Most iPhone users install and use their favorite web browsers on iPhones, but sometimes specific webpages opened from other apps are redirected to the default browser Safari. Recently, many iPhone users have shared their experiences with an issue where suddenly, the Safari app stopped working on their iPhones.
After analyzing the problem, we found out that this issue could have been caused are listed below.
- The lack of internet connection on the iPhone
- The VPN connection is enabled
- Technical issues related to the Safari app
- Corrupted history and other data on Safari
- App limit set for Safari app
- Software bugs within iPhone
- The network settings being changed
- Unreliable third-party extensions are installed on Safari etc.
In this post, we have listed the best possible fixes that will efficiently resolve this issue on your iPhone.
Preliminary Fixes
- Restart the iPhone – Restarting the smartphone can sometimes clear any technical faults within the device. So we suggest doing the same with your iPhone and see if this worked for you.
- Update your iPhone – Outdated software on any iPhone can cause numerous problems which are not easily resolved and the solution could be simply updating the iPhone to the latest version of iOS.
- Check the Internet Connection – When there is a poor internet connection on the iPhone, the browser will find it difficult to open any webpage and hence the issue. So check whether the Wi-Fi signal is weak and try restarting the Wi-Fi router.
Fix 1 – Clear All Browsing and Data History on Safari
Step 1: You should click the Settings icon from the home screen first.
Step 2: Then go to the Safari option from the settings menu list.
Step 3: Click Advanced at the bottom of the Safari page.
Step 4: After that, you have to choose the Website Data option at the top as shown below.
Step 5: Once it loads all the website data, click Remove All Website Data at the bottom.
Step 6: Tap on Remove Now.
Step 7: After it gets cleared, go back to the Safari page.
Step 8: Now tap on the Clear History and Website Data option.
Step 9: Click Clear History and Data on the popped-up window on the screen.
Step 10: This completely clears the browsing history and other website data from the Safari app.
Fix 2 – Switch to Mobile Data
Step 1: Launch the Settings app.
Step 2: Go to the Mobile Data option by tapping on it.
Step 3: Enable the Mobile Data by clicking on its toggle switch.
Fix 3 – Enable Safari for Mobile Data
If the issue still persists even after switching to Mobile Data, you probably need to turn on the mobile data for the Safari app in particular as directed below.
Step 1: Open the Settings app.
Step 2: Tap on Mobile Data.
Step 3: Wait for some time and scroll down.
Step 4: Look for the Safari app from the app list.
Step 5: Tap on the Safari app’s toggle switch to turn it on as shown in the below screenshot.
Fix 4 – Turn On the JavaScript Feature on Safari
Step 1: Go to the Settings app.
Step 2: Scroll down and search for the Safari app from the list and tap on it.
Step 3: Now at the bottom of the Safari page, click Advanced.
Step 4: Tap on the JavaScript option’s toggle button to enable it as shown.
Fix 5 – Disable App Limit for Safari
Step 1: You have to click on the Settings icon first.
Step 2: Click on the Screen Time option.
Step 3: After that, tap on the App Limits option.
Step 4: Once the App Limits page opens, look for the App Limit set for Safari and tap on it.
Step 5: Now click on Delete Limit at the bottom of the Safari App Limit.
Step 6: Tap Delete Limit on the popped-up context window as shown below.
Fix 6 – Disconnect VPN
Step 1: Firstly, go to the Settings app.
Step 2: Click on the General option.
Step 3: Next, you should tap on the VPN & Device Management option on the General page.
Step 4: Tap on the VPN option.
Step 5: Now check whether you have connected any VPN connection on your iPhone here.
Step 6: If yes, please disconnect it and verify if this was causing the issue.
Fix 7 – Force Close Safari and Reopen it again
Step 1: Open the App Switcher first.
Step 2: To do so, you need to swipe the iPhone screen from the bottom left corner exponentially towards the right.
Step 3: Once the App Switcher appears, search for the Safari app from the background apps.
Step 4: Swipe up the Safari app which force closes from running in the background.
Step 5: Now reopen the Safari app by tapping on the safari icon from the home screen.
Fix 8 – Turn Off Safari Suggestions
Step 1: To start with, open the Safari settings on your iPhone by going to Settings > Safari.
Step 2: Now Turn Off the Search Engine Suggestions and Safari Suggestions by toggling its switch to grey color as shown below.
Fix 9 – Disable Certain Experimental Features
Step 1: Launch the Settings page by tapping on the settings icon.
Step 2: Look for Safari and click on it.
Step 3: Go to the Advanced option at the bottom.
Step 4: Click on the Experimental Features option as shown below.
Step 5: Try disabling or enabling different features by clicking on its toggle button and check whether Safari is working fine after making the changes.
Step 6: Repeat the process till you find the conflicting experimental feature.
Fix 10 – Turn Off the Hide IP Address option
Step 1: For this, you need to tap on the settings icon first.
Step 2: Then head toward Safari from the settings menu list.
Step 3: Now select the Hide IP Address option from the Safari page.
Step 4: Click on the Off option to select it.
This will not hide the IP addresses from the trackers.
Fix 11 – Disable the Extensions on Safari
Step 1: Go to the Settings page and click on Safari from the Settings menu list.
Step 2: Now scroll down to the General section and click Extensions as shown below.
Step 3: Click on one of the Extensions installed for Safari.
Step 4: Now disable the Extension by clicking on its toggle switch.
Fix 12 – Reset Network Settings
Step 1: Here, you have to first go to the Settings page.
Step 2: Then click on General.
Step 3: Now select the Transfer or Reset iPhone option from the general page.
Step 4: Click Reset at the bottom of the screen as shown below.
Step 5: As soon as you click Reset, you will get a pop-up on the screen.
Step 6: Select the Reset Network Settings option from the list.
Step 7: Enter the iPhone passcode to continue.
Step 8: Tap on Reset Network Settings again to confirm.
It then starts to reset the network settings on your iPhone.