Preview app not responding after searching and clicking back into the text (after macOS 11.3?)

[Muzosh2]

Hey, since the update on macOS 11.3 (I'm not completely sure if it started immediately after the update), I'm having troubles with the Preview app.

Machine: base (8/256) Macbook Air M1, MacOS version 11.3

Steps to reproduce:
1) Open any PDF with text in Preview
- any file size works, I have reproduced it on 0.8, 1.2 and 4 MB files
2) Search for any term you KNOW the document contains
- so you can see search results in the left bar
- Preview should jump on the first search result and show other results in the left bar, pretty normal stuff
3) after that, click ANYWHERE in the document text
- like you would like to change focus of the window back to document
- like you would like to select some word with your mouse to copy that word
4) Preview immediately freezes and mouse goes to spinning beachball a split second after the click in step 3
5) I have tried to "wait it out", but the beachball can spin even hours, I don't think it can ever stop and go back to normal

Current (bad) solution:
Option+Command+Esc to ForceQuit Preview app and start it again (and don't use search function)

EDIT: Current (acceptable, may not be for everyone) solution:
Quit and don't use Rectangle or Magnet (or other window management app?) until MacOS 11.4 comes out.

ActivityMonitor:
CPU:

Memory:

Energy:

Overal CPU usage is ok (91 % idle) and also overall Memory is also ok (6GB used out of 8GB).

So far I have tried:
I deleted all files associated with Preview from ~/Library/Containers and restarted Mac (didn't help):

Does anybody have any suggestions? I really don't want to install any third-party PDF readers.
Thanks, Muzosh.

 

[Muzosh2]

I have created a thread in Apple Community forums, but I was't able to directly contact Apple support since apparently under my serial number the "contact support" feature has expired (wtf).

Also I posted another thread on these forums, which links to this thread (because I didn't know if it is related just to the M1 machines).

 

[LuisN]

Hey, since the update on macOS 11.3 (I'm not completely sure if it started immediately after the update), I'm having troubles with the Preview app.

Machine: base (8/256) Macbook Air M1, MacOS version 11.3

Steps to reproduce:
1) Open any PDF with text in Preview
- any file size works, I have reproduced it on 0.8, 1.2 and 4 MB files
2) Search for any term you KNOW the document contains
- so you can see search results in the left bar
- Preview should jump on the first search result and show other results in the left bar, pretty normal stuff
3) after that, click ANYWHERE in the document text
- like you would like to change focus of the window back to document
- like you would like to select some word with your mouse to copy that word
4) Preview immediately freezes and mouse goes to spinning beachball a split second after the click in step 3
5) I have tried to "wait it out", but the beachball can spin even hours, I don't think it can ever stop and go back to normal

Current (bad) solution:
Option+Command+Esc to ForceQuit Preview app and start it again (and don't use search function)

ActivityMonitor:
CPU:
View attachment 1768078
Memory:
View attachment 1768079
Energy:
View attachment 1768080
Overal CPU usage is ok (91 % idle) and also overall Memory is also ok (6GB used out of 8GB).

So far I have tried:
I deleted all files associated with Preview from ~/Library/Containers and restarted Mac (didn't help):
View attachment 1768081

Does anybody have any suggestions? I really don't want to install any third-party PDF readers.
Thanks, Muzosh.

I'm using 11.4 beta and it doesn't happen

 

[matthewko]

Here's with MacBook Pro 13 M1 with macOS 11.3 and having the sam issue!

The procedure to re-produce the issue is the same.
Sometimes I will even hang for reading/ scrolling, not to mention it will hang when searching words.

 

[Muzosh2]

Preview app not responding after searchin… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

User CleffyHeft found out, that (probably) window management apps are the culprit here. Specifically after quitting Rectangle or Magnet app the problem stops being reproducible.

 

[4nthony]

I'm using Magnet and I checked "Ignore Preview" in the Magnet menu. So far, Preview has been working fine when switching between apps.

Never mind...still hanging. 🤦‍♂️

 

[Muzosh2]

Disabling "Snap windows by dragging" in Rectangle app preferences solves the issue, Preview no longer freezes.

