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Secrets of Safari’s Activity window

One of the often overlooked features of Safari is its Activity window, hiding in plain sight in the Window menu (or just press Command-Option-A for fast access). The Activity window shows, as you might have guessed by now, activity related to the Web pages you are viewing. If you try to load a page and it stalls out with “loading,” for instance, the Activity window will show you exactly which item is causing the problem—just click the disclosure triangle next to the page in question, and you’ll see entries for every item on the page, and (if those items are loaded) their size or (if they’re not loaded) a message showing their status.

But there are more interesting things you can do with the Activity window. Are you an aspiring Web site designer, trying to learn more about CSS or JavaScript programming? One of the best ways to learn about such things is by looking at examples from other sites. Typically, that involves opening the site, viewing the source code, scanning for the CSS and JavaScript URLs, copying them, opening a new window, and then pasting the copied URL. Using Safari’s Activity window, it’s much simpler: click the disclosure triangle for the site you’re viewing, scan the list of objects for the .css or .js files, then double-click—the selected file will open in Safari.

You can use this same technique to view embedded Flash or QuickTime movies in their own windows—just find the .flv, .wmv, or .mov files in the list in the Activity window, and double-click.

Want to download something that’s on the page? Or a bunch of somethings? Just Option-double-click on any element in the window, and it will then show up in Safari’s Downloads window, and start downloading. Want to download a bunch of stuff? Make your selection (using Command-A for all, or a combination of Shift and Command clicking for subsets), press Command-C to copy the entries, switch to the Downloads window, and then press Command-V to paste the list. Bingo, everything you copied will start downloading.

But perhaps one of the neatest tricks with the Downloads window is to quickly create a set of bookmarks for your currently-open tabs. Safari in OS X 10.4 lacks a “create bookmarks folder from these tabs” feature, but the Activity window provides a workable solution. Yes, you could also install SafariStand , a Safari plug-in that provides this, and many other features. But if you’d rather not install any Safari plug-ins, try this instead.

Open the sites you wish to bookmark, each in its own tab, then open the Activity window. Leave all the disclosure triangles closed, so that all you see is the name of each site, like this:

Now press Command-A to select all and Command-C to copy the selection. Press Command-Option-B to open the Bookmarks window, and then navigate to the spot where you’d like to store your new bookmark collection. Create a new folder (if you wish) at that location by clicking the plus sign at the bottom of the window (the one on the right, under the Bookmark section). With the new folder still selected, press Command-V to paste the clipboard contents. That’s it—you’ve created a folder of bookmarks based on the currently loaded tab set. While not quite as simple as selecting a menu item in Firefox (Bookmark All Tabs), it’s not bad as workarounds go.

Author: Rob Griffiths

Former Macworld Senior Editor Rob Griffiths founded Mac OS X Hints. He's now master of ceremonies at Many Tricks Software .

Recent stories by Rob Griffiths:

• How to use Quick Look from Terminal in macOS
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• How to use Terminal to securely erase free space on a Mac’s mechanical drive

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2 Easy Ways to Check Your Safari Search History

Last Updated: May 21, 2024 Fact Checked

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This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Hannah Dillon . Hannah Dillon is a Technology Writer and Editor at wikiHow. She graduated with a B.A. in Journalism from North Dakota State University in 2013 and has since worked in the video game industry as well as a few newspapers. From a young age Hannah has cultivated a love for writing and technology, and hopes to use these passions in tandem to help others in the articles she writes for wikiHow. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 167,409 times. Learn more...

Do you need to check your Safari browser history? In a few simple steps, you can easily view all the websites you accessed in the past. You can also search for specific websites in your history and clear any website data you don't want. This wikiHow will teach you how to view and delete your Safari history on iPhone, iPad, and macOS.

Things You Should Know

• On iPhone, you can click the book icon, then the clock icon to find your Safari history.
• On macOS, you can click the "History" tab, then "Show History".
• You can search for specific websites and clear your history data.

• If needed, you can change your General Settings .

• If you're signed in with the same Apple ID to you use to log into your Mac, your Mac's Safari history will appear in this list as well.

• You may have to swipe down on the History page to find it.
• The results will load as you type.

• You can also swipe left on individual websites in your history, then click Delete .

• Be sure to update Safari.

