TextEdit changes filename extension on Save

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Level 1

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TextEdit changes filename extension on Save

I use TextEdit to maintain a document with a list of favorite websites with URLs. The file has an extension of ".html" and opens in the default browser. The links therein are clickable like any other HTML document. Recently, the behavior of Save has changed. After editing the file in TextEdit and saving it, the filename extension was changed to "rtf" and it, of course, would not open in the browser.

I've never changed any of the TextEdit Settings for "Open and Save" to do this. It's worked fine as I’ve described it. (I don't even know what the items under "HTML Saving Options" mean.) I've seen the "Work with HTML documents in TextEdit on Mac" in the TextEdit User Guide and tried the "Always open HTML files in code-editing mode" option, but I don’t even understand the resulting torrent of characters on the page.

The fix I use as of now is to Duplicate the file and when saving the dupe, change the "File Format"option from "Rich Text Document" to "Web Page (html)."

Any suggestion to stop TextEdit from altering an HTML filename extension?

(I'm not a "developer" so please dumb it WAY down - thanks!)

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 13.1

Posted on Jan 18, 2023 3:52 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

112,097 points

Jan 18, 2023 7:12 AM in response to Kinoav8r

TextEdit only has two modes: 1) plain text, or 2) Rich Text (.rtf). These are configurable in its Format menu. There is a third setting in its Edit menu > Substitutions > Smart Links that will make entered URL text blue upon pressing return afterwards.

If you want a real HTML file from TextEdit, then press option+Save As… and choose Web Page (.html) for the output. This will automatically assign an .html extension to the newly saved document, and double-clicking on that file in the Finder will launch Safari (until Apple fixes the default browser bug in Ventura).

If you perform the first two paragraphs, then you never need see the full HTML source code associated with your added links, and there would be no need to use BBEdit.

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Answer 2

etresoft

Level 8

47,018 points

Jan 18, 2023 5:31 AM in response to Kinoav8r

Don’t use TextEdit. It is just a demo app that Apple rewrites every year as a demonstration for how new developer text and AppKit APIs are supposed to work. It is always going to fight you over things like HTML files.

Use BBEdit instead: https://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/

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Answer 3

Kinoav8r Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 18, 2023 6:48 AM in response to etresoft

I tried BBedit. When I opened the HTML file, I saw the "torrent of characters" to which I referred in my OP.

Thanks, but duplicating the edited file in TextEdit and saving it as a web page is infinitely easier than trying to learn a new language that, to me, is just the other side of Klingon on the scale of "learnable."

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Answer 4

Kinoav8r Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 18, 2023 7:30 AM in response to VikingOSX

Now we're getting somewhere. In fact, I think we've arrived.

I didn't realize there was a TextEdit key combination for the old "Save As" function that morphed into "Duplicate" a while ago. CMD-OPT-SHIFT S works for me.

Thanks, Viking!

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