Preview app is buggy

Hey there!

I actually remember seeing the same behavior in either Mojave or Catalina, (bad memory), and tried it all, yet the only thing that finally fixed it, believe it or not was Reinstalling the OS from recovery mode:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

Of course it may help to see if the same happens in a new user or in safe boot, if so that maybe the way to go, but I remember spending much time on this with the same symptoms and that’s what fixed it. (Wouldn’t be my first guess). This is a new OS though also, but worth a thought.

Hope that helps!

Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box.

There could be something particular to your setup that is causing this weird behavior.

It certainly is not what most people are experiencing, so it is unlikely to be a widespread bug (or this forum would be fill of such reports).

coenfromsoest wrote:

Dear Community,

The last months I have experienced a lot of issues with the preview app. Problems include random switching between tabs or different pdf files, even after i choose one. (This one is really frustrating as every time you select a file, it jumps back to another). I found that it could be bypassed by creating a new desktop and just not making the window full screen. But then the following problem arises; as soon as i open a few tabs it is likely to freeze which leaves me no choice but to quit the app and start opening my files again. I'd expect that a macbook pro could handle a few pdf files. I hope this will be fixed soon as i have to read a lot of PDF files for my study, given everything is online nowadays.

I also noticed other people are experiencing this: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/k148vk/the_preview_app_has_been_pretty_bad_and_buggy_for/, comment from Piotr.

"I have a lot of troubles with the new preview. In the full screen mode the app jumps between tabs. I choose one tab but it goes back to another one, even if I choose via window -> the_file_name. It is so annoying. It also shows the navbar in the fullscreen as during the slideshow, even if I didn't click the slideshow."

Hence, it is not an isolated issue.

Kind regards,

Coen

I have a lot of troubles with the new preview. In the full screen mode the app jumps between tabs. I choose one tab but it goes back to another one, even if I choose via window -> the_file_name. It is so annoying. It also shows the navbar in the fullscreen as during the slideshow, even if I didn't click the slideshow.

You can file a bug report or submit your user feedback —Apple Feedback http://www.apple.com/feedback

Since most people use Preview without seeing those issues, that Etrecheck report may help us find if there is something wrong that causes problems in Preview for you.

I am glad someone else is experiencing this and that it's not just me! My MacBook Pro is new, bought in October 2020, the last model with the Intel chip. My preview was working completely fine until after the update to Big sur, I think it's named. When I have multiple tabs open the app likes to jump back and forth, which is annoying for note-taking and reading during school. This happens with even just 2 tabs open in preview. Another annoying habit it has is when I try to draw/markup my notes with the drawing feature. Sometimes what I draw stays on the document, but most of the time when I draw a box or arrow, for example, when I click a blank space to begin a new drawing, the previous one disappears! Please fix this issue, it has been buggy for 3 months now, and I'm curious if it is happening to other Mac users, too!

Thanks,

I have concerns about this:

Launch Daemons:
  [Running] PT.updd.plist (? 0  - installed 2019-10-18)

Are you familiar with it? It seems to be associated with "Popcorn-Time".

Here's some food for thought: onless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer's or bank's servers, they are useless. Public VPN's are anything but private.  

Probably not related to your problem but…

I can’t say if that is what is causing the problem with Preview, but I found some reports of this causing issues. It may be worth a try.