• If you're logged into the computer with the same Apple ID you use on your iPhone or iPad, you'll also see sites you've visited on those devices.

• A list of matching results from your history will appear. Click a site to load it in Safari.

• Select a time frame from the drop-down menu, then click Clear History .
• You can also delete cookies from Safari .

Expert Q&A

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• ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/search-your-browsing-history-ibrw1114/mac
• ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201265

About This Article

iPhone/iPad: 1. Open Safari . 2. Tap the book icon. 3. Tap the clock button. macOS: 1. Open Safari . 2. Click History . 3. Click Show All History . Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How To View History in Safari on a PC, Tablet, or Mobile Device

Lee Stanton Lee Stanton is a versatile writer with a concentration on the software landscape, covering both mobile and desktop applications as well as online technologies. Read more July 19, 2022

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Safari for iOS provides a convenient way to keep track of your browsing history. You can use it to call up web pages quickly you’ve visited. You can easily go down the rabbit hole when performing searches online. This makes it difficult to remember exactly where you found a valuable piece of information. Reviewing your browsing history can retrace your steps, saving you the arduous task of finding the data from scratch. This article covers how to see your history in Safari. Check out how to do that below.

How to View History in Safari on an iPhone

Safari stores your browser activity, making it possible to revisit sites at a later date. You could either view your most recent history or check out the entire list of previously visited websites. This is how to do that.

You have now accessed your recent history on Safari.

If you would like to view your complete Safari browsing history, here’s how to do that.

You’ve now accessed your Safari browsing history.

How to View History in Safari on an iPad

Safari allows users to keep track of their browsing history. This feature can then be used to revisit sites that might be of interest. You could either view recent history or peruse all your browsing data. The steps listed here detail how to do that.

You have now viewed the recent history on your iPad.

To view your complete browsing data, follow the steps outlined here.

How to View History in Safari on a Mac

Your Safari browsing history allows you to revisit sites you viewed in the past. You can even use the search tool so that you don’t have to scroll through the entire list of results to find what you are looking for. Here’s how to view your browsing history on an iPhone.

• Click on it to open the page in your browser.

You can now see your history in Safari. If you signed in to your device using the same Apple ID that you use on your other Apple devices, that history would also be displayed on your Mac.

Can You View History From Private Browsing?

Private Browsing is a feature that prevents Safari from storing information on sites you have visited. It ensures there’s no record of your online activity, including passwords or autofill information. It also prevents iCloud from storing data on any tabs that you open. To provide an additional layer of privacy, Safari prevents sites and content providers from tracking you. Any cookies you might have picked up are deleted once you close the tab.

This means that Safari doesn’t store your browsing history when you activate Private Browsing. You will therefore be unable to view it in the future.

How to Clear History in Safari

If your Apple device is lagging or otherwise misbehaving, you might consider clearing your browsing data. This is how to do that.

Your browsing data will now be removed from your device.

Retracing Your Steps

Like many web browsers, Safari stores information on websites you’ve visited. This data can come in handy when you want to go back to a particular site. This guide shows you how to retrieve the browsing history stored on your Apple devices.

Have you viewed your browsing history on Safari? What did you think of the process? Let us know in the comments below.

