How to Enable JavaScript on a Mac

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Websites can make use of JavaScript to create menus, animations, sounds and other features to provide an interactive multimedia experience for users. The Firefox, Chrome and Safari Web browsers each require a different process to enable JavaScript on the Mac. After you enable JavaScript, you may need to restart your browser if the changes don't take effect immediately. By enabling JavaScript, you increase your Mac's vulnerability to threats including viruses and to outside parties that monitor your activity.

Safari

Step 1

Launch Safari. Select the "Safari" menu and choose "Preferences."

Step 2

Access the "Security" tab.

Step 3

Check the "Enable JavaScript" box.

Chrome

Step 1

Launch Chrome. Select the "Chrome" menu and choose the "Preferences" option.

Step 2

Select the "Show Advanced Settings" option.

Step 3

Choose "Content Settings" located in the Privacy section.

Step 4

Click the "Allow All Sites to Run JavaScript (Recommended)" radio button in the JavaScript section.

Firefox

Step 1

Launch Firefox. Type "about:config" without the quotation marks into the address bar and press the "Return" key.

Step 2

Click the "I'll Be Careful, I Promise" button.

Step 3

Type "javascript.enabled" without the quotation marks into the Search field and press the "Return" key.

Step 4

Double-click the "javascript.enabled" option to toggle between a True and False value. Setting the value to True enables JavaScript.

Tip

The information in this article applies to Mac OS X Mavericks running Safari 7, Chrome 15 and Firefox 29. It may vary slightly or significantly with other products or services.