I do have an external USB disk that was removed from another Mac and it has an Applications folder on it. Could Finder be looking in all Applications folders to populate the Open With... list?
iMac 21.5", macOS 10.15
Launch Terminal.
Triple click anywhere on the following line to copy entire line then at the prompt copy & paste this command:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain u -domain s -domain l -v
Then press return. Wait for the cursor to return to the command line.
Launch Terminal.
Triple click anywhere on the following line to copy entire line then at the prompt copy & paste this command:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain u -domain s -domain l -v
Then press return. Wait for the cursor to return to the command line.
Yes, Spotlight scans external drives and then the Applications would be listed in LaunchServices. You should be able to exclude the external drive by dragging it into Privacy in System Preferences > Spotlight? You'll probably need to clear the LaunchServices cache again after that.
Thanks for the tip.
One USB-attached HDD is my TImeMachine backup host, so it can't be excluded. But the other USB-attached HDD, which had my old iMac's Apps on it, was added to the Privacy listing. Now I'm just seeing applications on my Macintosh HD. (After clearing the database)
Boot into Safe Boot mode and see if rebuilding the launch services database will clean up the Open With applications menu.
When you reboot your Mac, and hold down the shift key until the progress bar begins. As Safe Boot mode is also performing a low-level disk first aid, this boot will take considerably longer than a regular boot process. Once you have signed-in, reboot normally, and have a look at the Open With sub-menu in Finder.
OK. The items remain through reboots into either Normal or Safe mode. I do see on my old iMac's SSD drive that I've attached to my new iMac via USB/Firewire, that there is the Applications folder. When I run OpenOffice e.g. from this folder I see that it is the older version listed on the Open With menu. Hmmm... perhaps a clean out of the old disk is needed?
FWIW - I also see apps that I must have installed via Macports and/or brew, which aren't in the normal Mac Applications folder, e.g. mocah, which seems to be part of Imagemagik. Is there documentation somewhere that explains how the launch services database is built?
Hmm... no rebuilding LaunchServices should sort it. I'm not sure why/how it is repopulating. I haven't seen this behavior before.
Yes, it's rebuilding the cache and you're sure you don't have more than one version of the same app and you've not reconnected your external?
Safe Boot mode will normally introduce display artifacts due to drivers not loaded. Reboot your Mac normally from Safe Boot mode, and recheck your Open with menu again. Same as before? If it has not changed, then the operating system is discovering those applications somewhere on your boot drive, and possibly on a mounted drive.
BOSH
I got loads of error -10811 messages, but it completed. I then tried Open With in Finder on the same .png file as before and lo and behold
Why still 2 Chrome versions, I've no clue. But the other multiple versions, and some app associations, are gone now.
I see the same list when I boot in Safe mode (Which I checked via About This Mac -> System Report -> System Software Overview, which showed I was Boot Mode: Safe). Do I have to manually rebuild the launch services database? If so, how?
BTW - in Safe Mode, my 21.5" 2017 iMac has some display 'glitches'? For example, the Finder Tab for each open Folder is all black until I hover my mouse over it and it then returns to the normal colour? I tried taking a screenshot, but it captures as the normal colour even though I am seeing black on my actual displayed Finder window.
Grrr.... Sorry, it's back. I just went to check on how to add More apps to the Open With list, and I see that the list of apps is back to the original list I reported? Is this database being re-built on-the-fly? Or, did the CLI command's results just take a while to be seen by Finder?
Screenshot just taken
You should see it's not 100% same as the original, now that I look at it. Mocha and grab apps are missing. So, it does seem yet another list was built since the original screenshot I took.
Ummm... My USB drives remain attached to the iMac. And yes, some drives contain /Applications folders. So, it appears that the LaunchServices must scan all attached storage for such named folder. Is this behaviour configurable?
Also, can Macports and/or brew installed applications also be added to the database? My original screenshot shows Mocha, which I believe is part of Imagemagik, which I believe I installed via brew.
Not sure why 2 Chrome apps either, unless you have them on your Mac. But I'm glad it's sorted (mostly).
Ok, that's good news.
Why does Open With... in Finder show old versions of some applications?