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• Use other apps with CarPlay
• Rearrange icons on CarPlay Home
• Change settings in CarPlay
• Get started with accessibility features
• Turn on accessibility features for setup
• Change Siri accessibility settings
• Open features with Accessibility Shortcut
• Change color and brightness
• Make text easier to read
• Reduce onscreen motion
• Customize per-app visual settings
• Hear what’s on the screen or typed
• Hear audio descriptions
• Turn on and practice VoiceOver
• Change your VoiceOver settings
• Use VoiceOver gestures
• Operate iPhone when VoiceOver is on
• Control VoiceOver using the rotor
• Use the onscreen keyboard
• Write with your finger
• Keep the screen off
• Use VoiceOver with an Apple external keyboard
• Use a braille display
• Type braille on the screen
• Customize gestures and keyboard shortcuts
• Use VoiceOver with a pointer device
• Use VoiceOver for images and videos
• Use VoiceOver in apps
• Use AssistiveTouch
• Adjust how iPhone responds to your touch
• Use Reachability
• Auto-answer calls
• Turn off vibration
• Change Face ID and attention settings
• Use Voice Control
• Adjust the side or Home button
• Use Apple TV Remote buttons
• Adjust pointer settings
• Adjust keyboard settings
• Control iPhone with an external keyboard
• Adjust AirPods settings
• Turn on Apple Watch Mirroring
• Control a nearby Apple device
• Intro to Switch Control
• Set up and turn on Switch Control
• Select items, perform actions, and more
• Control several devices with one switch
• Use hearing devices
• Use Live Listen
• Use sound recognition
• Set up and use RTT and TTY
• Flash the indicator light for notifications
• Adjust audio settings
• Play background sounds
• Display subtitles and captions
• Show transcriptions for Intercom messages
• Get live captions of spoken audio
• Type to speak
• Record a Personal Voice
• Lock iPhone to one app with Guided Access
• Use built-in privacy and security protections
• Set a passcode
• Set up Face ID
• Set up Touch ID
• Control access to information on the Lock Screen
• Keep your Apple ID secure
• Use passkeys to sign in to apps and websites
• Sign in with Apple
• Share passwords
• Automatically fill in strong passwords
• Change weak or compromised passwords
• View your passwords and related information
• Share passkeys and passwords securely with AirDrop
• Make your passkeys and passwords available on all your devices
• Automatically fill in verification codes
• Automatically fill in SMS passcodes
• Sign in with fewer CAPTCHA challenges
• Use two-factor authentication
• Use security keys
• Manage information sharing with Safety Check
• Control app tracking permissions
• Control the location information you share
• Control access to information in apps
• Control how Apple delivers advertising to you
• Control access to hardware features
• Create and manage Hide My Email addresses
• Protect your web browsing with iCloud Private Relay
• Use a private network address
• Use Advanced Data Protection
• Use Lockdown Mode
• Use Stolen Device Protection
• Receive warnings about sensitive content
• Use Contact Key Verification
• Turn iPhone on or off
• Force restart iPhone
• Back up iPhone
• Reset iPhone settings
• Restore all content from a backup
• Restore purchased and deleted items
• Sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone
• Erase iPhone
• Install or remove configuration profiles
• Important safety information
• Important handling information
• Find more resources for software and service
• FCC compliance statement
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• Disposal and recycling information
• Unauthorized modification of iOS

Customize your Safari settings on iPhone

Customize your start page

When you open a new tab, you begin on your start page. You can customize your start page with new background images and options.

Scroll to the bottom of the page, then tap Edit.

Choose the options you want to appear on your start page:

Favorites: Display shortcuts to your favorite bookmarked websites. See Bookmark a favorite website .

Frequently Visited: Go straight to the websites you visit most.

Shared with You: See links shared with you in Messages, Mail, and more. See Find links shared with you .

Privacy Report: Stay updated on how many trackers and websites Safari blocked from tracking you. See View the Privacy Report .

Siri Suggestions: As you search, allow websites shared in Calendar and other apps to appear.

Reading List: Show webpages currently in your Reading List. See Add the current webpage to your Reading List .

Recently Closed Tabs: Go back to tabs you previously closed.

iCloud Tabs: Show open tabs from other Apple devices where you’re signed in with the same Apple ID and Safari is turned on in iCloud settings or preferences. See Organize your tabs with Tab Groups .

Note: Your custom start page settings are updated on all your Apple devices where you have Use Start Page on All Devices turned on, and you’re signed in with the same Apple ID using two-factor authentication .

Change the text size for a website on Safari

Use the Page Settings button to increase or decrease the text size.

Tap the large A to increase the font size or the small A to decrease it.

Change the display controls for a website on Safari

You can hide the search field, switch to Reader, and more.

Hide the search field: Tap Hide Toolbar (tap the bottom of the screen to get it back).

See a streamlined view of the webpage: Tap Show Reader (if available).

To return to the normal view, tap Hide Reader.

See what the webpage looks like on a desktop computer: Tap Request Desktop Website (if available).

You can also adjust Safari settings in Accessibility settings. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Per-App Settings. Tap Add App, choose Safari, then tap Safari to adjust the settings.

Choose where to save downloads

When you download a file in Safari, you can choose whether to save it to iCloud or on your iPhone.

iCloud Drive: Select this option to save downloads to the Downloads folder in iCloud Drive. This allows you to access the downloaded file on any iPhone, iPad, or Mac where you’re signed in with the same Apple ID .

