Preview gets stuck trying to open all stored pdfs

Unless things have changed a LOT in Yosemite, the "Recent Files" are located in the property list file - mine is located in this path

.../Library/Preferences/com.apple.Preview.plist

It will do no harm to delete that FILE >com.apple.Preview.plist< and see if that solves it.

bottom up

Mysterious indeed.

I have no experience with this particular anomaly - nor with Yosemite versions of included software - that said, I can see nothing the filename

> com.apple.PreviewLegacySignatureConversions.plist < that would indicate it would include a list (however long it might be) of files to open when opening Preview

- so I see no advantage in blindly deleting stuff.

I used Spotlight to search for a file VERY recently modified after opening and closing an image in Preview - so it is likely I simply assumed it was visible.

That said, do a Spotlight search (CMD > F in the Finder) > type 'preview' > then choose the filter button for date modified "today"

-- see if there is more than one " com.apple.Preview.plist " <(you can Trash 'em from the find results, but note they will NOT disappear from the results list, only their location path)

You're welcome.

New business

• Have you restarted your Mac?
• In Safe Mode?
• What version of Preview.app? (get info in the Finder)
• Verify OS X version shown in your Product Info shown in your Original Post

😉

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Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder.

elizabeth

Eric Root is a well respected and highly knowledgeable fella... He has conspicuously not contradicted anything about deleting the PLIST file that holds the recent file list. He is eminently more capable to help from here on out. I will hide and watch 😉

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Stick with Eric (et al) to get Preview fixed - it does more than read PDFs

the Big Daddy of All PDF readers = Adobe Acrobat Reader - the 1st of its kind, because they invented PDF > https://get.adobe.com/reader/

You are welcome.

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode - About

Safe Mode - Yosemite