Safari Downloads not working on Mac: What to do?

Safari Downloads not working problem occurs when you want to download some items from it. Specifically, the problem includes that the downloaded item might disappear, the error "decompression failed" appears in the Downloads box, or, the Safari browser doesn't download at all. 

Don't worry, software problem is not as tough as hardware failure, and you can read this article to know the reasons that cause Downloads not working on Mac Safari, meanwhile, approaches on how to fix Safari Downloads not working are covered on Mac.

Table of Contents:

• 1. Why does the Safari Downloads not working issue happen on Mac?
• 2. How to Fix Safari Downloads not working on Mac?

Why does the Safari Downloads not working issue happen on Mac?

Generally speaking, the factors that cause Safari downloads not working issue are various, and you can have a rough understanding of them:

How to Fix Safari Downloads not working on Mac?

Approaches to deal with the downloads not working on Mac Safari are various, each one is simple and easy. You can spare no effort to solve this problem.

Fix 1: Check the default downloads folder

Commonly, the Safari browser sends your downloaded files to a folder, and it always takes Downloads as the default location. If you have downloaded something but it doesn't show up in the Downloads folder, you can check which one is the default folder, and even you can change the default folder.

After you have done these actions, please securely remember the new default folder that you changed, in case you cannot find the downloaded items later.

Fix 2: Check the Open "safe" files after downloading box

As the content indicates, the downloaded files will open automatically if you ticked the Open "safe" files after downloading option. However, if your downloaded file doesn't open by itself, it's possible that you untick this option. Hence, you can follow the steps below to select this option:

After completing these steps, try to download again to see if your downloaded item would open automatically. If not, try the following approaches.

Fix 3: Check your network quality

Sometimes, the Download not working on the Safari problem happens due to the slow internet connection, but not the Safari problem. You can run the macOS NetworkQuality to check your upload and download speed.

If the upload/download speed and upload/download responsiveness are fast, your download speed is still slow, then it's likely that other devices swallow up your Wi-Fi bandwidth. You can stop these devices to use the Wi-Fi when you're downloading on the Safari browser. 

Or, if you have no other device using your Wi-Fi, it's highly possible that unauthorized devices use your internet in secret, and you'd better remove them from your user list for fast Wi-Fi speed and security.

Fix 4: Change DNS Servers

A famous DNS Server is able to increase Safari's capability of locating the file's download server. Thus, for dealing with the Safari Downloads not working issue, you can take changing the DNS Servers into consideration.

Since you have changed the DNS servers already, you can then try to download items in the Safari browser to test if the Downloads not working issue on Safari is solved.

Fix 5: Check the paused downloads

Downloading an item and then powering off your Mac definitely leads to the Safari Downloads not working on Mac. Therefore, you can head to the Safari browser to see if there is any paused download item:

If there aren't paused download items, be patient and try the following approaches still.

Fix 6: Clear the Safari caches

The redundant caches accumulated on the Safari browser may hinder your download work, and you can remove them by easy steps included in this post:

After you cleared the caches, try to download any item via Safari to test if the Safari Downloads not working issue is repaired.

Fix 7: Check the Security & Privacy settings

Thanks to the high security and privacy level, you are unable to open the apps from the outside of the App Store on Mac. If you have downloaded an app from the Safari browser, it's not odd that you cannot install and run it on Mac, unless you change some Security & Privacy settings manually.

Notice that only apps from identified developers are allowed to be installed and used on your Mac, if you have downloaded an app from the unidentified developers, the app will be blocked by your Mac operating system.

Fix 8: Disable the Extensions and plugins 

Sometimes, the extensions and plugins installed on Safari may cause the Downloads not working issue on Mac Safari, then, ways to disable or close these extensions or plugins are helpful in fixing this issue.

After you have finished these actions above, try to download an item in the Safari browser again. If you can download the item without barriers, then it's faulty with the extensions and plugins. Please remember to close the extensions and plugins when you download any item in the Safari browser later.

Fix 9: Check the disk space

If your disk remains few spaces, then Mac cannot hold the item that you have downloaded on the Safari browser absolutely. You can follow the guidelines to check the disk space, also, methods on how to free up the disk space on Macintosh HD are covered for enough space to store downloaded items.

Since you have enough space by the following steps, you can download any items on the Safari browser then.

Conclusion

Factors that cause the Safari Download not working problem are uncertain, but feasible approaches to solving this problem are covered in this post. You can try them to fix your Safari browser which cannot download items, and the downloaded items disappear with ease.