When you browse the web using Safari on a Mac, certain websites (such as Google Maps, local weather services, or retail store locators) will prompt you for access to your exact physical location. While Safari will always ask you with a pop-up alert before sharing this data, constantly clicking “Deny” on every new website can become tedious. If you are extremely privacy-conscious and want to guarantee that no website can ever track your location, you can revoke Safari’s location privileges at the browser level.
How to Disable Safari Location Tracking
You can turn off location requests through Safari’s main preferences window.
- Open the Safari browser on your Mac.
- Click on Safari in the main menu bar at the very top-left of the screen.
- Select Settings… (or Preferences… on older macOS versions) from the drop-down menu.
- The Settings window will appear. Click on the Websites tab at the top.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Location.
- Look at the bottom-right corner of the window for the drop-down menu next to “When visiting other websites:”
- Click the menu and select Deny.
From this point forward, Safari will automatically reject any location request from any website in the background. The website will simply assume you have declined to share your location, and you will never see a prompt asking for permission again. You can still manually type your post code or city into weather and store locator sites to get the information you need.