On My iPhone: Select this option to save downloads to the Downloads folder on your iPhone.

Share website passwords with a group

You can create a group of trusted contacts and share a set of passwords. Passwords stay up to date for everyone in the group, and you can remove someone at any time.

See Create shared password groups .

Adjust privacy settings for Safari

You can choose what privacy settings you want across Safari, and create individual exceptions for websites. See Browse privately .

Tips & Tricks

Troubleshooting, how to download web & flash videos to a mac with the safari activity monitor trick.

This should works to download any web video so long as it gets loaded into the Safari browser or cache, but you should be certain to only use this on video content that specifically allows for sharing and for such downloading for offline usage – not all movie and video content on the web has that license and it’s important for you to determine that on your own.

OK without further adieu, here are the steps he Robert provided us to download and save web video or flash files to Mac OS X:

• Launch an independent Safari window with the video you want to download
• Press Command+Option+A , or go to Windows > Activity to bring up the ‘Activity Monitor’ window in Safari
• Look through the activity for “Video Name”, look for the largest file size and double click to download it

• Find the file that you downloaded (usually named get_video or videoplayback.flv) in the Finder and edit the name so that it has a .flv file extension
• Confirm the file extension change, and now you can watch the downloaded movie in VLC or Perian equipped QuickTime

Robert also tells us that this should work in the Windows version of Safari but I can’t confirm that. Thanks for the tip Robert!

If you want to download songs tracks from video there’s an easy way to do just that too, using an app that extracts the audio track from the video file in question.

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I think I’ve found a way to download these YouTube segmented files. In Safari turn on the Develop menu from the Preferences/Advanced. Go to Develop/Show Page Resources, refresh the YT page and wait until the ‘Other’ folder appears in the left hand panel. Select that and look inside for a series of items starting with playback. Select one of them. On the right hand panel copy the full URL listed at the top. Paste that into an address bar, then scroll along until you find a section starting &range=. Delete that section up to but not including the next & sign. This is now a link to the complete file. On the Mac I then click alt+enter and the file downloads.

i updated my Mac and now the activity feature has vanished. Does anyone know how to download videos without the use of “activity”???

Just google search Step by Step Guide on How to Download and Convert YouTube FLV, F4V, WebM to Mac format

You will find a detailed guide on how to download as well as convert YouTube to Mac format so as to play YouTube on Mac QuickTime or iTunes, edit YouTube on Mac Final Cut Pro X/Final Cut Pro/Final Cut Express/iMovie; transfer YouTube to iPod/iPhone/iPad for playback on the go. Edit/Delete Message

You can do this. Most likely, it’s a flash file that’s playing, even though it can be converted to an HTML5. ‘right’ click on the flash player or video playing to bring up flash menu settings (3rd from the bottom indicated by “… additional options”, a small window with 5 or folders or tabs appears. The middle folder has an option slider to set how much access flash has to store on your computer. Set this to unlimited. Now you should see in the activity window the file uploading, a large downloading file. Some of you haven’t seen this. You don’t need additional programs to download files that are converted to HTML5. if you command click that file, or command double click depending on your settings, the video will open in a new tab or window. You’ll notice the video is now playing in Apples native HTML5 format. Insert your cursor at the end of the address field, for those using Safari 6 you have a simplified address bar, and once it’s there press option+enter. Now you see the video downloading at the download shortcut link in the upper righthand corner.

when i download it and find it in my finder and rename then press play it says it cannot be opened bcuz the video format is not recognized. helpppp :(

P.s. It’s not just YouTube.

I have two mac pros, one has Lion and one has snow leopard.

Snow leopard wouldn’t download all files types – I think that it would open a new window to display the mp4, and never actually download the file. Like forced streaming.

Lion used to download all file types. But, since the update, it acts like snow leopard did.

I might look what benefits I got from the last Lion update (I think there might’ve been something actually useful in it), and consider if I can remove the update.

Is it just my computer? Lion was fine for downloading at first. Since updating Lion, I find that ALL YOUTUBE FILES ARE 1.7Mb, in the activity window.

They were never going to work.

My mac is happy that they are flv, and automatically associates with them.

I don’t get any error message of any description. Just a 1.7mb video file, that has no play time at all. Not a black screen, nothing.

