Jean-Francois Blais

Q: Double-clicking files won't work anymore.

Since I installed Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac on my MacBook Pro, there are a lot of files I can't open anymore using the double-click. I tried to change the double-click settings in the Preferences panel and assigning a specific application to open each problematic file type using the "Open with" button in the Information panel, to no avail.

 

I also tried to reboot the computer, and I repaired the main HDD's authorizations. None of this worked.

 

What's curious is that double-clicking a file actually seems to launch the application. The app icon bounces for some time, as if it was trying to open. But after a few seconds of icon bouncing, the "hang" icon appears (don't know the exact name of this icon—it's that dreaded multicolour spinning wheel I'm talking about). The app icon bounces for a minute or more with the "hang" icon showing, and then the app either quits (without any message about some crash), or I use "Force Quit" to shut it down.

 

Right now, I have to open the app for the files that won't work (i.e., Word for .doc and .docx files, Preview for .jpg, .png, .tiff and .gif files, Safari or another web browser for .html and .url files) for them to work. Same goes for my RAW (.pef) photo files, which won't open in Capture One Pro anymore when using the double-click.

 

I didn't try other image files so far

 

Problem is, it prevents newly installed apps from opening as well. Today, I tried to open an app demo I downloaded from a third party developer (i.e., not Apple), and its icon bounced around for a minute before it quit. I didn't even got the window with the "You're about to open an app from a [...]" message asking if I want to open the file or not.

 

Has anyone experienced this problem? Most important, does anyone know how to fix it?

 

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), 15-inch 2010, 8GB RAM, 255MB VRAM

Posted on Sep 16, 2016 12:24 PM

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Q: Double-clicking files won't work anymore.

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  • by Jean-Francois Blais,Solvedanswer

    Jean-Francois Blais Jean-Francois Blais Sep 16, 2016 7:23 PM in response to Jean-Francois Blais
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2016 7:23 PM in response to Jean-Francois Blais

    I tried to find some additional info on the issue all day long, looking in forums, on websites, etc. I couldn't find anything about this issue.

     

    I was about to give up, but I decided to reboot once more, just to see if it would change anything. Seems reboot yet again was the key to success. Maybe refreshing memory was the key to solve the problem.

     

    Case closed, I hope.