# Mac Preview quit unexpectedly **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913 "2019-06-02T15:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/1 "2019-06-02T15:22:51Z")
I am running OS X El Capitan version 10.11.6 on a MacBook Pro. Here’s what happened: [ul][li]I opened the Mueller Report in Preview.[/li][li]I copied some text and did a Find (command-F).[/li][li]I pasted the text into the Find box and hit Enter.[/li][li]Preview ‘quit unexpectedly’.[/li][li]I tried reopening the file, and Preview immediately quit.[/li][li]I restarted my computer.[/li][li]Upon restarting, I tried opening the file again.[/li][li]Preview quit immediately.[/li][li]I tried to open a .jpg file, and Preview quit immediately.[/ul][/li]I searched ‘preview quit unexpectedly’ and found [this page](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8295001): > [@](#): > > 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. Remove the following. You may not find them all. Restart and test. > Containers/com.apple.Preview > > Containers/com.apple.quicklook.ui.helper > > Preferences/com.apple.Preview.LSSharedFileList.plist > > Preferences/com.apple.Preview.SandboxedPersistentURLs.LSSharedFileList.plist > > Saved Application State/com.apple.Preview.savedState I am uncomfortable removing files, but I thought I’d give it a try. I opened Finder and did a command-J to get to Show View Options. There is no ‘Show Library Folder’ option, so I’m dead in the water right there. I kept [searching](https://www.reddit.com/r/applehelp/comments/8is7na/preview_keeps_crashing_now_it_wont_even_open/), and found the last three files and deleted them. Preview still quits immediately. Question 1: How to I get Preview working again? Question 2: I did a backup using Time Machine about a week ago. If I need to recover from there, how do I do it? ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/2 "2019-06-02T17:10:15Z")
I can’t answer your questions directly, but I’d suggest you contact apple customer support directly and ask them. I had a similar situation with Photos recently, the app would launch then crash. I’m using a 5 year old MacBook Pro. I called Apple 1-800 # and I spent over 2 hours on the phone with a senior support tech. The guy walked me through possible solutions and finally we ended up doing a full OS wipe and then reloaded the new OS from scratch followed by a compete (non-OS) restore from Time Machine. Since the restore took a few hours, the guy gave me his personal Apple email so I could contact him immediately/directly if anything went wrong. He also scheduled a call back in a couple days to check in and verify the problem was resolved. All for a 5 year old laptop. The guy said since the problem was with Photos, which a “core” apple software product, they take issues seriously. Since Preview is a similar Apple product, hopefully they’ll help you out. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/3 "2019-06-02T17:31:58Z")
Hold the shift key down when launching Preview. See if that allows it to run. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/4 "2019-06-02T18:24:59Z")
> [@GMANCANADA](#): > > I can’t answer your questions directly, but I’d suggest you contact apple customer support directly and ask them. > [@beowulff](#): > > Hold the shift key down when launching Preview. > See if that allows it to run. I’ve never had any luck with Apple Support. Either I can’t get through, or there’s something else. I have restored my system to the 27th of May. I emailed an important, daily-updated file to myself, so I have it back. (NB: I shut down, and then restarted with command-R.) I guess if I want to read the Mueller Report, I should do it from a website. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/5 "2019-06-03T11:14:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I opened Finder and did a command-J to get to Show View Options. There is no ‘Show Library Folder’ option, so I’m dead in the water right there. The other way to access that folder is to go to the Finder, select “Go To Folder…” under the “Go” menu, and enter “/Users/[username]/Library” into the dialog box that pops up. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/6 "2019-06-03T13:51:40Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > The other way to access that folder is to go to the Finder, select “Go To Folder…” under the “Go” menu, and enter “/Users/[username]/Library” into the dialog box that pops up. Or put a Finder window in View as columns; go into your Home folder (if it’s not on the sidebar, go into Macintosh Hard Drive and into Users and then into Home). In the Home folder you should see, among other things, the Library folder; and inside that a whole list of things – one of them for instance is Container and the Container items are inside that. On mine, anyway. 10.13.4 on a Mini. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/7 "2019-06-03T14:42:22Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Or put a Finder window in View as columns; go into your Home folder (if it’s not on the sidebar, go into Macintosh Hard Drive and into Users and then into Home). In the Home folder you should see, among other things, the Library folder; and inside that a whole list of things – one of them for instance is Container and the Container items are inside that. > > On mine, anyway. 10.13.4 on a Mini. Command+Shift+dot/period will also show you hidden folders. (Only putting this out there because I just discovered it today. I’ve long just used a terminal command to display all hidden files and folders, but I guess there’s been an easier way to do this for awhile now. Looks like it was introduced in Sierra.) Also, if you have the usual files and folders hidden, just click on your desktop background to bring Finder to the fore, and hold down alt while clicking on “Go” in the menu, and “Library” will show up as an option. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/8 "2019-06-04T15:20:10Z")