[…] you can download Flash videos to your Mac with just Safari, but Evom is nice because it will also convert the video file for you to a format […]

This doesn’t work for me. It downloads fine, but when I try to open it (it has the .flv extension), QuickTime tells me that it can’t open an .flv file?

this method can’t be used now

my problem is i cant find the goddamn large file size in the activity window, only small ones

Same here. I think the problem is actually not a problem. In OSX Lion this is fixed. I used to be able to download on Snow Leopard. Maybe youtube had a word with apple or some …

As above posters have noted, this method doesn’t work now. Perhaps it used to. For me, double-clicking on the file in Activity Monitor doesn’t download it, it just opens a new Safari window with just the flash video in the center and plays it. No downloading possible.

As far as I can see this doesn’t work any more (used to) – if anyone has any other tricks for downloading up their sleeves please let us know.

Following the Safari download process I get to the point where I see the video playback file with the .flv extension, but when I go to play it it gives the following error response… ‘main: no suitable decoder module for fourcc `undf’. VLC probably does not support this sound or video format.’

What have I missed?

I think the issue lies with Flash. I was able to download full length videos from YouTube until yesterday when I “upgraded” to the newest version of Flash Player – 11.1.102.62. Since then, the stream is no longer seamless, but a series of fractional files 1.7 – 2.3 megs in size – depending on what’s being downloaded.

Flash Wars – the revenge of the Warnock.

I think there is a new problem with this. The activity window is now displaying an flv file 2.3 MB size and there are several of these files in the activity window. If you download any of those none will be readable. I tried different videos and all are displaying the same patterns of several fly files 2.3 MB size. I think there was a recent change in the play system on Youtube. Have anyone found a workaround on this issue? In the past it worked perfectly but now all the files I download cannot be played…. Thanks in advance for the response.

all existing methods in the article and user comments did not work. I leave a window for the video buffer from youtube. I opened the activity pane (Cmd + Opt + A) and look for the video size 603mb. when double-clicked, will open a new window. when clicked two times while pressing the OPT, the download is running. but do I have to repeat and spent many hours to download files from servers that have been cached on my computer? I prefer to use keepvid.net now.

thanks . this was very helpful

Thank u so much very helpful .

[…] Källa: OSXDaily […]

This method will work, but not for the HD version of video. I use moviesherlock – it gives me 1080 version and it can rip off mp3 from youtube! Well, knowing-how to do it with just a browser – this cool

It works! Thanks :D

You can do this using the Windows version of Safari and Firefox.

1. Go to the activity window, and find the file which is actively increasing in size.

2. Double click that file. It will open in a new Safari window.

3. Copy the path from the Safari window.

4. Open Firefox. Paste the path in Firefox

5. In Firefox, File –> Save as. You will be prompted to save the file. In my case, I saved a Vimeo file and it defaulted to .mp4.

This method by RL still works as of today with OSX version of Firefox — only difference is that it will start playing in the firefox window so just go to file .. save as and you can save the video file. Works fine.

Keepvid.com and Wantyoutube.com are the webpages I use. I’ll try this one! Thanks!

when i double click on the largest file it is not open in activity it is open with quick plug in , what to do?

will try what fray says TY

seems as of today I can no longer get this function to work. WHAT have they done aaaargh

I combined this tutorial and one from another site. This has worked every time for me:

1. Launch an independent Safari window with the YouTube video you want to download.

2. Press “Command + Option + A”, or go to Windows > Activity to bring up the ‘Activity Monitor’ window in Safari.

3. Click on the little arrow to look through the activity for “YouTube – Video Name” (or vise versa) and do one of two things: Look for the address of the file that has numbers (Ex: http://74.125.4.38 ), or look for the largest file size (usually 1 MB or more) and double-click on it to download it. If double-clicking doesn’t work (and a lot of times it doesn’t), do the following instead:

* Click on the line of the video in the “activity window” (the one with the largest file size as mentioned previously). * Click on the keys “Apple + C” to copy the file. * Open the download window (“Window > Downloads”). * Paste the file via “Apple + V”. * Your video should start downloading in the “Downloads” window.

4. Locate the file that you downloaded (it’s usually named “get_video” or “videoplayback”) and edit its name so that it has a “.flv” file extension.
(Ex: johnsparty.flv)

5. Confirm the file extension change in the window that pops up and watch the downloaded movie in either VLC or QuickTime equipped with Perian.

