Comments on: Mastering Safari, using the ’snapback’ feature

By: Steve Holup

Steve Holup — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:03:30 +0000

(to clarify) …I do not seem to have any presence, in any field, of snapback. Not URL field, not Google search (where I rely on it the most), etc, etc.

By: Steve Holup

Steve Holup — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:59:46 +0000

Yes, I too have found my (heavily used and desired) SNAPBACK FEATURE NOW MISSING and do not know how to bring it back, or if possible?!! As I regularly do, I have maintained software updates via the Apple menu, and currently have Version 4.0.5 (5531.22.7) of Safari and Version 10.5.8 (Build 9L31a) of OSX.

…sup, guys?!?! Can it be activated/reactivated again?!?!

By: SBS

SBS — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:17:53 +0000

I love this feature and it seems with the latest update to Safari that it has been eliminated. Any idea how to get it back?

By: Gabi

Gabi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:51:16 +0000

Hello Scott,
Thank you for answering my comment so quickly. You’re right : I certainly “did” something that did not agree with Safari internal organs ! But What ?? I don’t remember when the Snapback did actually disappear. All that I know is that my Snapback has been missing for three or four days now. Anyway, I am going to try your method of going as deep as possible in my Google searches, and see if my friendly little orange cercle comes back. I shall keep you informed.
Thank you again.
“merci beaucoup”, as we say in my country !!

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:51:16 +0000

Hello @Gabi
Did you do any updates? While snapback is indeed still around in some form, it was mostly killed off in Safari 4. Many people are not happy about this, so you are not alone.

Perhaps you updated some part of Software Update, and a newer Safari was installed, in which case, you lost snapback features.

Snapback only works in search now. So if you do a google search, via the search field in the upper right corner of your browser, and then click on some of the resulting links, digging deeper into the results…You should notice that there is the familiar orange snapback arrow in the search field.

Snapback outside of that, seems to be gone, and I do not see it coming back. It has been gone a while now. Any idea what changed on your system in which it would have updated Safari?

By: Gabi

Gabi — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:30:47 +0000

My SnapBack has just disappeared, vanished, without my knowing why or how ! The last time I used Safari, it was there, and now it is gone… and I really don’t know how to bring it back. Thank you for helping me !

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:32:54 +0000

@Sam, wow, good catch. I missed that one. It looks like Search History and Top Sites is a semi-replacement, though not all that analogous. If it were faster, I may be able to use visual history much more efficiently.

I can not say I ever really used snapback often, once you get used to tabs and a few other things, I always found it was not that valuable, other than in search, which was still maintained thankfully.

Thanks for pointing this out, I will add a note to the top of the post.

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:17:34 +0000

It’s still there for the search box, but no longer for the URL field.

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:59:02 +0000

@Sam, snapback is still very much in Safari 4. It is even listed on Apple’s Safari 4 page. It shows up to the right of the search box, just as it always did.

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:57:09 +0000

Snapback doesn’t exits anymore

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:58:23 +0000

@MacRussian, as far as I know, the best you can do, is select the menu in Safari and tell it to stop blocking for that site. Then you have to remember to turn it back on. Not the best option, but most sites should be able to pop open a pop up, as long as you click something to make it happen. Blocking pop up windows only can not happen if the site tries to make it pop open without your permission.

By: MacRussian

MacRussian — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:35:34 +0000

Dear Scott,
I’ve got one Safari-related question I can’t seem to find an answer to.
Is there a way to UNBLOCK pop-up windows selectively (for a chosen website)?
Sometimes it would definitely be great to use such option, if it does exist.
Thanks a lot!

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:24:33 +0000

@James, just to clarify for our users, command-[ is for back, and is quite different that the snapback feature.

By: james

james — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:52:37 +0000

eh….you can use open apple + [ also instead of using a mouse but this would be good for a big picture gallery though

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:43:45 +0000

I needed this clear explanation-thanks

By: Donna

Donna — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:51:36 +0000

Nifty. I like the sound of this feature. I’ll have to give it a try since I also click “back” many times.

Thank you!

By: JimB

JimB — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:19:04 +0000

You are right~I guess I never really paid attention to that, and I do “click back” a lot to get to a first page.

Thanks

By: Scott Haneda

Scott Haneda — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:07:12 +0000

@halfeatenfish, great point, graphics heavy sites like picture galleries are a perfect case for SnapBack. I never thought if using it under those conditions. Rather than backing out of a page that has 100 images on it, waiting for the previous page of 100 images to load, snapback would take me back to the main page.

Great idea, thanks.

By: halfeatenfish

halfeatenfish — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:02:37 +0000

This seems like a godsend for navigating out of a large picture gallery