# Why is Safari hanging up?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-safari-hanging-up/520150>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 6, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-safari-hanging-up/520150 "2009-12-06T01:10:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-safari-hanging-up/520150/1 "2009-12-06T01:10:12Z")

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The last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that YouTube occasionally hangs up Safari. I get the beach ball, and eventually I have to do a hard restart. I clear cache frequently, and I have about 5 GB remaining on my hard drive.

What’s going on?

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**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-safari-hanging-up/520150/2 "2009-12-06T02:16:09Z")

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What version of Adobe Flash do you have installed? Try updating Flash.

What version of Safari do you have installed? Try updating Safari.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-safari-hanging-up/520150/3 "2009-12-06T02:20:55Z")

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Safari 4.0.4. Actually, the problem started when I installed the upgrade.

I’ve upgraded (or reinstalled – I don’t know which) Flash Player 10.

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**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-safari-hanging-up/520150/4 "2009-12-06T02:21:49Z")

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Do you have the Flash 10.1 beta? It’s faster on my MacBook, but it has hung on some videos and Flash ads occasionally.

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**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-safari-hanging-up/520150/5 "2009-12-06T10:13:23Z")

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If you have a Mac, you should definitely consider installing clicktoflash. Clicktoflash automatically loads YouTube videos in better quality h.264 format, not flash.  
It’s main purpose is to disable all flash from loading in a web page, which is a good thing, but it also has a convenient whitelist for sites you visit often that unfortunately need flash to function.  
Considering how lousy an experience all things flash can be (particularly on a Mac), clicktoflash will soon become your best friend. You will want to get it flowers and chocolate on valentines day.  
[http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash/](http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash/)