After updating to Mavericks, Preview won't let me combine PDF's! Any ideas?

Quick Tip: Combine PDF Files in Preview

It works for me. Since I can't see what you're doing, I don't know what else to tell you. I'd be quite surprised if your Preview was different from everyone else's, but if you seriously believe that, do as follows.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Step 1

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.

Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

Step 2

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of certain system caches.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of steps 1 and 2.

I just had the same issue and fiddled around. Seems like when using Mavericks, you can no longer merge them together directly, but when you open one of the docs in the thumbnail panel (by this i mean you have to click on the title of your doc with the little triangle next to it to show all of it's pages) and then TADA you can drag your second document at the end of the first one !

Hope this works for you too 🙂

You're absolutley correct! The video says that if you drag a .pdf onto another in Preview, it will merge. Not ture! In Mavericks, it wants to re-order them and will not allow you to merge, so this video unfortunately is out of date regarding Mavericks. 😠

Charlas, I don't get you. I'm clicking on the title and seeing the drop-down triangle and this still won't allow my .pdfs in the thumbnail view to merge. :-(

D O N E I T!! 😀

Open the .pdf documents with Preview. Go to View>Thumbnails so that Thumbnails are displayed. Select the Thumbnails you want to combine. Go to Print. In the Print screen, go to PDF in lower left corner. Click on "Save as PDF." You should get a screen allowing you to rename the combined document. Hit Save.

There is a way that works more like "the old way"... just drag, merge and save. The trick is to use Thumbnails and make sure that you are dropping ON TOP of the other page so a GREEN PLUS SIGN shows up.

Here's a great how-to article (I can't take credit for it, but it's the best explanation I've seen): http://macintoshhowto.com/pdf/how-to-merge-2-pdf-files-with-os-x-mavericks-10-9. html