folder. Remember, you need to have already set your device to back up to the Time Machine for this method to work perfectly.   

Also Read: How to Turn off Time Machine on a Mac

Your Safari favorites icons missing challenge can also be solved by updating your device. The macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Combo update fixes issues that prevent files from syncing with iCloud and resolves graphics. You can download this update and see if the problem is solved. 

Follow these steps to download software updates on your Mac. 

  • Open the Apple menu and choose System Preferences (System Settings on macOS Ventura and above).
  • Click on Software Update.
  • Open the Software Update preferences for the Safari folder.

You can also find a list of available updates in the Apple Store or set your device to check for software updates in the System Preferences (System Settings on macOS Ventura and above) automatically. However, for this particular issue of missing favicons, the Catalina 10.15.7 Combo update should be able to help. 

Method 7: Use the safe mode         

One way of solving issues on your Mac is to restart it in safe mode. The safe mode allows your device to start and run with limited functionality as you try and solve specific issues. You must determine if your device uses Apple silicon, then follow these steps. 

  • Shut down your Mac device.
  • Turn on your Mac and hold the power tab until the startup options window appears.
  • Choose the startup disk. 
  • Click the Continue in Safe Mode tab while holding down the shift key.
  • Log in, and if asked to, do it again.

If your device uses the Intel processor, follow the instructions below.

  • Turn on the Mac
  • Press and hold the shift key immediately
  • Release the shift key when the login window appears
  • Login as per instruction

All the methods mentioned here should help retrieve missing or distorted favicons. If you continue having issues after everything I have touched on here, you may need to reinstall your macOS to ensure that all the third-party apps are up to date. 

Also Read: Best Mac OS Version

Always keep your Mac device updated, as this helps solve issues before they arise. Clearing your favicon cache is the simplest and fastest way of retrieving your missing favicon. If it does not work, you should get joy from the other methods mentioned above. As a last resort, reinstall the operating system. None of your data is removed by reinstalling macOS. Click on the Reinstall macOS tab in the Utilities window and follow the instructions to complete the process. 

Do not close the lid on your Mac until the reinstallation process is finished. Your device will load all the latest software updates and be as good as new. Besides everything I have covered here, you can also contact Apple support and get help.   

Favicons provide a convenient way of quickly identifying websites on tabs, bookmark lists, and browser history. For those using the internet for work, favicons save valuable time and energy since you do not have to type the first few letters of sites to get where you want to be.

Ujjwal is a tech enthusiast with a special interest in everything Apple! He manages and writes on MacMyths.com where sharing anything and everything related to Apple devices and services is his daily thing to do.

Recent Posts

How to connect an ethernet cable to a MacBook Air [Solution]

Apple introduced Ethernet ports in MacBook versions 2010 and 2011. After this, the tech giant focused primarily on Wi-Fi connectivity and removed the ports from all its devices. However, if you are...

8 Ways to Fix a MacBook Trackpad Not Working

Are you having trouble with your Macbook trackpad not working? You're not alone. Many Macbook users experience this issue, and it can be incredibly frustrating. So, after testing different methods, I...

How to refresh website favicons in Safari on Mac

Are some website icons missing or showing incorrectly in Safari? Learn how to refresh Safari favicons on your Mac to force the browser to fetch the new icons and display everything correctly.

Several websites in Safari on Mac showing tabs and favicons

A favicon is the small website logo you see in your browser tab. The ability to see favicons for websites in Safari is convenient. It lets you spot the site you want at a glance by seeing just the icon on your tab, in your bookmark list, and in your history.

But have you ever noticed favicons that go missing or are incorrect, showing the wrong icon? You can “refresh” the website favicons in Safari on Mac in just a few steps, and we’ll show you how.

Also see: How to hide or show website icons in Safari Favorites Bar

Delete Safari’s favicon cache

If you’re experiencing favicons that aren’t right, maybe they have icons for different websites; clearing the cache and starting over is a good option.

1) Close and quit Safari . You can do this by clicking Safari from the top menu bar and choosing Quit Safari .

2) Using Finder, click Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar

3) Enter ~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache/ in the pop-up window and go to this location.

4) Select all items in the cache folder and move them to the Trash . You can select all with the keyboard shortcut Command + A and then drag them to your Trash or right-click and pick Move to Trash.

Move Safari Favicon Cache to Trash

5) Empty your Trash or delete those items from it. (For help with both options, check out our tutorial on How to Empty Trash on Mac .)

6) Open Safari .

The Safari favicon cache folder will rebuild itself as you visit websites. And you’ll need to visit the sites you have saved for the favicons to appear. But those that were incorrect or missing should show up correctly.

