Fixing Safari for Mac Error “This webpage was reloaded because a problem occurred”

Safari is a fantastic web browser on the Mac, but that doesn’t mean it’s always trouble-free. One issue that Safari users may see on the Mac from time to time will cause a webpage to refresh and then throw an error message that says “this webpage was reloaded because a problem occurred”. You might also see a variation of wording that is like “a problem repeatedly occurred” or similar.

Since that error message is fairly nonspecific, you might be wondering what is causing the error in Safari and what you can do about it with your Mac.

Reasons You Might See “This webpage was reloaded because a problem occurred” Error in Safari for Mac

Usually you see this error message in Safari on the Mac if there are memory issues, a website crashes or is incompatible with Safari for some reason, software bugs, or other similar issues.

• Memory issues, high RAM usage – if you have too many open tabs, browser windows, or resource heavy websites open, Safari can experience memory issues and a browser tab or window can crash. Since this error message usually only happens with a single browser tab or window, it’s often because one particular website has a memory leak, excessive javascript, complex media, complex scripts, or is otherwise very resource hungry, which can cause the browser tab/window to crash. This is typically the most common reason for the “problem occurred” error for many Safari users
• Content blockers and extension conflicts – some common browser extensions that make modifications to webpages, like content blockers or modifiers, can cause issues with some web sites, and the browser tab/window can crash as a result
• Software Bugs, Safari needs updating – If you haven’t updated MacOS or Safari in a while, you might be using an older version of Safari that has a known bug or issue that is patched in a later version. Keeping Safari (and MacOS) up to date with the latest versions can prevent this being the cause of any crashes and issues

OK so now that you know part of the reasons why you might see such an error, what do you do about it?

How to Fix “webpage was reloaded because a problem occurred” Error in Safari for Mac

Often this issue is self-resolving, meaning the browser tab/window in question crashes, reloads, and then works as expected. That’s always nice when that is the case, but that’s not a guarantee.

If you’re seeing frequent “This webpage was reloaded because a problem occurred” errors in Safari on Mac, try the following:

• Close unused browser tabs and windows to reduce memory usage and resource usage
• Restart Safari to clear out temporary caches, files, and clear memory and resource use
• If the issue happens repeatedly on a particular web page, it could be due to an extension conflict, so try disabling that extension and using the web page again
• Install available Safari and MacOS updates to make sure everything is up to date and bugs are fixed as expected
• Restarting the Mac can be helpful if you haven’t done so in a while, and is good general habit anyway especially since some system tasks like kernel_task can be memory hogs in modern MacOS versions

Usually simply quitting and relaunching Safari, closing unused tabs to reduce resource usage, and even a reboot of the Mac, is enough to resolve and stop further issues with a particular webpage in Safari.

Try out these tips, and if you have any of your own troubleshooting techniques for managing Safari webpages randomly crashing and reloading, share your own solutions in the comments below.