Safari refuses to load certain pages
Why won't Safari load certain webpages on my Mac?
Written by The CommonFixes team · fact checked by CommonFixes review desk
Last updated
Short answer
When one browser fails on one site while others work, the cause is almost always local: an old cached copy of the site, a content blocker, a stale DNS entry, or an experimental Safari feature that the site does not expect. The quickest thing to try first: clear the cached copy of that one site — Safari, Settings, Privacy, Manage Website Data, search the site name and remove it. This clears a broken cached page without signing you out everywhere. Most people are done in about 15 minutes.
Full walkthrough below: 6 steps for Mac, rated easy.
Sounds like this
- •The same page opens fine in Chrome
- •A spinning wheel then 'cannot open the page'
- •Only a handful of sites are affected
Why it happens
When one browser fails on one site while others work, the cause is almost always local: an old cached copy of the site, a content blocker, a stale DNS entry, or an experimental Safari feature that the site does not expect.
Work through these in order
0% done- 1
Clear the cached copy of that one site
Safari, Settings, Privacy, Manage Website Data, search the site name and remove it. This clears a broken cached page without signing you out everywhere.
- 2
Test with extensions off
Safari, Settings, Extensions, untick everything, then reload. Content blockers and privacy extensions are the most common reason a specific page never finishes loading.
- 3
Flush the name cache
Open Terminal and run sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder. A stale entry sends Safari to an address the site no longer uses.
- 4
Turn off experimental features
Enable the Develop menu in Safari, Settings, Advanced, then Develop, Experimental Features, and choose Reset All to Defaults. A toggled experimental feature can break individual sites.
- 5
Check date, time and iCloud Private Relay
System Settings, General, Date and Time set automatically. Then System Settings, your name, iCloud, Private Relay, and pause it temporarily. Wrong time breaks certificates and Private Relay blocks some regional sites.
- 6
Try a new Safari profile or user account
Safari, Settings, Profiles, create a new profile and load the page there. If it works, your main profile's data is the problem rather than the network.
If none of that worked
Switch your Mac's DNS to 1.1.1.1 in System Settings, Network, your connection, Details, DNS. Some provider name servers hold broken records for specific domains for days.
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Who wrote this and how we checked it
The CommonFixes team
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We are a small group of people who spend our days repairing laptops and desktops for family, friends and small offices. Every guide here starts with a problem someone actually brought to us, and we only write down the steps that put the machine right.
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CommonFixes review desk
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This guide was last updated on 10 August 2026. If a step no longer matches what you see on screen, tell us on the contact page and we will test it again.
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