Permanently disable Safari's favicons

Apr 21, '09 07:30:00AM

Contributed by: kirkmc

If you'd prefer Safari never remembered favicons, here's a simple way to do just that, while also removing any currently-stored favicons. Quit Safari if it's running, then open Terminal (in Applications » Utilities) and enter these commands (don't enter the $; that's just the prompt):

$ cd ~/Library/Safari
$ rm WebpageIcons.db
$ ln -s /dev/null WebpageIcons.db
The first command sets the proper working directory, the second removes the current favicon database, and the third recreates the database file, but links it to /dev/null, so that any output written to the file is summarily discarded.

[robg adds: This works as described, though I personally prefer to keep the favicons. Note that this hint replaces this one, which only works for older versions of Safari.]

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