Safari Bookmarks With and Without Favicons

Related : How to skip the Trash and delete files on Mac immediately

Alternative option

If you’d rather try something else, there is one other option that may or may not work.

Open the website with the incorrect favicon in a private window in Safari. You can do this easily by right-clicking Safari in your Dock and selecting New Private Window or selecting File > New Private Window from the menu bar.

Visit the website in the private window, and when you return to your non-private Safari, the favicon may be correct.

The suggestion comes from the Apple Community Forum . This method did not work for the user with the question, nor did it work for me; however, it’s worth a try if you’d like.

Enabling favicons in Safari

As a reminder, you can enable favicons in Safari on older versions of macOS by following these simple steps.

1) With Safari open, click Safari > Preferences from the menu bar.

2) Select the Tabs tab.

3) Check the box for Show website icons in tabs to enable favicons.

Safari Enable Favicons in Tabs Mac

Hopefully, either rebuilding the Safari favicon cache or opening a specific site in a private window works for you. And if you have another method to refresh favicons in Safari that works for you, please share it in the comments below!

Useful Safari tips:

  • 11 tips to customize and personalize Safari on iPhone and iPad
  • How to pin tabs in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
  • How and why to update Safari, Chrome, and other web browsers on iPhone and Mac
  • How to open multiple websites at once on Mac
  • a. Send us an email
  • b. Anonymous form
  • Buyer's Guide
  • Upcoming Products
  • Tips / Contact Us
  • Podcast Instagram Facebook Twitter Mastodon YouTube Notifications RSS Newsletter

How to Show and Hide Favicons in Safari Favorites Bar

In Safari 17 and macOS Sonoma , Apple has introduced support for displaying favicons in the Favorites bar. Keep reading to learn why favicons can be useful, and how you can disable them if they aren't for you.

safari icon blue banner

Favicons can usually be found next to anything in a browser's interface that identifies a website. This can include bookmarks, tabs, history results, and search bars.

favicon examples

In Safari 17, if you have the Favorites Bar enabled ( View -> Show Favorites Bar in Safari's menu bar) the favicon for each site will appear beside its title, allowing you to more easily spot it in the bar.

safari

Get weekly top MacRumors stories in your inbox.

Popular Stories

sonny iphone 16 pro colors

All Four iPhone 16 Pro Colors Revealed in New Image

iPhone 16 Pro Right Side Feature

The iPhone 16 is Getting a New Button: Here's What It Can Do

iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Launch Is Just One Month Out – Here's Everything We Know

When is the iphone 16 coming out.

maxresdefault

Apple Aiming to Launch Tabletop Robotic Home Device as Soon as 2026 With Pricing Around $1,000

M4 Mac mini Silver Ortho Cooler

These New Macs Are Coming in 2024

T Mobile Generic Feature Pink 1

United States Fines T-Mobile $60 Million for Failing to Prevent Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Customer Data

Next article.

maxresdefault

Our comprehensive guide highlighting every major new addition in iOS 17, plus how-tos that walk you through using the new features.

ios 17 6 sidebar square

Update now for a number of important security fixes.

iphone 15 series

Get the most out your iPhone 15 with our complete guide to all the new features.

sonoma icon upcoming square

A deep dive into new features in macOS Sonoma, big and small.

ios 18 sidebar square

Updates to Mail, Photos, Messages, and more, with Apple Intelligence features throughout.

macos sequoia sidebar square

iPhone Mirroring, Safari improvements, new Passwords app, and Apple Intelligence features throughout.

ipados 18 sidebar square

Apple Intelligence features, Smart Script handwriting refinement, Calculator app, and more.

visionos 2 sidebar square

New hand gestures, rearrange apps in Home View, larger Mac Virtual Display, and more.

Other Stories

Safari Technology Preview Updated Feature 1

2 days ago by Juli Clover

iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2

2 days ago by Tim Hardwick

iPhone 16 Mock Front 1

3 days ago by Tim Hardwick

iphone 16 pro rose

4 days ago by Tim Hardwick

iOS 18 on iPhone Feature

🔥 Get our iOS 17 eBook for FREE!

iGeeksBlog Logo

How to Enable Favicons in Safari on iPhone, iPad, or Mac

Updated on:

author image

On Safari in iOS 12 to iOS 14, users have access to the Favourite icon, known as Favicon. It is a tiny visual webpage indicator on the title bar and tab bar. These little icons let you see the websites open in your browser at once. This can eventually be of great help to avoid juggling multiple tabs and trying to keep things organized. So, let’s take a look at how to  enable favicons in Safari on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

How to Turn ON Favicons in Safari on iPhone and iPad

How to show website favicons in safari for mac.

  • Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  • Scroll down, tap on ‘Safari’

open settings tap on safari and enable show icons in tabs to enable favicons in safari on iphone

  • Open Safari browser on your Mac, if you haven’t yet. Locate and tap the Safari tab at the top left corner next to the Apple icon.

Click on Preferences in Safari on Mac

Close the pop-up window and continue using your browser. The feature gets active instantly.

Signing off

With its recent updates, iPhone, iPad, and Mac are adorned with many features and design elements. In case you still haven’t upgraded your device or are unaware about the offerings, or have any other query/feedback, please feel free to connect with us through our comment section or drop a direct mail. We’d be delighted to hear from you.

You may also like to read these posts:

  • How to Enable Safari Popup Blocker on iPhone
  • How to Delete Frequently Visited Sites in Safari
  • How to Search Within a Webpage in Safari in iPhone
  • Translate Webpages in Safari on iPhone

author avatar

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Similar posts you might also like

How to track sleep on Apple Watch

How to track your sleep on an Apple Watch

Does CVS take Apple Pay

Does CVS take Apple Pay in 2024? Here’s what you need to know

Language Region page in iOS Settings app on an iPhone

How to change your location on an iPhone (4 methods)

Enjoy smart reads about everything Apple

iGeeksBlog+ is a weekly newsletter sharing tech reads, tips & hacks, trending apps & tools, and exclusive deals & discounts to 15,000+ Apple enthusiasts every Friday.

Free newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime.

iGeeksBlog Logo

Editorial Guide

Review Policy

© 2024 iGeeks Media Private LTD. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy

Rockabse Logo

Safari User Guide

  • Change your homepage
  • Import bookmarks, history, and passwords
  • Make Safari your default web browser
  • Go to websites
  • Find what you’re looking for
  • Bookmark webpages that you want to revisit
  • See your favorite websites
  • Use tabs for webpages
  • Pin frequently visited websites
  • Play web videos
  • Mute audio in tabs
  • Pay with Apple Pay
  • Autofill credit card info
  • Autofill contact info
  • Keep a Reading List
  • Hide ads when reading articles
  • Translate a webpage
  • Download items from the web
  • Share or post webpages
  • Add passes to Wallet
  • Save part or all of a webpage
  • Print or create a PDF of a webpage
  • Customize a start page
  • Customize the Safari window
  • Customize settings per website
  • Zoom in on webpages
  • Get extensions
  • Manage cookies and website data
  • Block pop-ups
  • Clear your browsing history
  • Browse privately
  • Autofill user name and password info
  • Prevent cross-site tracking
  • View a Privacy Report
  • Change Safari preferences
  • Keyboard and other shortcuts
  • Troubleshooting

safari bookmarks favicons missing

If bookmarks are missing from the Favorites bar in Safari on Mac

If you didn’t accidentally delete the bookmarks, try these suggestions.

Open Safari for me

safari bookmarks favicons missing

Some features, such as adding bookmarks for specific sites, may not be available if Screen Time browser restrictions are set for your account. Check with a person who has an administrator account on your Mac.

If your Mac has Safari enabled in iCloud Preferences, you may have removed the bookmarks on another device.

Safari Favorite Icons/Favicons missing: How to Fix

Avatar image of Sadique Hassan

In this guide, we will show you various methods to fix the issue of Favorite icons/Favicons missing in Safari. When it comes to the browser domain, then most users are usually content with the built-in offering from the Cupertino giant. Apart from being able to checkmark most of the prerequisites, its deep integration into the Apple ecosystem is one major reason why many are inclined toward it. On the flip side though, it occasionally hits a few roadblocks as well.

Safari Favicons missing

In this regard, numerous users have voiced their concern that the favorite icons/Favicons are missing from the Safari browser. Whether it’s the bookmark, history, extensions, or the tab, all these icons are neither missing, greyed out, or has been replaced by a generic icon. If you are also facing a similar issue, then this guide will make you aware of numerous workarounds that should help you rectify this bug. Follow along.

Table of Contents

Fix Safari Favorite Icons/Favicons missing

Safari Favorite Icons missing

It is recommended that you try out each of the below-mentioned workarounds and then see which one spells out success. So with that in mind, let’s get started.

FIX 1: Delete Safari Icon Cache

First and foremost, you should consider deleting the browser’s icon cache and let them repopulate a fresh instance of the same from scratch. Here’s how it could be done:

Safari Favorite Icons missing

  • Then select all the contents inside the Favicon Cache folder and delete them.
  • Now relaunch Safari and check if the missing Favorite icons/Favicons are back or not.

