Preview hangs on opening files

Question

Level 1

9 points

Preview hangs on opening files

Preview is my default app to open image files (jpg, tiff, etc.). In the past week it has begun hanging when I attempt to open these files. These are not large files (e.g., 400kB for a tiff created by Grab).

I open PDF files with Skim by default. They open snappily. When I set a 60kB file to open with Preview instead, it takes more than one minute to open.

So far I have:

restarted Mac
deleted Library/Preferences/com.apple.Preview.LSSharedFileList.plist
looked for Library/Caches/com.apple.Preview (doesn't exist)
deleted Library/Containers/com.apple.Preview
deleted Saved Application State/com.apple.Preview.savedState

However, the problem continues. Could someone recommend other possible solutions?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Dec 26, 2017 6:23 AM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Dec 27, 2017 3:01 PM in response to WLVAg

Try deleting com.apple.Preview.plist. It is located in ~/Library/Preferences, not in /Library/Preferences. To get there go to your Finder "Go' menu > Go to folder and enter ~/Library/Preferences then press go. The tilde(~) stands for your Home Library.

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Answer 2

WLVAg Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 27, 2017 3:01 PM in response to macjack

Thank you for the reply. I apologize that I did not state the filepath correctly in my original message. I had in fact already looked for the file "com.apple.Preview.plist" in the folder ~/Library/Preferences -- it does not exist.

However, my issue with Preview resolved itself. Activity Monitor showed that a process called "mds" (which I think is related to keeping the Spotlight database up-to-date) was churning away, using ~100% of the processor for several hours. I had to move my laptop so I shut it down. This time, when I restarted, I was able to once more open files easily with Preview.

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