@Fray: This works perfectly for me on Lion OSX 10.7.1/Safari 5.1. Thank you.

I’ve been using the usual activity window and double clicking on the largest file size for years but attempting to save a HD file this way no longer worked (maybe Safari/Apple updates) but copying and pasting in the download window has worked perfectly. Thank you for posting your way around and helping out those that thought it was no longer possible.

How do you get iMovie to open the file you downloaded? Even though the extension is .flv/.mov it won’t open it.

Thanks, Paul – I was hoping that the Flash I downloaded last night would open it, but I can’t seem to get the plug-in and the movie together.

Will download VLC – that’s what MacLife mag recommends, too. Great minds . . .

VLC opens just about any video file, it’s a great app and quite powerful, plus it’s free!

With JoshWED’s tip it downloaded a treat. I’m running Lion 10.7.1 and found “videoplayback.flv” in the downloads folder, but it won’t open (“the movie’s file format isn’t recognized”).

Any way to fix that? Thanks.

You just need something to open FLV files, try using VLC

omg all you need is to hold down the option button. Thank you JOSH!

JoshWED’s trick worked…

simply holding down Option and double click.

It’ll ask to save the file.

Thank you so much, you are awesome.

STOP BEING SO AWSOME!

What if its a large file? I’ve been doing this method for a while but now I want to download a 1hr30min full length gig and when you double click it it just opens the video in a new window. Any suggestions?

Used to work but not anymore. Safari and Youtube must have banded together to “fix” the “problem”

It seems that only some youtube clips aren’t downloadable using this method. I still manage to download some clips like this, but a few just don’t work.

Maybe it’s just newer clips that have been added.

I’ve got latest safari and it’s working, though not always like it used to. Simple fix when you’re getting the “new window”: hold option and then double-click. Should download after that. I noticed this was happening when it wasn’t an flv..but an mp extension.

Thanks mate! That’s awesome – totally works now :D

It worked fine for me till two days ago. Now another window opens up with an address beginning http://o-o .. – I tried pressing option while double clicking but to no avail, I just get no response at all.

I have had the same problem. I was able to download one video successfully using this method and now I just get the new window. Any luck finding a work-around?

I found a solution… I was able to download one video using the double click method, then I kept getting the new window. All I did was hold option, then double click on the file in the activity window and it downloaded again. Then, when you look in your downloads to find the “playback” file, you change the extension on it to “.flv”, andthen you can watch in quicktime if you have perian installed.

Dude! you rock! this is the only thing that worked for me, thanks! =D

Oh finally! OPTION + double-click works perfectly.

I’m glad I don’t have to use an extension/plugin.

Alternatively, use ClicktoPlugin to force and download HTML5/.m4v content, rather than Flash.

what seems to be happening is that youtube has found a way to defeat the safari activity window trick by downloading clips in many small clips- they all seem connected when you watch it on youtube- but obviously that’s not the case when you try to extract it from safari- This is why when you watch on youtube you won’t see the video buffer as in the past.

I just successfully downloaded youtube video in Safari, and it does work! Follow these instructions explicitly: 1. Go to the activity window, and find the file which is actively increasing in size. 2. Double click that file. then look in your downloads window. You will see it is downloading. 3. When it is finished downloading, you can find the file by doing either of the following; a. find the file in your downloads folder b. click the magnifying glass in the download window to take you to the file. 4. What you find is a file called “videoplayback” which has no file extension. 5. Rename as you like and add .flv as the file extension. 6. Test the file in VLC or Adobe video player. That is what works for me. (-;

I am a novice at this, but was able to download a movie clip from Youtube per your instructions, so thanks! Any way I can burn it to a DVD? The file extensions when downloaded was html. I didn’t change it, but it played on my computer. Again, I’m a novice…

same here, stopped. does not work anymore just opens another player window with the video scaled down .

Adding ‘&fmt=18’ as mentioned above makes no diff here unfortunately .

Yeah, I also face the same problem as Boomslang. It worked perfectly before until I upgrade the OS. Anyone know how to fix this? Thanks.

I have two OS 10.6 Macs, On the one this method works 100%.

BUT on the other it also opens the video in a new window.

I’ve tried to removed Safari and re-install. This option doesn’t work. Any ideas?

it’s not working for me I have mac os 10.6 help! please!