FIX 2: Toggle Favorites Bar

Next up, you should disable and re-enable the Favorites bar in Safari. This will refresh its underlying settings and could well rectify the issue that we are currently dealing with. So give it a try using the below-listed steps and check out the results.

Safari Favorite Icons missing

  • Then relaunch Safari > click on View > Show Favorites Bar.
  • Check if it fixes the issue of Favorite icons/Favicons missing in Safari.

FIX 3: Use Safari Private Window

You might also get bugged by this issue if a third-party extension or the cache/cookies gets corrupted. To verify and rectify the same, you should open Safari in a private window by pressing the Command+Shift+N shortcut keys. Once in that window, check if the Favorite icons/Favicons are visible in Safari or not. If they are, then you may now close this window and go back to the normal window.

Safari Favorite Icons missing

FIX 4: Boot to Safe Mode

In some instances, a third-party app or service might conflict with the proper functioning of the browser. In such instances, your best bet is to disable all these third-party services by booting your PC to Safe Mode. If the issue gets rectified in this mode, then the culprit is definitely a third-party app that needs to eb removed from your PC at the earliest. Here’s how all of this could be carried out:

Once your Mac is in Safe Mode, check if you are still facing the Favorite icons/Favicons missing issue in Safari. If you aren’t, then restart your Mac to normal mode and uninstall all the recently installed apps, one at a time, until you are no longer able to reproduce the issue. Once that happens, the last removed app is the culprit and you should maintain a safe distance from it.

FIX 5: Create a New User

In rare instances, the issue might stem from the current user account as well. So you should consider switching over to a different account or creating a new account and then try accessing Safari. Here’s how it could be done:

  • Open System Settings and go to Users and Groups.
  • Then click on Add Account and type in your password.

Safari Favorite Icons missing

  • Then fill in the rest of the details and hit Create User.
  • Now log out of your current account and sign in via the new account.

FIX 6: Restore from Time Machine

Your last course of action should be to restore the Safari backup from the last backed-up point. If there’s something wrong with the current Safari data, then this should rectify the issue. So let’s give it a try using the below-listed steps and check out the results.

  • Open Safari, then open Launchpad > Others > Time Machine.

Safari Favorite Icons missing

  • Now select the Safari backup data and hit Restore.
  • Check it if fixes the underlying icon display issues.

That’s it. These were the various methods that should help you fix the issue of Favorite icons/Favicons missing in Safari. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.

  • Safari Zoom not working on Mac: How to Fix
  • How to Disable Private Browsing/Incognito Mode in Safari on Mac
  • Safari Dark Mode White Search Bar Bug [Fixed]
  • YouTube Search Results Blank in Safari on Mac [Fix]

(Cancel Reply)

Package is for product but expected

Error: recovery: Package is for product ‘x’ but expected ‘y’ [Fixed]

Mi FLash Tool Flash crclist Error

How to Fix Mi Flash Tool: Flash Crclist Error

milod service on Mac

What is milod service on Mac? Is it Safe?

Error Recovery Denying OTA Because it's SPL Downgrade

Fix Error Recovery Denying OTA Because it’s SPL Downgrade

enable zygisk apatch kernelsu

How to Enable Zygisk in KernelSU and APatch

Enable Apple Intelligence in Unsupported Region

How to Enable Apple Intelligence in Unsupported Region/Country

pixel 9 pro gemini live on any android

How to Enable Gemini Live on any Android Device

Oppo Flash Tool VIP Initialization Failed

Oppo Flash Tool VIP Initialization Failed: How to Fix

You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you  sign up with your Apple ID , you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by  upvoting helpful replies and User Tips .

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iamjasonmanley

Missing favicons in Safari 'Favorites' section

I have noticed that, in macOS Ventura ( as well as several releases before this ) that some favicons do not display within the Favorites dropdown in Safari.

Is there a way to fix this? The favicons display properly in the sidebar view.

Screenshots of both views are shown.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Here is the 'general' Favorites view:

safari bookmarks favicons missing

And the corresponding view in the Sidebar:

