New problem.

Whenever I click on the PREFERENCES for Safari, the spinning wheel appears and then the "not responding" message . . . so I have to Force Quit the browser.

There are two other accounts on the computer and neither one has this issue, so it is something unique to my account only.

I did some digging on The Net and tried the "cache" and "plist" to the trash trick which was recommended. Shut down, reboot, etc. No success.

Any other ideas so that I can once again access the Preference Settings in Safari?

There is some very dark magic going on right now with your browser's home page. Apple is working behind the scene to SUPERlockdown the default web page. I ran into it recently with our kiosks here, that load the home page. You will notice it's GONE from the safari plist, and appears to be stored nowhere in your user account. And if you try to add it to the plist, it will disappear before your very eyes. (and your change will be ignored) Changing your home page in safari's preferences requires a very specific set of steps, otherwise your changes will be reverted. (betting this is to prevent malware from changing your home page, by defaults write OR by AppleScript) This is interacting with the iCloud keychain in ways I haven't been able to fully understand, (its probably being stored in there in a very stealthy way that is not accessible "by normal means") and is likely related to your problem. Whether or not this can help you I don't know.

Try signing out of iCloud, or toggling your iCloud/safari syncing.

Each account has its own unique Preferences file. You might try the old stand by of

1. Quit Safari
2. Navigate to /users/youraccount/Ligrary/
3. drag com.apple.safari.plist to the desktop
4. Launch Safari and see if you can open and set Preferences (evrything will have been reset to the default)
5. IF that does not work you can always drag com.apple.safari.plist back to your user library preferences folder.

CAVEAT: As V1 has pointed out, Apple's security systems may not let you get away with this, but it can't hurt to try.

Previous comment wasn’t pertinent to topic.

But, I’m surprised some in this forum are having issues with High Sierra, as I’ve not experienced any detailed in several threads. ...Curious.

Thanks, Guys, for the tips.

As mentioned in my first post, I already tried the "plist" route. As far as iCLOUD is concerned, I have not signed up (nor do I wish to until the day comes when I have no other choice).

I decided to (secure) erase my MBPro hard drive and re-installed SIERRA instead of "High Sierra" from my backup installer (USB flash drive). Then, reloaded all my files, folders, apps, and such from Time Machine.

This all took about 6 hours, but everything works tickety-boo . . . including SAFARI and its preferences using MacOS12. I may give MacOS13 a try again down the road, but for now I am happy returning to (plain old) SIERRA.