Unable to change homepage and default search engine in safari

[the8thark]

In the Safari preferences, if I type in a new home page and press enter it just goes back to the one I currently have.
Also if I choose an different default search engine in the search tab via the drop down box, afterI choose it, it just goes back to the one I have set now.

I am at a loss, I've tried everything I can think of, even removing all of the safari settings in my library folder and nothing has worked.
Does anyone know of a fix to this rather annoying issue?

MacOS - 10.13.6
Safari - 13.1.2

 

[Kent W]

I'm afraid I have no direct solution on your problem.

However it's time to leave Safari on High Sierra and move to a supported browser. Safari on High Sierra is left on 13.1.2 and Apple have moved on with Safari and is now on 14.0.2. Sure, some new functionality has been added but also more importantly security updates that 13.1.2 will never get.

So perhaps it is time anyway to move to a supported and updated browser like e.g. Firefox, Chrome or other.

 

[the8thark]

So perhaps it is time anyway to move to a supported and updated browser like e.g. Firefox, Chrome or other.

I think you might be right. However I won't use chrome because I don't trust my data with google.
I used to use Firefox but mozilla have partaken in the the recent internet censorship purge publically sharing their hate for freedom of speech. Thus Firefox is off the table.

So I am looking for a browser that I can use. I'll do my research and find one.

 

[Nermal]

Check that you don't have a profile installed. It should grey out the option instead of having it 'pop back', but it's still worth checking.

How to fix a grayed-out Safari home page preference

The Safari option for picking your home page can be hijacked.

www.macworld.com

 

[the8thark]

Check that you don't have a profile installed. It should grey out the option instead of having it 'pop back', but it's still worth checking.

How to fix a grayed-out Safari home page preference

The Safari option for picking your home page can be hijacked.

www.macworld.com

Mine is not greyed out at all. It just look all normal but when you press enter to change the homepage it reverts back and when you use the drop down menu to change the search engine it just automatically reverts back to the one I currently have chosen.

Also there is no profile option in the general system preferences with a tick icon.
Thanks for your help. However I did already investigate this option and it didn't help.

 

[Nermal]

Try making a new user account and see whether you can change the settings there.