Trouble opening many but not all rtf and rtfd files.

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Level 4

2,369 points

Trouble opening many but not all rtf and rtfd files.

I have files on my computer that I made with TextEdit on this computer. Today I find there are a large number of files that I cannot open in TextEdit. Some of the files are old ones and some are newer - there is no date cut-off and there are files before, after, and between the dates of those files that I can open. It seems to be related to the file having an embedded graphic or equations that I have included that I made with an equation editor. I get

"The document 'DocName' could not be opened. You don't have permission.

To view or change permissions select the item in the Finder and chose FIle > Get Info."

I checked the permissions and I do have permission. I changed the permissions so that everyone has read and write permission and I still the same issue.

I can open the files in many other applications including Text Wrangler, BB edit, Notepad, File Viewer, X word Free, and Word Processor Pro; but if I save the file as a new rtf or rtfd file after opening in the applications I cannot the new file.

I can open the file in Pages and save the file as a Pages file and I am able to open it in pages. But, if I export the file from pages as a new rtfd file I can not open the new file with TextEdit.

It seems that there might be something embedded in the file causing the permissions that transcends opening in another application and saving.

Or, more likely, there is a problem in TextEdit that it cannot open certain files any longer.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank You

MacBook Pro 15″

Posted on Mar 14, 2023 1:14 PM

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Answer 1

Bob Allison Author

Level 4

2,369 points

Mar 14, 2023 2:27 PM in response to Bob Allison

Update -

I sent the file in a text message to my phone and I can open it on my phone but cannot see any of the equations that were made with an equation editor and are some type of image.

I sent the file to another computer and the other computer can open the file with no issues and it looks fine - images and equations are there.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

126,618 points

Mar 15, 2023 8:08 AM in response to Bob Allison

Unique to Apple are RTFD package folders that contain some non-text object (e.g. image) that you embedded in the RTF content. Only Apple's TextEdit, Pages, or the third-party Bean word processing application can open that RTFD package.

Any equation editor (e.g. MathType) that you may have used in the past would have installed its own equation font, and now, as that particular equation editor changed ownership and is no longer compatible with more recent releases of macOS (without a subscription). I would say your equations are lost.

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Answer 3

Bob Allison Author

Level 4

2,369 points

Mar 15, 2023 1:15 PM in response to BDAqua

It is not just a save issue, it is an open issue too. It is not just one file, it is many, but not all. It seems I can open all except ones that have embedded graphics. It seems I cannot save any. I can send any file with an open issue to another Mac and open it with TextEdit. And, I do not have a hard drive, it is solid state. Sure solid state can go bad but that is a 1 in a million thing. But I’ll check if I can save to another place to be sure.

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

251,263 points

Mar 15, 2023 10:21 AM in response to Bob Allison

That is generally a sign of a dying HDD, Write gets shut off to give you a chance to backup your data.

Can you save that file over the network?

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

251,263 points

Mar 15, 2023 3:32 PM in response to Bob Allison

You can use Drive DX to possibly get a better view of Drive health…

https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx

Thanks to Jack-19…

It may be wise to run SMART Utility to check the drives' health.

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Answer 6

Bob Allison Author

Level 4

2,369 points

Mar 15, 2023 8:21 AM in response to VikingOSX

No, sorry, that is not it. As I indicated I can open the file with many other editors, not just the ones you list. And as I said, I can open the file using TextEdit on another Mac.

it is only TextEdit on my computer that is not working correctly.

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Answer 7

Bob Allison Author

Level 4

2,369 points

Mar 15, 2023 9:51 AM in response to Bob Allison

Update 2

I find I cannot save any new files.

I created a new file, typed in testing 1 2 3, then tried to save it. I get an error that I do not have permission to save it.

I changed it to text format instead of rtf, same, cannot save it.

I have a file open that I created about 2 weeks ago and have been continuously working on and I can save that with no error messages.

I made a duplicate of that file and tried to save the duplicate - same thing - I am told I do not have permission to save it.

I think my copy of TextEdit has been corrupted.

How can I get a new copy or update it without updating my whole operating system?

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Trouble opening many but not all rtf and rtfd files.

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