preview will not open previously opened files

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Level 1

8 points

preview will not open previously opened files

Preview has this intensely frustrating tendency to only reopen a subset of files that were open before it was shut down. Typically, I will have 15 tabs open and it will only reopen 5 of them plus some that I had closed days before. Thus, it is almost entirely useless, plus Apple provides no way to contact it for support about Preview. I am running the latest version of Big Sur.

Any suggestions on who I can get Preview to behave properly without having to get a different a more compliant app?

Thanks

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 11.3

Posted on Apr 30, 2021 4:12 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

brbo

Level 8

35,668 points

Apr 30, 2021 5:21 PM in response to william190

Hi william190,

Welcome to the Apple Community, where some of us do our best to help each other.

You might want to check the settings for which items open automatically when you log in on your Mac.

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh15189/mac

Apple has provided a User Guide for Preview online:

(Click on the "Table of Contents, for specifics.

https://support.apple.com/en-sa/guide/preview/welcome/mac

You might like to check the preferences you have set for images in Preview:

https://support.apple.com/en-sa/guide/preview/prvw5518ecc0/mac

If nothing there helps,

You might want to chat or phone with Apple:

https://getsupport.apple.com

Hope this helps :)

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Answer 2

brbo

Level 8

35,668 points

Apr 30, 2021 6:55 PM in response to william190

Thanks for your reply, and the added information you provided.

While trouble-shooting:

I wonder if it helps to use Preview's "File" drop-down menu to "Open recent" files ?

Here;'s something else you might want to try ... (i.e. does ticking / unticking boxes make any difference ?)

Change PDF preferences in Preview on Mac:

(To change these preferences, choose Preview > Preferences, then click PDF)

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/preview/prvwef76b21f/mac

Cheers :)

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Answer 3

william190 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 30, 2021 6:38 PM in response to brbo

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, Apple does not provide a way for getting support for Preview. There are only a handful of its apps that it allows you to choose for support and Preview is not one of them.

All the files I have opened are pdfs and the behavior is it opens some but not all that were opened when it closed, It also opens files that I had closed days before. It seems it keeps a log of what is open but only updates it occasionally.

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preview will not open previously opened files

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