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How-To Guide

Website Not Working on Safari? How to Fix It

September 30, 20268 min read

When a website works in Chrome but not in Safari, there are two possibilities. Either Safari on your device is blocking it (content blockers, stored website data, privacy settings, or an out-of-date iOS), or the website uses code that Safari handles differently from Chrome. Safari runs on Apple's WebKit engine, and every browser on iPhone does too, so a site that isn't tested in WebKit can break for every iPhone user at once. Start with the quick fixes below. If the site fails on every Apple device, the problem is the website, and the second half of this guide is for its owner.

Quick fixes (try in order)

  • Turn off content blockers: tap "aA" in the address bar → turn off content blockers, then reload.
  • Clear that site's data: Settings → Apps → Safari → Advanced → Website Data (on Mac: Safari → Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data).
  • Update iOS or macOS. Safari only updates with the operating system.
  • Still broken on every iPhone and Mac? The site needs fixing. See the site-owner section below.

If Safari won't load sites on your device

Content blockers and extensions

Ad and privacy blockers can break logins, checkouts, and embedded content. Disable them for the site from the "aA" menu (iPhone) or Safari → Settings → Extensions (Mac) and reload.

Stored website data

A corrupted cookie or cached file for one site can break it. Remove data for that site only, rather than clearing everything.

Privacy settings

"Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" and iCloud Private Relay can break sites that rely on third-party logins or embedded services. Turn them off temporarily to test. If that fixes it, the site depends on third-party cookies, which is the site owner's problem to solve.

"Safari can't establish a secure connection"

Check your device's date and time are set automatically. If they are, the website's security certificate is expired or misconfigured, or its server uses outdated security settings. Only the site owner can fix that.

Out-of-date Safari

Safari is updated through iOS and macOS updates. Older devices stuck on old versions can't run newer website code, and there's no way to update Safari separately.

If you own the site: 7 reasons websites break in Safari

Most "doesn't work in Safari" bugs come from code that Chrome accepts and WebKit doesn't, or accepts differently. One unsupported line of JavaScript can stop every script after it, so buttons, menus, and forms all fail at once, while the page still looks normal.

1

JavaScript features older Safari doesn't support

Most common
Visitors on older iPhones can't upgrade Safari without upgrading iOS. Features like regular-expression lookbehind ((?<=…), only supported from Safari 16.4) throw a syntax error that kills the entire script file. Check features against caniuse.com, and make sure your build tool targets the Safari versions your visitors use.
2

Date parsing

new Date('2026-09-30 10:00') (with a space) works in Chrome but returns "Invalid Date" in older Safari versions, which breaks booking forms, countdowns, and anything with dates. Always use the ISO format with a "T" (2026-09-30T10:00:00) or a date library.
3

Third-party cookies are blocked

Safari blocks third-party cookies by default. Embedded logins, payment widgets, chat tools, and iframes that rely on cookies from another domain silently fail. Move authentication to your own domain, or use the Storage Access API.
4

CSS that renders differently

Common trouble spots: 100vh on iPhone includes the area behind the browser toolbar, so full-screen sections get cut off (use 100dvh); flexbox gap isn't supported before Safari 14.1; and position: sticky or fixed elements can misbehave when the keyboard opens. Test layouts on a real iPhone, not only a resized Chrome window.
5

Video autoplay rules

iPhone Safari only autoplays video that is muted and has the playsinline attribute. Without them, hero videos show a blank box or a play button.
6

Image formats

HEIC works in Safari but not Chrome, while AVIF and WebP don't work on older Safari versions. Serve JPEG/PNG fallbacks. More in our guide to images not loading on a website.
7

Certificate or security configuration

An expired certificate, a missing intermediate certificate, or outdated TLS settings can make Safari refuse the connection while other browsers are more forgiving. Run your domain through an SSL checker such as SSL Labs and fix anything flagged.

How to test your site in Safari without a Mac

Chrome's mobile emulation uses Chrome's engine, not Safari's, so it won't reproduce WebKit bugs. Your options:

A real iPhone or iPad

The most accurate test. Connect it to a Mac for Safari's Web Inspector to see console errors.

Cloud device services

BrowserStack, LambdaTest, and similar services give you real Safari on real Apple devices in your browser, and most have free trials.

Playwright WebKit (free)

The open-source Playwright testing framework ships a WebKit build that runs on Windows and Linux. It's close to Safari's engine and good for automated checks.
Catch the rest automatically: BugSense loads your pages at iPhone, iPad, and desktop screen sizes and flags JavaScript errors, failed requests, broken images, and layouts that overflow or cover buttons. It renders in Chromium, so pair it with a real Safari test for WebKit-only bugs. Run a free scan.

Frequently asked questions

Why are some websites not working in Safari?

Either Safari on your device is blocking them (content blockers, stored website data, privacy settings like Prevent Cross-Site Tracking, or an outdated iOS), or the site uses code Safari doesn't support, such as newer JavaScript features, Chrome-only date formats, or third-party cookies that Safari blocks.

Why is Safari refusing to open a website?

If Safari says it can't establish a secure connection, check your device's date and time. If they're correct, the website's certificate is expired or misconfigured, or its server uses outdated security settings, which only the site owner can fix.

Is there an issue with Safari right now?

Apple lists service outages at apple.com/support/systemstatus, but Safari itself rarely has outages. If only one site fails, the problem is almost always that site or your device's data for it. Try clearing that site's website data and disabling content blockers.

Why does a website work in Chrome but not Safari on iPhone?

On iPhone, Safari and every other browser use Apple's WebKit engine. A site using JavaScript or CSS that WebKit doesn't support, or relying on third-party cookies Safari blocks, will fail on iPhone even though it works in Chrome on desktop and Android.

How do I test my website in Safari on Windows?

Use a cloud device service such as BrowserStack or LambdaTest for real Safari on Apple devices, or the free Playwright framework, which includes a WebKit build that runs on Windows. Chrome's device emulation does not use Safari's engine.

Check how your site behaves on iPhone-sized screens

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