safari bookmarks favicons missing

Mac Studio, macOS 13.3

Posted on May 5, 2023 11:06 AM

Similar questions

  • Favicons in Favorites Bar? Wondering if there's been any progress on favicons for the favorites bar? Like so many others, I've tried to make the switch from Chrome to Safari but this is a hard deal breaker. 324 1
  • Favicon for websites not showing in Safari I really want to use Safari as my main browser now that I am using a new M1 MacBook Air, in order to make the best use of battery. I have used both Chrome and Firefox as my main browser. One of the things I REALLY like about those browsers is that I can add favourite/bookmarks to the toolbar with *just* the website's icon (favicon) and quickly pick from that. I imported bookmarks from Firefox to Safari, but the favicons are missing. I did try visiting those sites to pull in the icons (this is the behaviour with Firefox if starting from fresh). I have ensured that 'Show website icons in tabs' in selected in Preferences, FWIW. The screenshot below shows how the favourites with icons are great in Firefox but poop in Safari. Honestly, this is the only blocker to me using Safari as main browser. I really cannot understand why these icons are not showing 🤷‍♂️ 2187 1
  • Why aren't there favicons in the Safari favorites bar? Every other modern browser allows me to see the favicon of a favorite/saved site in the favorites bar. This makes it easy to access my favorites. But Safari only lets me list text! I want to make the switch from Chrome to Safari to take advantage of the speed with apple silicon, but it's a blocker! Feels like a big oversight. 274 1

Loading page content

Page content loaded

Aug 20, 2023 3:22 AM in response to iamjasonmanley

same issue for me, So annoying to see big ugly First Letter instead of an actual icon....looking for the solution by Apple team...

  • Apple Watch
  • Accessories
  • Digital Magazine – Subscribe
  • Digital Magazine – Info
  • Smart Answers
  • Back To School
  • Apple Watch 2024
  • New AirPods
  • M4 Mac mini
  • 11th-gen iPad
  • Best Mac antivirus
  • Best Mac VPN

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn't affect our editorial independence .

Why bookmark logo icons disappear in Safari

safari icon osx

TK Oates writes in with a commonly seen problem:

When I logged in at the CPH [Copenhagen, Denmark] airport for their free Wi-Fi, many of my Safari icons were changed to the airport logo. How do I change them back?

This is the heartbreak of portal pages, something you’d think would be solved after about 15 years of publicly available Wi-Fi networks that use interception technology to require you to accept terms of service, watch an ad, log in, or make a payment to use the network.

That interception page breaks the domain naming system (DNS) process that turns human-readable names (like macworld.com ) into the underlying IP addresses that are the lifeblood of the Internet. Any domain that’s typed in gets intercepted and effectively redirected to the locked-down portal page until you make the right choice. (Choose wisely!)

So if Safari chooses this moment to refresh and check that any or all of its bookmarked site icons (called favicons) are up to date, all of these requests are redirected, and the tiny icons are replaced with whatever the portal favicon is.

Apple used to make it easier to reset favicons in desktop Safari, but recent versions no longer have a specific item designed for this purpose. You’ve got two options.

You can delete the icon database that Safari keeps:

  • Quit Safari.
  • In the Finder, press Command-Shift-G and enter ~/Library/Safari
  • Delete the WebpageIcons.db file and empty the Trash.
  • Launch Safari.

You can also wipe out everything in Safari, but you’ll lose all your history, stored cookies, and local database storage:

  • Select Safari > Clear History .
  • Select All History from Clear.
  • Click Clear History.

mac911 clear desktop safari

Clearing all history in desktop Safari deletes stored favicon.

You can perform the same option in mobile Safari:

  • Go to Settings > Safari .
  • Swipe down to Clear History and Website Data and tap that button.
  • Confirm by tapping Clear History and Data.

mac911 reset mobile safari data

In iOS, you can use the nuclear option, which dumps website icons, too.

You can also wait: these icons are regularly, but not continuously refreshed, which means your problematic favicons will resume their normal status eventually.

Ask Mac 911

We’re always looking for problems to solve! Email yours to [email protected] including screen captures as appropriate. Mac 911 cannot reply to email with troubleshooting advice nor can we publish answers to every question.

Author: Glenn Fleishman , Contributor

safari bookmarks favicons missing

Glenn Fleishman’s most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. He’s a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911.

Recent stories by Glenn Fleishman:

  • How to remove a Google Maps subscription
  • How to use Passkeys on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac
  • How to enhance your network security with private Wi-Fi network addresses
  • Home New Posts Forum List Trending New Threads New Media Spy
  • WikiPost Latest summaries Watched WikiPosts
  • Support FAQ and Rules Contact Us

Safari is connecting to every website in the Favorite Bookmarks Bar, even if you don't open any of them. That's not really privacy.

