File Associations Keep Changing

Question

File Associations Keep Changing

I have a problem where some of my file association keep changing the default program, whenever they feel like it. This is mainly happening with PDF and JPEG files opening in Adobe Software, when the default is set to Preview and always has been.

1. I have not updated any software recently nor I did change these associations to begin with

2. I have changed these via Get Info and checked "Always Open With"

3. I have changed these via OPT + RIGHT CLICK "Always Open With"

I am on OS X 10.11.6

27-Inch iMac Late 2012

Posted on Nov 1, 2017 5:52 PM

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Answer 1

Yorkie29

Level 1

7 points

Feb 7, 2018 4:09 AM in response to FormerTeenIdol

I'm another with this problem. For me .JPGs keep opening in Photoshop Elements even though every time I set Preview to be the default. Worst still when I try 'Open with' Preview is not even listed so I have to click 'other' then search for the Preview app. As a workaround I've put the Preview icon on the dock and drag files to that. I'd still rather go back to the old school method of just clicking on the file though!

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Answer 2

phxgmac

Level 1

4 points

Feb 8, 2018 9:24 AM in response to FormerTeenIdol

My file association happens randomly and it has been with several different files/programs.

However I noticed something in particular with Photoshop files. Originally Photoshop files kept opening in AutoDesk Sketchbook. Since I rarely use that program, I decided to remove it. After I removed it, Photoshop files would then open in Illustrator (not right away, just whenever the file association thing gets messed up). So removing Sketchbook didn't fix the issue with Photoshop files; the file association just changed the program it would assign.

The thing I noticed with Photoshop files, is even after removing Sketchbook, the icon that appears next to the file name in the "Get Info" window is still a Sketchbook "Tiff" icon. The icon in the top part of the window is the correct PSD icon as well as the icon shown in "Open with". Here's a screen shot:

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Answer 3

Feb 10, 2018 3:38 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

I checked with fsevents and it showed what is changed when dragging the file (changes take place in the PRIVATE > VAR folder) - I assume the changes being made to either com.apple.launchservices-107501.csstore or the sandbox-cache-db-shm which are causing the association changes?

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Answer 4

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Nov 2, 2017 2:46 PM in response to FormerTeenIdol

Hi, FormerTeenIdol.

I see that you're having problems with files opening using the incorrect application. I'm happy to help.

How to turn on or turn off your Mac -- Restart your MacBook Air then test the issue.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac -- If restarting your Mac didn't resolve the issue, test how it responds in safe mode. If there are no issues, reboot normally and test again in your own user account. Remember this when booting in safe mode: Limited graphics performance in OS X recovery or safe mode

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac -- If the issue is also happening in safe mode, use this article to test another user account. This will demonstrate if the issue is isolated to your account, or if it's system wide.

If another user account is already set up on your Mac, you can simply log out of your account (Apple menu > Log Out) and log in with the other account. But the best way to test is with a newly created account:

Let me know how that goes.
Take care!

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Answer 5

Feb 10, 2018 6:24 AM in response to CountryGirl56

CountryGirl56 wrote:

Need to see the entire report. Obviously something is wrong so your assumption there are no issues is questionable.

I was referring to the fact that the EtreCheck isn't reporting any issues other than what is listed above.

Hardware Information:ⓘ

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac13,2

1 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-3770) CPU: 4-core

32 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information:ⓘ

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX - VRAM: 2 GB

iMac 2560 x 1440

Disk Information:ⓘ

APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk1: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk1s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

(disk1s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 999.35 GB

Recovery HD (disk1s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

APPLE SSD SM128E disk0: (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 120.99 GB

Boot OS X (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted> : 134 MB

USB Information:ⓘ

USB20Bus

hub_device

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

USB20Bus

hub_device

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

USB30Bus

PixArt USB Optical Mouse

Thunderbolt Information:ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks:ⓘ

Macintosh HD (disk2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 1.11 TB (607.41 GB free)

Physical disk: disk0s2 120.99 GB Online

Physical disk: disk1s2 999.35 GB Online

System Software:ⓘ

macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D47) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:ⓘ

