After updating to catalina, i noticed that all of my PDF icons changed to Affinity Photo. when I went back in to change the default to Preview, it took care of that issue, but now nothing is opening at all. Preview opens, but the PDF does not. i now cannot open PDFs at all. Is anyone else having this issue or know of a workaround?
I also had this problem. My solution was to right click the pdf file and select Get Info. There is a small section named "Open with:", which showed Preview as the default already. I simply clicked the dropdown button and reselected Preview as the preferred option.
The button "Change All.." then became available to select, which I did select and also then confirmed the dialog box to update to use preview for all similar docs.
Worked after that. Good luck!
The problem seems to be with the Desktop. If a pdf is downloaded directly to a folder (that's not on the Desktop) it opens fine in Preview. However when dragging the file out of the folder back to the Desktop the problem reoccurs. To delete error file from the Desktop: Finder>File>Hold Option key>Delete immediately...
In my own words: (MacBook Pro Retina late 2012, OS Catalina)
My Preview couldn't open PDF from time to time. I have tried those fixes in previous replies, but it doesn't seem the issue was permanently fixed, which came out after some time. So something must be wrong with the launch services.
Then I tried CleanMyMac > Maintenance > Rebuild Launch Services, which worked immediately without restarting. Hope this is a permanent fix. I will report back if it is not :P
if you move your pdf files somewhere on your disk from desktop then it works. I believe this is something with synchronization of Desktop to iCloud
Same problem now solved for me simply by restarting the MacBook - Preview now opening pdf's normally :)
try starting in safe mode, power, and hold down the shift key until you see the log in screen. if PDFs open then, restart, you should be good.
I uninstalled Adobe through Launchpad Adobe Uninstaller. Found a video on youtube. And then just reinstalled. Worked right away.
I had the same thing, but I think I have found a solution. It only affects pdfs and pictures on the desktop. Move them to another file, with option+drag. They then open in preview. Looks like a bug to me
Yes, one of the early steps was to create another user account and try opening PDFs there. Worked perfectly. Back in my real account, nothing worked. Eventually they had be go to a different administrative account. Delete my real account *retaining* the files (I keep pretty good Time Machine backups, but still nerve wracking). Then create a new account with the same name and the same user directory. A number of settings were reset to “factory defaults”; the one I remember is that bash was replaced by the new default zsh.
So, yes, they had me delete and recreate my real user account!
Do pdf files open correctly in Preview if using another user account?
I think there may be a problem with the Preview app. I posted a problem I am having with Preview opening PDFs only a week or so ago with no solution. I have reported this to Apple but don't suppose I will hear.
My post is here; https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250719196
These PDFs, some are quite large refuse to open in Preview but will, by using Adobe Acrobat Reader (Ver. 19.012.20040).They open almost immediately in Adobe but I much prefer the design & layout of Preview to Adobe.
My original posting about Preview app not opening PDFs appears to have gone into the ether.
However, my problem is that my PDFs (Genealogical records) amount to some many thousands of pages (eg. 170 MBs to over 156,000 pages of 374MBs) and Preview just will not open them (it goes into not responding requiring a force quit command).
If I go to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC they will open almost immediately!!
These files previously worked well with Preview in the older systems but since Mojave & Catalina I have had to resort to using Adobe Reader - much preferred the older method and look of Preview.
Much smaller PDFs that I may have, work OK with Preview (ie, jpg, png.)
I have tried all the tricks recommended above like re-setting permissions etc even spending some time with Apple techs on the phone including screen sharing but..............
Very frustrating
Having this issue too. continuing to read through all the comments and resolutions. PDF's will save and open in Books, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version 2019.021.20056 but I do not want to have to pay yet another monthly subscription to Adobe when Preview provides most of the document editing I need in my work. Thanks all.
I've had this issue three times now. The first time, Apple support tried many different things to no avail, and then took a few days to get back with the working suggestion. That suggestion was sort of an atomic bomb to kill a fly, as it involved deleting and re-creating my user id. The second time, I didn't have time to wait for Apple, so I did the user id thing myself.
The third time I found this thread. It was
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user
that did the trick for me.
Does Preview work:
a) when using another account?
b) in your account, if booted in Safe Mode?
PDFs won't open since Catalina
