How do I modify "Open With..."?

[Alameda]

I have two versions of Microsoft Office installed on my Mac - 2011 and 2016.

Office 2016 crashes too much, so until it's more stable, I want all of my Office documents to open in Office 2011. So I selected one of each type of doc, chose Get Info, and selected the correct version of the app to open.

But the settings keep reverting, like when I open a Word or PowerPoint file from inside of Outlook or a web browser. Is there some place where I can change and modify the document to application mappings that OS-X uses?

 

[beebarb]

The 'open with' default settings in OS X are a little idiotic in that regard, when two applications identify as the same program to the OS.

Say, for example, Microsoft Word.
The system seems to prioritise the application with the higher version number at times.

One 'solution' I can think of is to render the newer versions of the apps inoperable by renaming them so the *.app extension is missing.

But as for something more sensible, I'm not sure if there is a way to do what you need.

 

[Shirasaki]

Windows does this a little bit better than Mac OS X.

Moving away app package from application folder is a decent choice. Or rename app package name to make it not directly recognisable by system is also possible. If neither can solve your problem, destroy newer version and set all association back to old one. If OS X insist on opening documents using new version of Microsoft office, you may need to reinstall old version of Microsoft office to let Microsoft change association itself.

Bottom line, no matter which method you do, you might need to disable SIP, except you just want to reinstall app.

You can also check updates to see if newer updates solves your constant crash issue.

 

[getrealbro]

I just compress the new version of the app that I don't want the Finder to "see" and delete the original. That way if/when I change my mind, I can expand the new version and compress the old version until I'm sure I want to stick with the new version. I do this a lot with the new versions of Apple's apps which seem to regularly lose functionality (e.g. iMovie).

---GetRealBro

 

[Rodan52]

Office 2016 had known issues with El Capitan from the start but I am told that the latest MS update for MS Office for Mac 2016 fixes all those issues, so before you spend a lot of time changing preferences I'd try updating your version of Office.

 

[Mcmeowmers]

Office 2016 had known issues with El Capitan from the start but I am told that the latest MS update for MS Office for Mac 2016 fixes all those issues, so before you spend a lot of time changing preferences I'd try updating your version of Office.

Some of the issues were actual on Apples side. However, 2016 is still very glitchy still. Each update seems to fix the issues for a week before they reappear again

 

[Alameda]

Office 2016 had known issues with El Capitan from the start but I am told that the latest MS update for MS Office for Mac 2016 fixes all those issues, so before you spend a lot of time changing preferences I'd try updating your version of Office.

I've run all the updates; it just crashes far too often.

 

[Rodan52]

I've run all the updates; it just crashes far too often.

Ah, well sounds like a bit more work needed on both sides however given apple's push to promote their own office suite I think most of the effort is going to need to be from Microsoft.

 

[Rodan52]

One other solution to your problem may be installing the one you use least on an external HD you can mount it if you want to use that version or unmount if you want to use the other.

 

[Alameda]

One other solution to your problem may be installing the one you use least on an external HD you can mount it if you want to use that version or unmount if you want to use the other.

I think that the Office installer will only install to the Applications folder. Maybe my solution is to simply move the Office 2016 applications out of the Applications folder, then reboot. I'm leaning towards uninstalling Office 2016 altogether; I can always reinstall it later.

 

[RedRaven571]

Apologies, but checking "Always Open With' here doesn't fix it?

 

[Alameda]

Apologies, but checking "Always Open With' here doesn't fix it?

No apology needed. It doesn't fix it. It works for a little while, but it doesn't "stick".

What happens is either restarting the computer wipes out the setting, or (more likely) opening one of the files from inside a browser or Outlook wipes out the setting.

To be honest, I'm not that big a fan of Office 2016 Mac. Firstly, whenever Microsoft updates Office, they pay a massive team of people to redesign an interface that works fine. And so you have to relearn the locations of the exact same commands. So far, I haven't noticed any new features, except integration with Microsoft's online storage, which would be nice, except that every time I try to open a file, I have to dismiss a dialog offering to open it from online storage. I get how this could be a benefit that lets me view stuff on my phone and tablet, but I don't want to use it so it's just intrusive to me.

If my use changes to using documents on my phone a lot, maybe I'll revisit this. But Office 2016 needs a serious dose of Raid first; I have a brand new MacBook Pro Retina with 8 GB -- the poster child of compatibility -- and it crashes very frequently. I don't know if he problem is El Cap of Office 2016.

I know this is a long post but I thought I should share my experiences with other Mac users out there.