  • Thread starter Adora
  • Start date Thursday at 2:17 AM
  • Tags bookmarks internet privacy passwords safari
  • Sort by reaction score

macrumors member

  • Thursday at 2:17 AM

Hello, since I am using the firewall Little Snitch again, I recognized directly after launching, Safari is connecting to all websites in the favorites bar in every profile I am opening a window for. I think it's just fetching some image as avatar for the websites. This isn't new, but I mostly allow every outgoing connection for browsers and forget about it. If I would block those connections the whole websites are not working anymore. Isn't this a privacy breach? If you don't use a VPN service and/or 3rd-party-DNS provider, your internet provider always would know what are your favorite websites. Even if you just saved a website there just to not forget it and don't use it for a longer time, it would look like it's used daily for the provider and website owner. Even worse is the new Password App in macOS 15. It does the same thing for every website that has a saved password in it. But at least I can block all outgoing connections of that App and it still works. I am also wondering why Safari is the only browser that if you really want to confirm any connection manually in such a firewall like Little Snitch, you can see the website address and not just an IP-address like it is the case in any other browser for almost anything. But that's a good thing because I can use Safari that way to block hidden things on websites forever that are not necessary for their functionality and I also wouldn't have even noticed that it ist loading something from the website in the favorite bookmarks bar.  

bogdanw

macrumors 603

  • Thursday at 2:58 AM

Simple solution: right-click on the Favorites bar, choose “Show Text Only”.  

svenmany

macrumors demi-god

  • Thursday at 10:50 AM
Adora said: Hello, since I am using the firewall Little Snitch again, I recognized directly after launching, Safari is connecting to all websites in the favorites bar in every profile I am opening a window for. I think it's just fetching some image as avatar for the websites. This isn't new, but I mostly allow every outgoing connection for browsers and forget about it. If I would block those connections the whole websites are not working anymore. Isn't this a privacy breach? If you don't use a VPN service and/or 3rd-party-DNS provider, your internet provider always would know what are your favorite websites. Even if you just saved a website there just to not forget it and don't use it for a longer time, it would look like it's used daily for the provider and website owner. Even worse is the new Password App in macOS 15. It does the same thing for every website that has a saved password in it. But at least I can block all outgoing connections of that App and it still works. I am also wondering why Safari is the only browser that if you really want to confirm any connection manually in such a firewall like Little Snitch, you can see the website address and not just an IP-address like it is the case in any other browser for almost anything. But that's a good thing because I can use Safari that way to block hidden things on websites forever that are not necessary for their functionality and I also wouldn't have even noticed that it ist loading something from the website in the favorite bookmarks bar. Click to expand...

chown33

  • Thursday at 11:42 AM

About iCloud Private Relay - Apple Support

support.apple.com

macrumors regular

  • Thursday at 11:48 AM

You have "Preload Top Hit in the background" set in your Safari preferences.  

  • Thursday at 12:16 PM
mblm85 said: You have "Preload Top Hit in the background" set in your Safari preferences. Click to expand...
  • Thursday at 1:05 PM
svenmany said: Don't think it's related. That setting relates what happens as you're doing web searches. Click to expand...

Safari Search & Privacy

support.apple.com

  • Thursday at 1:30 PM
mblm85 said: Just found this: Safari Search & Privacy Safari Search is designed to protect your information and enable you to choose what you share. support.apple.com "With Preload Top Hit enabled, as soon as Safari determines a Top Hit based on your bookmarks and browsing history, Safari will begin loading the web page in the background . If you disable this option, the page will load normally." Click to expand...

macrumors 6502

  • Thursday at 3:43 PM

The irony I see is it's supposed to be grabbing the favicon/iOS bookmark icon for those sites but the majority in mine have only ever shown a generic icon with the first letter of the site on a random color Thought this might explain Safari's rampant abuse of my 16GB of RAM but "preload top hit" has been disabled for a long time.  

  • Thursday at 4:33 PM
svenmany said: The browser is probably just looking up the icon that shows in the tab (called a "favicon"). As @bogdanw recommends, turning those off should stop that. Some browsers do not refresh favicons very often. I forget the details, but I've struggled in the past to get Chrome to refresh the displayed favicon of the site I was developing. The password program might be doing the same. In 1Password there is an option to not show website icons. I always select that. Click to expand...
bogdanw said: Simple solution: right-click on the Favorites bar, choose “Show Text Only”. Click to expand...

Screen Shot 2024-08-16 at 01.02.29.png

koelsh said: The irony I see is it's supposed to be grabbing the favicon/iOS bookmark icon for those sites but the majority in mine have only ever shown a generic icon with the first letter of the site on a random color Thought this might explain Safari's rampant abuse of my 16GB of RAM but "preload top hit" has been disabled for a long time. Click to expand...
  • Yesterday at 5:29 AM
  • Yesterday at 7:47 AM

I guess it doesn't help, but I can't reproduce it. I also run Little Snitch and see nothing as I hide and show the favorites or open windows in different profiles. I did some experimentation dragging an existing bookmark to the favorites bar. If the existing bookmark already showed the icon, then it didn't trigger a web request when it was dragged to the favorites bar. If it didn't already show an icon, then it did trigger the request to fetch the icon. I did the testing with all extensions disabled - not uninstalled. Do you have any extensions running?  

