PDF search function not working in Preview

Question

Level 1

14 points

PDF search function not working in Preview

Hi, for some reason I cannot now use the search function in Preview. It used to work. I have tried the simple solutions suggested such as force quite of Preview, closing and re-opening the PDF files and updating my Mac version. Opening in safe mode did not help. I have the problem with all PDF files. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on May 18, 2022 3:53 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Janenz Author

Level 1

14 points

May 18, 2022 5:36 AM in response to Owl-53

Thanks so much for your help. I tried safe mode and still had the problem. I was a bit reluctant to delete my user account so hadn't got that far. But through all this have found a work around where I try the find function, fail, then go to Edit, Find, and somehow it comes right. So not perfect but very grateful that I have functionality back!

Reply

Answer 2

Owl-53

Level 10

102,373 points

May 18, 2022 4:59 AM in response to Janenz

1 - Suggest restarting in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.

2 - Sometimes a Safe Boot followed by a Normal Boot will just put things right.

3 - Does the issue present in this mode ?

4 - If not - there could be something in the main User Account playing up. To further isolate this - Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac. Then log out of the Main User account and log into the dummy account and test again if the issue persists.

5 - If the issue is present in the dummy account - then, this appears to be a System Wide issue on the computer.

6 - If after performing each of the above steps is the order that have been presents and still have issues - please advise for possible further assistance.

Reply