Safari does not remember my settings

Question

I am using Safari 6.0.1 on OS X 10.8.2 and Safari does not remember my toolbar arrangement or other setting like the default search engine, homepage, etc.

Answer 1

It seems like there is something wrong with your Safari preferences file, try trashing it. (It is located in your ~/Library/Preferences, press Command ⌘+Shift ⇧+G in Finder and paste ~/Library/Preferences in the text box to open that folder, search for 'safari' and trash the .plist file)

Answer 2

Apple support solved the problem for me. There is nothing wrong with the Safari preference files. In my case the com.apple.Safari.plist file was blocked.

Try this step by step:

1. In Finder window click 'Go' then Option key to open Library
2. In Library highlight Preferences folder, then right click 'Get Info'
3. If under General you see Locked with a tick, this is your problem.
4. To unlock, open lock in the bottom right hand corner of the Preferences info box using your username
5. Click on the plus sign to add your name to get read and writing privileges
6. Untick Locked.

In my case when I reopened Safari it had all the features I had tried to save before without success.

One final important point. The way you select the home page in Safari preferences is to first open Safari in your chosen page, THEN go to Safari preferences and select "Set to current page". For some reason if you type in your chosen page in Preferences it doesn't work.