  • Yesterday at 10:40 AM
Adora said: I tested this now and it is still trying to connect to every website when I unhide the Favorites Bar, so it's not just the icons. All favorites get preloaded somehow and there seems to be no way to turn it off. Click to expand...
svenmany said: I guess it doesn't help, but I can't reproduce it. I also run Little Snitch and see nothing as I hide and show the favorites or open windows in different profiles. I did some experimentation dragging an existing bookmark to the favorites bar. If the existing bookmark already showed the icon, then it didn't trigger a web request when it was dragged to the favorites bar. If it didn't already show an icon, then it did trigger the request to fetch the icon. I did the testing with all extensions disabled - not uninstalled. Do you have any extensions running? Click to expand...
  • Yesterday at 11:35 AM
koelsh said: Just for giggles what specific version of Safari are both of you running? Click to expand...
  • Yesterday at 3:08 PM
  • Yesterday at 3:13 PM
  • Today at 12:21 AM
Adora said: It might only happen after deleting all website data, what I do regularly and not every time you just open a Safari Window. Click to expand...

COMMENTS

  1. Safari Favorites Icons Missing? 7 Ways to Get Them Back

    How to bring back Safari Favorites Icons. Method 1: Clear Safari favorites icons cache. Method 2: Use Safari Private Window. Method 3: Create New User. Method 4: Verify your preferences. Method 5: Restore items from Time Machine. Method 6: Download updates. Method 7: Use the safe mode.

  2. How to refresh website favicons in Safari on Mac

    1) With Safari open, click Safari > Preferences from the menu bar. 2) Select the Tabs tab. 3) Check the box for Show website icons in tabs to enable favicons. Hopefully, either rebuilding the Safari favicon cache or opening a specific site in a private window works for you.

  3. How to Show and Hide Favicons in Safari Favorites Bar

    Simply right-click anywhere on the bar and uncheck Show Icons in the pop-up menu. If you should miss them at all, you can just as easily turn them back on again using the same menu option ...

  4. bookmark icons not showing in Safari

    If I open the bookmarks sidebar (ctrl+cmd+1) and select any bookmark, its miniature generic globe changes to that specific sites favicon as does the rectangular icon in the Safari 16.3 browser tab. In Safari Settings Tabs, I use a Separate tab layout and have selected Always show website titles in tabs. judithfromlakebay.

  5. Missing browser bar favicons in Safari ac…

    1) Close and quit Safari. 2) Using Finder, click Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar. 3) Enter ~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache/ in the pop-up window and click Go. 4) Select all items in the cache folder and move them to the Trash. You can select all with the keyboard shortcut Command + A and then drag them to your Trash or right-click and pick ...

  6. Favicons gone in Safari

    You can try to clear the FavIcons Cache, navigate to this folder within the finder "SHIFT COMMAND G" ~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache/ delete the 4 files and the favicons folder. Double check to be in the right folder before you delete the files. Next Clear the complete history in safari and reboot your mac.

  7. Safari is not showing the Favicons on the…

    Safari on Monterey 12.6, is not showing the Favicons on the Favourites / Bookmarks Bar. The Favicons are populated and showing in the bookmarks folder / page. ... and quickly pick from that. I imported bookmarks from Firefox to Safari, but the favicons are missing. I did try visiting those sites to pull in the icons (this is the behaviour with ...

  8. How to Enable Favicons in Safari on iPhone, iPad, or Mac

    How to Show Website Favicons in Safari for Mac. Open Safari browser on your Mac, if you haven't yet. Locate and tap the Safari tab at the top left corner next to the Apple icon. Choose 'Preferences.'. You'll notice a window popping out on your screen. Go the 'Tabs' menu and tick 'Show website icons in tabs.'.

  9. How to get icons in Safari favorites (aka favicons) to display

    The script takes a folder with the missing touch icons as its only argument. Each favicon needs to have the same name as the bookmark associated with it. The newly updated gist works with Safari 13 but now if you clear the browser cache the added favicons disappear in the new tab and reappear upon restart!

  10. macos

    2. My website was not displaying the Favicon in the menu bar as in this question. See the copied image below but in this case we would be Google and trying to get that icon to populate without user intervention. I am aware that locally, these favicon files re stored in ~/Library/Safari/Touch Icons Cache/Images/ however I was trying to figure ...