/Applications/Tunnelblick.app

[not loaded] net.tunnelblick.tap (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4921)) [Lookup]

[not loaded] net.tunnelblick.tun (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4921)) [Lookup]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.IKMultimedia.driver.StompIO1 (1.0.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.eltima.ElmediaPlayer.kext (1.0 - SDK 10.4) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.ikmultimedia.driver.StealthPedal (1.0.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.wibu.codemeter.CmUSBMassStorage (1.0.7) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 9 Apple tasks

[loaded] 172 Apple tasks

[running] 109 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[failed] com.apple.updateEFIDesktopPicture-apfs.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2018-01-19)

[not loaded] 39 Apple tasks

[loaded] 173 Apple tasks

[running] 119 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2016-09-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-01-24) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 0 ? - installed (null)) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 68cad67 0 - installed 2012-12-17) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.acc.installer.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

[running] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-01-24) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-10-24) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e afb3bef0 - installed 2010-08-25) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (? 0 ? - installed (null)) [Lookup]

[loaded] de.appsolute.mampprohelper.plist (appsolute GmbH - installed 2017-06-09) [Lookup]

[loaded] net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.tunnelblickd.plist (Jonathan Bullard - installed 2017-12-11) [Lookup]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.ClamXavHelper.plist (Mark Allan - installed 2017-12-03) [Lookup]

[loaded] uk.co.canimaansoftware.ClamXavHelperUpdater.plist (Mark Allan - installed 2017-12-03) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents:ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2016-09-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-01-24) [Lookup]

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2018-02-08) [Lookup]

[not loaded] jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist (? 5e3c5637 49162937 - installed 2012-06-17) [Lookup]

[loaded] net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.LaunchAtLogin.plist (Jonathan Bullard - installed 2017-12-07) [Lookup]

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

AdobeExManDetect: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 (installed 2013-12-11) [Lookup]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 28.0.0.161 (installed 2018-02-06) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-02-10)

Flash Player: 28.0.0.161 (installed 2018-02-06) [Lookup]

AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-15) [Lookup]

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.0.0 (installed 2010-08-25) [Lookup]

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101750: Unknown

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-11) [Lookup]

MeetingJoinPlugin: 1.0 (installed 2017-10-24) [Lookup]

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

Flash Player (installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

Time Machine:ⓘ

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 1.11 TB Disk used: 504.41 GB

Destinations:

My Passport [Local]

Total size: 1.00 TB

Total number of backups: 4

Oldest backup: 7/31/16, 10:16 AM

Last backup: 7/31/16, 1:16 PM

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 1.00 TB < (Disk used 504.41 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

8% WindowServer

5% kernel_task

4% Safari

3% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

1% launchd

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

1.58 GB kernel_task

657 MB softwareupdated

404 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

308 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

260 MB mds_stores

Top Processes by Network Use:ⓘ

Input Output Process name

2 MB 673 KB com.apple.WebKit.Networking

74 KB 32 KB mDNSResponder

34 KB 12 KB Mail

5 KB 4 KB apsd

2 KB 558 B netbiosd

Top Processes by Energy Use:ⓘ

10.92 WindowServer

3.72 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

2.42 Safari

2.40 mdworker

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

24.46 GB Available RAM

12.87 GB Free RAM

7.54 GB Used RAM

11.59 GB Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days):ⓘ

Adobe Flash Player: (installed 2018-02-06)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events):ⓘ

2018-02-10 08:32:57 Last shutdown cause: 3 - Hard shutdown

2018-02-08 06:15:46 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent High CPU use [Open] [Details]

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Answer 6

Nov 16, 2017 6:07 AM in response to brenden dv

I tried all of these - and have no other users on my mac - but the issue keep re-occuring. Almost any file type is trying to open inside of Adobe Illustrator (docX, txt, jpeg, png, pdf) which I've NEVER associated them with the program. Is there anything else I can do?

I also ran ETREcheck (found nothing) and did a repair on the drive (nothing changed).