Does not work anymore. Now a new window will pop up with a player interface. They must have fixed it. Why is there no plug in like Easy Youtube Downloader for Firefox?

What to download video from a site youtube I use service takeyoutube.com

I use firefox add-on called “Easy Youtube downloader” which works much better and more elegantly. Also another is the “Video Download Helper”.

[…] you can download YouTube videos to your Mac with just Safari, but Evom is nice because it will also convert the video file for you to a format […]

When i open the activity windows, instead of one large file, i saw afew of similar file.

When i download it, it is parts of the video… not the whole video. what should i do?

This works for me in Leopard on a G4:

1. Navigate to a YouTube video. 2. Add “&fmt=18” (without the quotation marks) to the URL and press Return. This loads a Quicktime / MP4 version of the video file. 3. Open the Activity Manager and look for the huge file. 4. Option-double-click that file. 5. It appears as videoplayback.mp4 in my Downloads folder.

For Windows, I believe that I heard Control-double-click is the equivalent.

These .mp4 files will not always transfer to an iPod. To fix that problem, I downloaded Miro Video Convertor, which is free and open source. http://www.mirovideoconverter.com/

I run the downloaded files through MVC, and they work on my iPod Video.

This trick also works for Flash videos, like the cartoons on the Vimeo videos that have downloads prohibited.

I could not find the Beavis & Butt-head videos on MTV’s website with this trick. No huge file appeared in the Activity Manager.

Thanks, I’ve been looking FOREVER on how to do this. Previous methods haven’t worked for me, but this works!

wow thanks at least someone knows what they’re talking about.

This sequence of actions does not work for me. Double – clicking an item in the Activity Window opens it in a new Safari window, by itself, but doesn’t ‘download’ it at all.

The same thing happens for me. Did you find any solutions?

I have got the same problem too? Tell me the solutions please! Actually after double-clicking an item in the activity window does not “download”. A window opens and begin to “loading”….

If you are using OS X v10.7 Lion you need to hold the ‘Option’ key down when you double click in the Activity window.

Thanks Alan. Holding down Option and double clicking in the Activity Window works for me using Lion 10.7.2

Thankyou!!! Thankyou!!! Thankyou!!! Holding down option key totally worked!

[…] Enkel nedlastning av youtube i Safari 31 mai, 2010 Arkivert under: mac — eat1 @ 10:29 pm Tags: dataverktøy Ganske enkelt å bare gjøre det direkte i Safari. Sjekk ut denne guiden […]

You have to make sure you double click the item in the activity window and it will then automatically download to your safari downloads folder.

GlimmerBlocker (glimmerblocker.org) is an advanced ad-blocker which ads a download link to all YouTube movies. No need to open the Activity window, just click ‘download’ below the movie.

Where in the Finder does one go to find this file? Stumped.

Mine Doesn’t it, just opens another window playing the video

If another window is opened, that means that the video is in mp4 format. What you should do is copy the address of the new window and paste it into the downloads window (Click in the downloads window and then press Ctrl-V to paste).

Just use keepvid.com. They offer different types of downloads as well I’ve seen, flv’s to mp4’s, different quality.

For mac without windows? Do you have a mac w/o parallels? And Keepvid.com works for you?

Keepvid.com maybe the easiest way to download YouTube videos, But to download YouTube videos with this site, it will ask you to “download Java” to your Mac. In comparison of these youtube downloading sites or free apps, I would choose Zamzar.com or enolsoft free youtube downloader hd for mac.

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whatever i feel like writing about

safari activity window for all browsers.. Charles

So I've always been in love with safari's Activity window, but I often like using more common browsers for website debugging and hate jumping over to safari which typically runs the same as my standard browser firefox.  Also when troubleshooting the inevitable IE problems it's nice to see what is being referenced and where things are breaking on a http level.  Charles to the rescue!  I recently discovered this debugging program that allows you to do this kind of tracking in all your browsers which really comes in handy if you really enjoy using the activity window like I do.

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Safari downloads and activity window keyboard shortcuts

Use keyboard commands in safari for downloads and activities.

Use these keyboard shortcuts for downloads and activities in Apple’s Safari browser. Downloads window shortcuts

Activity window shortcuts

For more, see the original article at the link below.