Huh. I just discovered that the “go” menu, which I never use (is that new?) has the Library folder right in it. Also Utiilies, and a batch of others. Maybe I will use it once in a while. ETA: you don’t need to hold down alt. Just go into Finder and then click on Go in the menu bar; slide down to Library and click on that. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/9 "2019-06-04T15:55:10Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > ETA: you don’t need to hold down alt. Just go into Finder and then click on Go in the menu bar; slide down to Library and click on that. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. Depends what version of OS X you’re running and/or what your settings are. In OS X Lion (10.7) and earlier, it’s not hidden. In OS X Mountain Lion (10.8), you have to use the alt key, or you can permanently unhide it by opening Terminal and entering “chflags nohidden ~/Library” [enter]. In OS X Mavericks (10.9) and later, it’s simply an option in Finder “View Options”: open a Finder window (don’t just click on the desktop)-\>View-\>Show View Options-\>check the box next to “Show Library Folder.” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/10 "2019-06-04T16:09:02Z")
I wasn’t actually doing any of those (though usually what I’ve done has been to open a Finder window and click on “home”, which I put on my Finder sidebar quite a while ago.) What I just discovered was that if I go into Finder (with or without a window open), the menu bar at the top of the screen has as one of the items “Go”, and that clicking on that produces a list of options one of which is “Library”. I don’t think any of that used to be there. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/11 "2019-06-04T17:26:20Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I wasn’t actually doing any of those (though usually what I’ve done has been to open a Finder window and click on “home”, which I put on my Finder sidebar quite a while ago.) What I just discovered was that if I go into Finder (with or without a window open), the menu bar at the top of the screen has as one of the items “Go”, and that clicking on that produces a list of options one of which is “Library”. > > I don’t think any of that used to be there. Did you unhide the hidden folders by any chance? I’m on Mojave 10.14.5, and if I unhide hidden folders when I use the command-shift-period shortcut (or through the terminal command), then Library shows up in Finder under Go without having to use alt. If I hide the folders again by using the shortcut or the terminal command, then Library doesn’t show up under Finder \> Go unless I do hit alt. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/12 "2019-06-04T19:25:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Did you unhide the hidden folders by any chance? Not on purpose. I’ve always been able to see my library folder. I’m currently on 10.13.4; but I could see the library folder in earlier versions as well. Maybe if I go to 10.14 I’ll have to unhide things? If so, that’s a useful heads-up. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/13 "2019-06-04T19:50:05Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Not on purpose. > > I’ve always been able to see my library folder. I’m currently on 10.13.4; but I could see the library folder in earlier versions as well. > > Maybe if I go to 10.14 I’ll have to unhide things? If so, that’s a useful heads-up. It some point you must have told the OS to unhide that folder. That setting is honored through system updates. The /Library and ~/Library folders have been hidden by default for over a decade. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/14 "2019-06-04T20:20:15Z")
Ah. That would explain it; I’ve been using a Mac longer than that. If updates have all honored previous settings, then it’s just copying that over – except, wait a minute, the new computer comes with a new system. I transferred files; maybe the setup assistant transferred those settings, also. I’m pretty sure I’d remember if at some point my library folder had disappeared and I’d had to hunt around trying to figure out how to make it appear again. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-preview-quit-unexpectedly/834913/15 "2019-06-04T21:52:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I am uncomfortable removing files, but I thought I’d give it a try. I opened Finder and did a command-J to get to Show View Options. There is no ‘Show Library Folder’ option, so I’m dead in the water right there. I kept [searching](https://www.reddit.com/r/applehelp/comments/8is7na/preview_keeps_crashing_now_it_wont_even_open/), and found the last three files and deleted them. Preview still quits immediately. Generally, you can get the same results by moving files elsewhere instead of deleting them. That’s a good first step if you’re nervous about following instructions to delete something. If it fixes things, then you can leave them in the new location for as long as you feel comfortable. If it doesn’t, you can move them back, which also helps make sure that you vary as few things as possible at time. The worst bugs to diagnose are the ones where your first attempt to fix things broke something else, so even when you solve the original thing, you’ve broken it in some other way.