Reply

Answer 7

Leolio_

Level 1

4 points

Dec 20, 2017 8:12 AM in response to FormerTeenIdol

I have the same issue. I'm pretty sure they started the day the new Firefox Quantum got released. I tried upgrading the OS (today) and the issue is the same.

So, I started experimenting, because I really really suspect Firefox there.

Computer (2011 iMac) starts, I double click to open a pdf > everything's fine.

Then I open Firefox, and drag and drop an image to the desktop: that image doesn't have a file extension anymore and the OS doesn't detect its type (since the quantum upgrade). Chrome doesn't have this bug. Once this bug is triggered I double click on a PDF, and it opens with Pixelmator or ibooks instead.

So, starting tomorrow, Firefox is out and I'll try working with Chrome. This may very well fix the issue.

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Answer 8

Dec 20, 2017 9:24 AM in response to Leolio_

I updated my OS and no longer (for the past several weeks) experience the issue.

Firefox definitely got rid of being able to drag a file to desktop and retain the file extension, but this wasn't where my issue stemmed from. It was every image or preview associated file on my computer randomly changing permissions, those files without extensions would never randomly change, as there was nothing indicating a program to be used.

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Answer 9

Leolio_

Level 1

4 points

Jan 11, 2018 5:50 AM in response to FormerTeenIdol

I still have the issue too. It's way better than before, only "preview" files like PDF / JPGS lose file association, but it still happens. Everyday I have to manually fix it once. I'll tell you if I find a solution. :-)

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Answer 10

83sjs8j

Level 1

4 points

Feb 1, 2018 4:37 PM in response to Leolio_

I'm having the same issue here. Apple support is worthless and I have had absolutely no help at all with "community specialists" or whatever they're called around here. It's especially problematic with image files.

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Answer 11

Feb 1, 2018 5:29 PM in response to 83sjs8j

I have been working with apple to solve this problem. I'm currently in the midst of trying to see if it happens on other user accounts. I did not have any other users on my system but have created one and am going to test it out as soon as possible.... I doubt it will change, but I will gladly let you know the outcome!

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Answer 12

83sjs8j

Level 1

4 points

Feb 1, 2018 7:32 PM in response to FormerTeenIdol

Awesome! I'll update if I find anything as well. I'm basically a toddler when it comes to figuring out how to bend Macs to my will, but will keep my eyes open. I know for a fact we're not the only ones with this issue.

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Answer 13

Feb 7, 2018 5:10 AM in response to Yorkie29

Just checking with everyone here --- are we all using Adobe Products?

I'm in the middle of a few projects, so I haven't been able to switch over user and see if the change happens once I'm logged on my machine as a separate user.

But I'm wondering if this is an Apple / Adobe bug.

Let me know, as soon as I can I am going to contact Apple again and try to get them to take notice that there are others with the issue and make sure they know everything we can possibly provide for them.

Reply

Answer 14

83sjs8j

Level 1

4 points

Feb 7, 2018 10:20 AM in response to Yorkie29

Nice temporary workaround, Yorkie. I'll have to consider that.

No Adobe products here beyond whatever my browser uses. I notice this issue is not apparent when I begin work each morning.

It begins after I've been up and working for a few hours, but I can't narrow down if things are just slowing down in general or if there is one specific action that I become increasingly likely to do as my work day stretches on that sets it all off.

I use Firefox all day at work and for a while thought that there may be a connection there somehow related to saving images through Firefox or taking screenshots, but I'm not able to recreate the error at will so meh... I have no idea.

I also have issues where Preview will not even be an option when right-clicking, which then makes me have to search for preview, etc. Very annoying and it takes foreeevvver for apps to populate when going through that whole "open with" process.

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Answer 15

83sjs8j

Level 1

4 points

Feb 7, 2018 10:24 AM in response to 83sjs8j

PS - I don't think there's any connection to which program your images default to when losing file associations.

What I mean is for the longest time, whenever I lost Preview as my default app for images, they would open in my printer's scan tool (which if you know printer software was a nightmare). I completely removed my printer's scan software and now my images default to opening in Firefox whenever they lose their association with Preview.

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