Preview does not save successive changes after the first save

I should have mentioned that (of course) I tried that already. On a rare occasion when I've duplicate the file and moved it to a new location, then opened that duplicated file, it has worked. But usually it doesn't change anything.

The main thing is that whenever this happens, the behaviour is totally unpredictable. Sometimes no changes are saved. Sometimes 1 or two of the first actions are saved, and the rest aren't.

The file saved date DOES change.

These things usually make no difference:

• duplicating the file
• using "Save As"
• saving in a new location

And, I finally just noticed this, every time the save operation takes place and changes don't get saved, this error message is shown in the console:

assertion failed: 19H1217: libxpc.dylib + 92759 [8DA7D88F-AE2F-3BCF-8426-8D041E57A9AA]: 0x89

Hi gauravmunjal13,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!

We are happy to help with the issue you are having with Preview. Have you been able to save these PDF files with the highlighted text in the past?

You can try to Start up your Mac in safe mode and see if the same thing happens. 

You might also want to create a new user and test there as well. Learn how to Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac here. Let us know exactly what happens when trying each step. 

Cheers!

gauravmunjal13 wrote:

Finally, I came across a workaround by duplicating the pdf file and make changes such as highlighting text. In the end, I save the file explicitly. Though it's a slightly extra step initially, it ensures that I don't lose any changes.

Last, I was wondering if this Preview issue is specific to me (including some small other users) or in general to all.

Thanks for posting your work-a-round to your issue gauravmunjal13.

You can file a bug report using this same link, submit your Apple Feedback http://www.apple.com/feedback

I have been experiencing this same problem. Preview simply does not reliably save changes made to the document.

• open a PDF
• make some annotations (text, drawing, whatever)
• save it
• quit
• reopen the document or check it with QuickLook

The changes are sometimes saved, and sometimes not saved.

This is an obvious bug. Preview IS a real PDF editor, and Apple obviously needs to fix this problem.

[Edited by Moderator]

gauravmunjal13 wrote:

• Hi,

I am facing the following issues with preview:

When I read a pdf and highlight texts along the way and save it explicitly before closing it. On re-opening the pdf file, most of the later highlights disappear (though I saved them explicitly)

• Another way, open any pdf file, highlight some text, save them, highlight some other text and then save again, and now close the file. On re-opening, the highlights made later don't appear.

This is annoying as it happens that I lose track of the important points highlighted in the pdf file. How can I resolve it?

Thanks!

If you have issues— then try a true pdf editor, not Preview and compare your results.

There are many, a few examples:

PDFpen

PDF Expert

Adobe Acrobat Reader