How to fix choppy video playback in Safari on OS X

Safari Flash Video Stutter

Recently I ran into a problem that I found to be quite annoying. Flash video playback in Safari began suffering from major stuttering and choppiness. It was so bad that videos essentially became unwatchable while using Safari.

For someone who’s constantly watching and editing video like me, this proved to be a big problem. I even pondered switching to Chrome for a bit, but quickly dismissed that thought and set out to find a solution to the problem.

Fortunately, the solution to fixing choppy video playback in Safari is an easy one. Have a look inside and we’ll show you how.

To fix the stutter playback with flash videos, simply do the following:

Step 1: Click the Safari menu and select Reset Safari…

Step 2: Ensure all options are checked on the Reset Safari window

Step 3: Click Reset

Safari will then close and reopen. All of your cookies will be cleared, and all other data associated with Safari will be cleared and reset; it’s basically a fresh start for Safari.

If you don’t want to clear all cookies, which is understandable. You can go to Safari > Preferences > Privacy > Details > select youtube.com and click the Remove button. This will remove just youtube cookies and data from your Mac instead of clearing everything.

Privacy Safari

Of course, this assumes that you’re only experiencing the issue on YouTube videos. If you’re experiencing it with a variety of sites, the best way is to just clear everything and start over.

Safari Clear Youtube

Now try and play the flash video that was giving you problems, and hopefully, you will notice smooth playback. It worked for me, did it work for you?