Preview very slow to merge multiple PDFs in OS12.3

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Level 1

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Preview very slow to merge multiple PDFs in OS12.3

I recently updated my M1 Max MBP and M1 MBP to OS12.3. Now when I go to merge multiple PDFs into one (by adding the thumbnails), it can take anywhere from 20 to to 120 seconds to save. During the time it takes to save, Preview is a spinning beachball (on M1 Max with 64GB of RAM, I'd forgotten what it looked like).

I'm combining 6 to 8 PDFs that each contain 2 to 20 pages, the final PDF is around 80 pages, and weighs in at around 20MB.

Previously, saving the merged PDF was instantaneous, Command S, and it was done.

I'm looking for any suggestions to a fix, or verification that this is occurring to others and is a bug with OS12.3.

This is happening to both my computers from a fresh boot, and in safe boot.

Thanks.

Posted on Mar 25, 2022 7:58 AM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

126,874 points

Mar 25, 2022 9:42 AM in response to DVD404

If you are merging these PDFs on the local filesystem or on iCloud Drive, Preview will autosave your added PDFs to the original opened PDF without needing to choose Save. You can confirm this by using Quick Look on that original PDF that you opened while in Preview.

I am on a 2021 16-in MBP M1 Pro w/32GB and 1TB and Preview is not slow for me on Monterey 12.3.

Alternatively, I recently posted an AppleScript/Objective-C solution for merging PDF without ever opening Preview. That link also includes a Quick Action if you wish to select PDFs in order from the Finder for the merge.

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Answer 2

Mar 25, 2022 9:26 AM in response to DVD404

I am using a 2019 Intel 16" MBP.

I dragged a bunch of pdfs to the sidebar to add them together (a total of 34 pages from about a dozen files). That part was almost instantaneous. But when I pressed Command-S to Save I got the spinning wheel for a bit (maybe 15 seconds). This seems similar to your experience.

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Preview very slow to merge multiple PDFs in OS12.3

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