  11. How-To See Favicons (Image icons of websites) in Safari ...

    Here is how you can get Favicons enabled on iOS. Tap on Settings > Safari. Scroll down to the General section in Safari Settings. Enable 'Show icons in Tabs'. Once you have enabled the setting, your tabbed browsing will show you all the favicons on the left corner of the tabs.

  12. If bookmarks are missing from the Favorites bar in Safari on Mac

    In the Safari app on your Mac, make sure all the bookmarks in the Favorites bar are displayed. If you see angle brackets at the right end of the bar, click them to show the rest of your bookmarks, or widen the Safari window. If you don't see the bar at all, choose View > Show Favorites Bar. Some features, such as adding bookmarks for specific ...

  13. Missing favicons in Safari 'Favorites' section

    I have noticed that, in macOS Ventura (as well as several releases before this) that some favicons do not display within the Favorites dropdown in Safari. Is there a way to fix this? The favicons display properly in the sidebar view. Screenshots of both views are shown. Thanks for any suggestions. Here is the 'general' Favorites view:

  14. Safari Favorite Icons/Favicons missing: How to Fix

    Follow along. Table of Contents. Fix Safari Favorite Icons/Favicons missing. FIX 1: Delete Safari Icon Cache. FIX 2: Toggle Favorites Bar. FIX 3: Use Safari Private Window. FIX 4: Boot to Safe Mode. FIX 5: Create a New User. FIX 6: Restore from Time Machine.

  15. SOLVED

    Quick Update: Safari 11 now appears to be generating Webpageicons.db-shm and Webpageicons.db-wal files in the ~/Library/Safari folder, but deleting them following after a Safari "Reset" (Clear Cache & Clear All History) has no effect on restoring the Web Page Icons in Bookmarks.. After the Safari "reset" -- quit Safari, delete the Favicon files listed above, and relaunch Safari.

  16. Missing favicons in Safari 'Favorites' se…

    Favicon for websites not showing in Safari I really want to use Safari as my main browser now that I am using a new M1 MacBook Air, in order to make the best use of battery. I have used both Chrome and Firefox as my main browser. One of the things I REALLY like about those browsers is that I can add favourite/bookmarks to the toolbar with *just* the website's icon (favicon) and quickly pick ...

  17. html

    Clearing all of my Safari Cache (clearing all of the history) Emptying all of the Cache; Deleting all of the files in the Safari Favicon Cache folder on my Mac; When I did two, and then initially launched Safari, the correct favicon briefly displayed in the tab bar before switching back to the other one. I am a little bit unsure of what to do here.

  18. Why bookmark logo icons disappear in Safari

    You can delete the icon database that Safari keeps: Quit Safari. In the Finder, press Command-Shift-G and enter ~/Library/Safari. Delete the WebpageIcons.db file and empty the Trash. Launch Safari ...

  19. html

    Using Finder, click Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar. Enter ~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache/ in the pop-up window and click Go. Select all items in the cache folder and move them to the Trash. You can select all with the keyboard shortcut Command + A and then drag them to your Trash or right-click and pick Move to Trash.

  20. How can I get Safari on macOS to pull the missing icons for ...

    Restart Safari and there it is... hooray! This is great if you're talking about a handful of missing icons. But now I have to do this for all of my favorites. Is there a way to just tell Favtool to apply the missing favicons? I know the favicon is lower res than the app icon, but it's better than an "A" in an orange box.

  21. It's 2016, why do we still not have favicons in Safari tabs/bookmarks?

    Apple still uses favicons, for stuff like Home Screen bookmarks or pinned tabs recently (they created a new format for them using SVG). I can easily see them using those in other places like the bookmarks list once more sites add them, because they're monochrome and scale nicely (unlike a 16x16 px favicon.ico).

  22. html

    I faced a similar problem where the favicon wasn't appearing in Safari during the development of a Next.js project on my Ubuntu machine. I discovered a solution that addressed this issue, outlined here for local development.

  23. macos

    I am using Safari 9.0.3 on OS X 10.11.9 and have only recently noticed Safari displaying the wrong favicon for some websites. In one instance, Safari uses the Facebook icon for Messenger despite the Messenger icon being used in the head section of the page source. I tried deleting the WebpageIcons.db file from Safari's Library folder, and I ...

  24. Safari is connecting to every website in the Favorite Bookmarks Bar

    The irony I see is it's supposed to be grabbing the favicon/iOS bookmark icon for those sites but the majority in mine have only ever shown a generic icon with the first letter of the site on a random color ... There used to be a way to completely disable favicons in Safari (WebIconDatabaseEnabled set to false), but Apple removed that option ...