Safari: Browser Window and Menu Shortcuts | Apple

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Jim has written for many leading industry publications over the years, including ITworld , InfoWorld , CIO , PCMag , ExtremeTech , and numerous others.

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macrumors member

• Jan 31, 2005

I use the Activity Window in Safari for debugging all the time, especially with Flash apps. I love that it not only displays the swf that's been loaded, but if that swf loads other swf files, jpg's, mp3's, etc. they all show up as well. My non-Mac coworkers have been jealous of this feature for some time, and since it's not reason enough for them to buy Macs of their own, we've been trying to find something similar for them. Either a stand-alone app or a FireFox plugin, whatever. Does anybody know of a PC solution that works like this?  

• Feb 17, 2005

Nothing quite as elegant but Firefox has an extension called HTTP Headers that lists the activity. As I said, it's unwieldy compared to the activity window in Safari, which I too use ALL that time, it's incredibly useful. D.  

Moderator emeritus

OK, never noticed that function before. How awesome is that! :::gives puppy eyes to iBook:::  

robbieduncan

OnniWeb has had a similar window since version 4 at least (I never used any older versions). Not seem anything like it on the PC though.  

macrumors regular

I use the activity window all of the time too. I use it mostly for webdev, but even as a casual user it can be useful to see why things arent loading properly, if they ARE loading, et cetera. Sorry no idea of apps for windows.. the closest thing i can think of, which isnt very close, is that pesky device that would occasionally pop on windows when i had a page that needed to be "debugged" but it was unwieldy and nowhere near as nice as activity window which just SHOWS ACTIVITY. lol  

This Hidden Safari Feature Makes Multitasking a Breeze

Safari's Picture-in-Picture mode is tucked away, but it's easy to get to if you know where to enable it.

You can watch videos while using different apps on your Mac.

Your Mac has several features tucked away that are designed to provide flexibility to people who want it but stay out of sight for folks who don't. That also means there's potential for some missed opportunities if you aren't looking. Luckily, some of the best hidden features, like the built-in Picture-in-Picture mode in Safari, are easily accessible. 

Much like other modes, PiP in Safari will let you shrink a video you're watching down to a small floating window you can move around so you can work on other tasks while you watch. There are also multiple ways to enable the feature, which we'll detail below for you. 

Don't miss how to find your stored Wi-Fi passwords on your iPhone and the full list of devices that support Circle to Search .

How to find Safari's PiP button 

If a video is playing in Safari, go to the address bar at the top of the window, right-click the blue audio button to the right of the website URL in the address bar and click  Enter Picture in Picture . The video will then automatically move to a floating window.

You can also mute the tab and configure auto-play settings from here.

The floating window playing the video will appear above all other open applications, including Safari, and will snap into any of the four corners of your desktop. You can adjust the size by hovering the mouse over the window's borders and corners and then clicking and dragging to make it bigger or smaller. 

The window also has two buttons: One to pause/play the video and the other to snap the floating window back into the web browser. You can also just close the floating window with the X button on the top left.

The floating video window can be moved and resized across your desktop.

More ways to enable Picture in Picture on MacOS

If you don't see the blue audio button in the address bar or have multiple videos playing in Safari, there are two other ways to use Picture in Picture.

The first is by clicking the PiP button in the video's playback controls. Not every video player will have the PiP button, so you're limited in use. The PiP button appears as two rectangles with an arrow pointing from one to the other, but you can also just hover your mouse over the various buttons to find the Open Picture in Picture mode option.

You'll find Picture in Picture between the AirPlay and Full Screen buttons on YouTube.

If you don't see a PiP button, you can right-click the video and see if you get an Enter Picture in Picture option. On YouTube, you have to right-click twice to get the correct menu, but you may only need to right-click once on other websites to find the PiP setting.

You can also use this menu to enter full screen and show the video player's controls.

For more, did you know your iPhone's Apple Cash now has virtual card numbers ? And  this hidden iPhone feature helps you relax or focus on demand . 

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Is there a Safari' Activity Window' for iOS?

or any App (wink) that has similar function where I can download certain things from iOS browser? I can download FLV from a website with Desktop Safari Activity Window, but I'd like to do the same with iPhone as well.

iPhone 4, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Feb 26, 2013 6:44 PM

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Feb 26, 2013 6:48 PM in response to Secruoser

You can't download files on iOS. You can just open/save them in an app that can read files of the type you are trying to download.