# Unable to switch flows

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [8 October 2026 16:31 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877 "2026-10-08T16:31:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Urs-Eppenberger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/urs-eppenberger/32/28_2.png) [@Urs-Eppenberger](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Urs-Eppenberger)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 16:31 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/1 "2026-10-08T16:31:49Z")

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Hello  
I usually do not touch my node-red installation, since everything works as it should.  
But today I needed to and I ran in a strange behavior:  
When clicking on another flow tab

- it switches to the flow and shows it very briefly (0.5sec or so)
- the it shows a flow reloading bar, it reloads
- then it switches back to my initial flow  
No switching to another flow is possible. I also used the menue on the left side and the list of flows from the top-right, always same behavior.

Node-RED 5.0.8 (installed and updated with 'the script', using option --node22)  
on a Raspberry Pi 4 with bullseye  
using MacOS 27.0.1 with Safari

What can I do to debug this (although there is limited know-how on my side)?

Thankful for any hints,  
Urs.

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**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 16:41 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/2 "2026-10-08T16:41:34Z")

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Hi @Urs-Eppenberger

First, can you check the developer console in the browser for any errors? Safari makes it hard to find but you'll need to:

1. Open `Safari settings` from the Safari menu
2. On the Advanced tab, tick the 'Show features for web developers' box at the bottom and close the settings dialog.
3. With the Node-RED editor open, you should have a `Developer` menu - under that select Show JavaScript console.
4. Check for any errors reported in that console when you try switching tab.

You could also try with a different browser - something other than Safari, such as Chrome or Firefox - to see if this is a Safari specific thing or not.

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**Author:** ![Urs-Eppenberger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/urs-eppenberger/32/28_2.png) [@Urs-Eppenberger](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Urs-Eppenberger)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 16:49 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/3 "2026-10-08T16:49:34Z")

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Thanks for the very quick reaction. I did not expect this.  
I followed the 4 steps exactly. Here is a screenshot of the errors which showed up.

 ![Screenshot 2026-10-08 at 18.46.19](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/8/c/8c9a5fa713ee3f64b1c0680c01f42a14d3c83008.png)

I have other browsers installed and will check this too.  
Kind regards,  
Urs.

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**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 16:53 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/4 "2026-10-08T16:53:33Z")

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Those messages all appear normal. Do any new messages appear when you try switching tab and hit the issue you're reporting?

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**Author:** ![Urs-Eppenberger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/urs-eppenberger/32/28_2.png) [@Urs-Eppenberger](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Urs-Eppenberger)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 17:02 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/5 "2026-10-08T17:02:36Z")

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When using Firefox, the bug is not reproducible. Which means, my immediate problem is solved by using another browser.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urs-Eppenberger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/urs-eppenberger/32/28_2.png) [@Urs-Eppenberger](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Urs-Eppenberger)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 17:09 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/6 "2026-10-08T17:09:45Z")

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I updated my initial message to make it more precise. The failure seems to be restricted to the Safari browser.

Then I checked the 'preserve log' button in the javascript console. Since it did not show the errors produced when switching flows, it only showed the result from the last page reload.  
The new screenshot below shows the failed try to switch and then the reload of the initial flow.  
It seems not to contain anything new, but I wanted to follow your request as painstakingly as possible.

 ![Screenshot 2026-10-08 at 19.04.36](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/6/b/6ba0512ec5f222d7a8834f9fed8551e5ebb18da8.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urs-Eppenberger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/urs-eppenberger/32/28_2.png) [@Urs-Eppenberger](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Urs-Eppenberger)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 17:15 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/7 "2026-10-08T17:15:57Z")

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Here is something I missed which might be of use:

 ![Screenshot 2026-10-08 at 19.13.32](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/3/f/3fdd1d3f2f06b1c05e81bd6db2861d735f6291c5.png)

If I open the arrows then tons of stuff appears. I'm not a developer, therefore I have no clue how to work with this console. Let me know if there is information of use to you and how I can export this for you.

Kind regards,  
Urs.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jarifed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@jarifed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/jarifed)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 17:31 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/8 "2026-10-08T17:31:58Z")

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I do have the same problem as described on iMac with local node red 5.01  
Imac to MacBookair Sonoma 14.5 and node-red with node-red 4.0  
Firefox on iMac with local node-red 5.01 no problem

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jarifed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@jarifed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/jarifed)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 17:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/9 "2026-10-08T17:40:28Z")

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tested also on iMac with local node-red and duckduckgo as browser also not able to switch flow  
btw iMac is appleM3  
@knolleary

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![marcus-j-davies](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/marcus-j-davies/32/103435_2.png) [@marcus-j-davies](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/marcus-j-davies)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 19:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/10 "2026-10-08T19:14:05Z")

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@knolleary

I am seeing something very similar (but a continuous loop), which start when switching flows

- But I am not on v5 on my Mac (yet)

I believe this to be a "Rotten Apple" (pun intended)

Since MacOS 27, not sure if the project needs to address or Apple \<-- my vote, given its happening across Multiple versions

![Oct-08-2026 20-11-24](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/d/9/d9a4fabf97df5c0d52975b007efd5fbe91ab1548.gif)

Safari : 27.0.1  
NR : 3.1.9

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urs-Eppenberger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/urs-eppenberger/32/28_2.png) [@Urs-Eppenberger](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Urs-Eppenberger)\
**Post date:** [8 October 2026 19:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/unable-to-switch-flows/101877/11 "2026-10-08T19:16:16Z")

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I just found an older post, which shows the same problem:

> [@Odd behaviour or error with Safari 27 on Mac](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/odd-behaviour-or-error-with-safari-27-on-mac/101788):
>
> My Mac updated to Safari 27 today and now I get an annoying behaviour. When I first open the NodeRED editor in a fresh Safari I can't navigate away from the first tab. Whenever I click another tab it displays the new tab and then an error causes Safari to reload the page which takes me back to the first tab again. It isn't catastrophic because oddly if I manually reload the webpage the problem goes away. After messing around with the dev console settings I managed to catch the error that seems …

There it is proposed to do one manual reload of the first page (the initial flow Node-RED shows). I did this. And now I'm able to switch between flows without any problem. So it works no in Safari too (once the initial page is reloaded one time).

For me, the topic is solved. I can either use Firefox, or use Safari and refresh the first page once.

Kind regards,

Urs.