Favorite styles in TextEdit don't persist

Question

Favorite styles in TextEdit don't persist

I have the following procedure to create Favorite style.

Change formatting of the paragraph such as center, add some space after paragraph, font size.
Click on "Show Styles..." on dropdown.
Click on "Add to Favorites" button.
This will bring dialog box. Type "Title" for the name of the style and make sure that all checkboxes are checked.
Quit Text Edit

Now load text edit and click on Styles dropdown button. It displays the default set of styles. The Title style is nowhere to be seen.

I tried removing default styles such as Bold and Italic, since I neer use those. I prefer using Command-B or Command-I shortcuts to mark text with bold or italic.

So, I really would like to save a few of my favorite styles, but Lion does not appear to preserve styles for me.

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Sep 14, 2011 8:04 PM

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Answer 1

pscole

Level 1

4 points

Dec 4, 2011 6:18 AM in response to Sergei Gnezdov

Hi Sergei,

I'm having the same problem. Using a Macbook Pro with the latest updates installed. I removed all six of Text Edit's preference files. This didn't solve the style problem. Have you come up with any new ideas since you posted this?

Thanks,

Scott

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Answer 2

Dec 4, 2011 6:29 PM in response to pscole

I have not found any solution. I think I simply gave up. I have Pages and decided to use it more often.

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Answer 3

sirozha

Level 1

49 points

Feb 23, 2012 11:54 AM in response to Sergei Gnezdov

It appears that styles used by TextEdit are stored globally, but starting in Mac OS X Lion, TextEdit is sandboxed as an application, and has no access to the global .plist where the styles are stored. This is an oversight on the Apple's part, and I reported this issue back in September 2011 to Apple support. The technician I spoke with was able to replicate the problem, put me on hold, spoke to an engineer, and then told me that this was by design. I insisted that it was not by design, and the feature worked before Mac OS X Lion. I basically forced him to file this as a bug, but now, three updates later, the problem is still not fixed. I don't think Apple really cares, to put it mildly.

I can see styles in TextEdit not being a priority if Apple included iWork for free with every new Mac, which they definitely should do just to put a dent in the Microsoft's profits from MS Office. Apple doesn't seem to be putting any effort into TextEdit or iWork, and I really don't see why not to give it away for free just like they do with the iLife suite. However, since they do not give you a free iWork suite when you purchase a new Mac, and the only real word processor that is included with Mac OS X for free is TextEdit, they should at least fix the basic functionality of TextEdit, such as Styles. The feature set of TextEdit is comparable to word processors from the early 1980s; so the least Apple can do is to ensure that every feature TextEdit has works properly.

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Answer 4

Feb 27, 2012 11:37 PM in response to sirozha

Thanks. That comment about TextEdit being sandboxed is very informative and explains what's going on well.

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Answer 5

Das Wolf

Level 1

69 points

Mar 21, 2012 8:50 PM in response to Sergei Gnezdov

Hey Segei I know that I'm late to this party but I just wanted to let you know that I am still having the same problem. I hope Apple can fix this. It seems so basic. Why do they let you go through all of steps just to let you down. I'm bummed because I use TextEdit all of the time and its one of my favorite Apps. Until Apple fixes it - "The Dude abides".

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Answer 6

ronzonni

Level 1

4 points

Jan 18, 2013 5:27 PM in response to Sergei Gnezdov

I often copy text from a web article and paste it into TeachText for reference. I highlight a paragraph and customize the paragraph and line spacing, but then can't apply that preset to any other paragraphs. I have to highlight and set up the style all over again for each paragraph.

I have called Apple support several times with no results. This function worked easily before Lion. Why bother showing your customized presets under the paragraph and line spacing menu, if you can't apply them? I even tried adding a preset to favorite styles and that didn't work either.

Guess I'll have to resort to opening a new Microsoft Word document to paste the copy into. Then, at least I'll be able hightlight the document to apply a style. What a hassle!

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