Backspace Key as Back Button in Safari 12 and above

[bogdanw]

After updating to macOS 10.14.4 with Safari 12.1, the backspace key doesn't seem to work as back button anymore. I have tried with defaults write com.apple.Safari com.apple.Safari.ContentPageGroupIdentifier.WebKit2BackspaceKeyNavigationEnabled -bool YES and Onyx/Deeper, but with no luck. If anyone finds a solution, please share it.

 

[BrianBaughn]

What version of macOS were you using? Backspace doesn't go "back" for me in Safari in Sierra.

The "solution" is Command-[

 

[chabig]

Backspace deletes text. To my knowledge it has never served as a back button in a web browser. That would be very confusing.

Edit: Wow. Apparently some browsers used that. It seems they are getting wiser, though, and removing the "feature". Did you use a Safari extension to get that behavior? You may have also changed the key behavior in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Backspace deletes text. To my knowledge it has never served as a back button in a web browser. That would be very confusing.

Edit: Wow. Apparently some browsers used that. It seems they are getting wiser, though, and removing the "feature". Did you use a Safari extension to get that behavior?

Long ago (prior to 2012?) I believe Safari exhibited this behavior.

 

[crjackson2134]

Backspace deletes text. To my knowledge it has never served as a back button in a web browser. That would be very confusing.

Edit: Wow. Apparently some browsers used that. It seems they are getting wiser, though, and removing the "feature". Did you use a Safari extension to get that behavior?

It's actually quite common on other OS's. I've used it for years with the FireFox browser. When in use, if you have an open browser, with no text fields selected, it serves as a quick back button. Safari might be configurable for this, I don't know, I've never tired and don't use it anymore since switching exclusively to macOS for browsing.

 

[smirking]

You can use keymapping programs like Keyboard Maestro to remap keys as you wish even from one program to another, but I'd have to agree with others who are horrified at the idea of a destructive backspace being used as a "go back" key. It just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Like let's say you're typing in a reply on MacRumors and you mean to delete the last word you typed, but you accidentally unselected the text box... ooops, goodbye message.

I have other keys mapped in ways to allow me to go back with just my left hand on the keyboard. I use CTRL-A with the Caps Lock key mapped to the CTRL key.

 

[bogdanw]

Old solution works

defaults write com.apple.Safari NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Back "\U232b"

If primary language of macOS is other than English, the text Back has to be replaced with the translated one from Safari.

 

[posguy99]

Old solution works

defaults write com.apple.Safari NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Back "\U232b"

If primary language of macOS is other than English, the text Back has to be replaced with the translated one from Safari.

Pointing out that doing it THAT way removes ⌘[ and replaces it with ⌫. That may be acceptable for you, or it may not.

 

[bogdanw]

Pointing out that doing it THAT way removes ⌘[ and replaces it with ⌫. That may be acceptable for you, or it may not.

Yes, it's precisely the desired effect.

 

[Paul Franklin]

Catalina seems to have stopped this working for me.
Anybody any ideas? I HATE using ⌘[....
thanks.

 

[bogdanw]

Catalina seems to have stopped this working for me.
Anybody any ideas? I HATE using ⌘[....
thanks.

This solution is still working for me in 10.15.4

defaults write com.apple.Safari NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Back "\U232b"

 

[Paul Franklin]

Weird, I can't get it to work. Have also got 10.15.4.
Pasted it in Terminal, hit enter...

Restarted Safari etc... Have I missed something?
cheers

 

[bogdanw]

Restarted Safari etc... Have I missed something?

I have the Develop menu enabled, I don't know if that matters. The History menu should show up like this after running the command in Terminal

 

[Paul Franklin]

I've never used the Develop menu. Doesn't seem to help!
How annoying. Rebooted, nothing is working... *Cries*

 

[bogdanw]

I've never used the Develop menu. Doesn't seem to help!
How annoying. Rebooted, nothing is working... *Cries*

I've just tested on a new Catalina installation and you are right, it doesn't work only with that command. You have to modify another file too. So, the new solution is

defaults write com.apple.Safari NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Back "\U232b"
defaults write ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Back "\U232b"

 

[Paul Franklin]

Hmmm:
"Could not write domain /Users/paulwfranklin/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist; exiting"

Am I missing a folder?

 

[bogdanw]

"Could not write domain

Try with sudo

sudo defaults write ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Back "\U232b"

 

[Paul Franklin]

Nope, sorry!

 

[bogdanw]

Nope, sorry!

Try to add any combination for Back via the System Preferences - Keyboard - Shortcuts - App Shortcuts, close System Preferences and run the two commands again

 

[Paul Franklin]

Yes, that's working (with Shft-Cmd-W).
So now do I change that to Backspace?

 

[bogdanw]

Yes, that's working (with Shft-Cmd-W).
So now do I change that to Backspace?

Yes, close Safari and System Preferences and run the commands without sudo

 

[Paul Franklin]

Nope, it's still saying 'Could not write domain...'

It was working fine before upgrade. Don't think I've changed anything major since. Hmmf!

 

[bogdanw]

Nope, it's still saying 'Could not write domain...'
It was working fine before upgrade. Don't think I've changed anything major since. Hmmf!

One more try... back-up then delete ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist
run defaults write ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Back "\U232b"
to force it to be recreated with that value inside.
If this doesn't work, I'm out of ideas

 

[Paul Franklin]

Just to be clear, when you say 'back-up then delete...' ?

 

[bogdanw]

Just to be clear, when you say 'back-up then delete...' ?

Save a copy on your Dektop, just in case

cp ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist ~/Desktop/com.apple.Safari.plist

then delete it

rm ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist

and recreate it

defaults write ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Back "\U232b"