Rectangle (and Magnet aswell) break Preview app in MacOS 11.3 · Issue #455 · rxhanson/Rectangle

Hey, I just wanna let developers know, that Apple did something in MacOS 11.3 update, which eventually make Preview app unusable. As it turns out, the "innocent culprit" is Rectangle in my case. Th...

github.com

 

[4nthony]

Disabling "Snap windows by dragging" in Rectangle app preferences solves the issue, Preview no longer freezes.

I noticed Magnet has a similar setting. Will give it a try. Thanks!

 

[MohdZafar]

Hey, since the update on macOS 11.3 (I'm not completely sure if it started immediately after the update), I'm having troubles with the Preview app.

Machine: base (8/256) Macbook Air M1, MacOS version 11.3

Steps to reproduce:
1) Open any PDF with text in Preview
- any file size works, I have reproduced it on 0.8, 1.2 and 4 MB files
2) Search for any term you KNOW the document contains
- so you can see search results in the left bar
- Preview should jump on the first search result and show other results in the left bar, pretty normal stuff
3) after that, click ANYWHERE in the document text
- like you would like to change focus of the window back to document
- like you would like to select some word with your mouse to copy that word
4) Preview immediately freezes and mouse goes to spinning beachball a split second after the click in step 3
5) I have tried to "wait it out", but the beachball can spin even hours, I don't think it can ever stop and go back to normal

Current (bad) solution:
Option+Command+Esc to ForceQuit Preview app and start it again (and don't use search function)

EDIT: Current (acceptable, may not be for everyone) solution:
Quit and don't use Rectangle or Magnet (or other window management app?) until MacOS 11.4 comes out.

ActivityMonitor:
CPU:
View attachment 1768078
Memory:
View attachment 1768079
Energy:
View attachment 1768080
Overal CPU usage is ok (91 % idle) and also overall Memory is also ok (6GB used out of 8GB).

So far I have tried:
I deleted all files associated with Preview from ~/Library/Containers and restarted Mac (didn't help):
View attachment 1768081

Does anybody have any suggestions? I really don't want to install any third-party PDF readers.
Thanks, Muzosh.

I have the same issue and uploaded it on youtube hoping that it would reach apple somehow, i know it won't but it's the most I can do.

check it out if this is your issue....

 

[MohdZafar]

I have the same issue and uploaded it on youtube hoping that it would reach apple somehow, i know it won't but it's the most I can do.

check it out if this is your issue....

Ok I have found how to solve this issue. This issue is caused by the window manager called rectangle, when i quit rectangle it doesn't happen.

 

[Mick-Mac]

I too have this same issue, but I don't have the application Rectangle. I do own the Magnet application, but I'm not running it. I have an app called Spectacle that also does window snapping, so I quit that - problem still there. BetterTouchTool also has a window snapping mode so I quit BTT but the issue was still there. BTW - I'm assuming you don't need to do a log out/in for any of this.

 

[MohdZafar]

I too have this same issue, but I don't have the application Rectangle. I do own the Magnet application, but I'm not running it. I have an app called Spectacle that also does window snapping, so I quit that - problem still there. BetterTouchTool also has a window snapping mode so I quit BTT but the issue was still there. BTW - I'm assuming you don't need to do a log out/in for any of this.

Try doing it in safe mode if the problem persists then its an issue with your device, if not then its a problem with a 3rd party software on your mac.

 

[Muzosh2]

I too have this same issue, but I don't have the application Rectangle. I do own the Magnet application, but I'm not running it. I have an app called Spectacle that also does window snapping, so I quit that - problem still there. BetterTouchTool also has a window snapping mode so I quit BTT but the issue was still there. BTW - I'm assuming you don't need to do a log out/in for any of this.

That's right, you do not need to log out. For me, just quitting Rectangle or unchecking that "Snap windows by dragging" setting work immediately.

Maybe try to look into System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy -> Accessbility and try to disable all apps there. Then uncheck one by one and search for the app that causes that problem.

 

[telo123]

Disabling "Snap windows by dragging" in Rectangle app preferences solves the issue, Preview no longer freezes.

Rectangle (and Magnet aswell) break Preview app in MacOS 11.3 · Issue #455 · rxhanson/Rectangle

Hey, I just wanna let developers know, that Apple did something in MacOS 11.3 update, which eventually make Preview app unusable. As it turns out, the "innocent culprit" is Rectangle in my case. Th...

github.com

Does anyone think its a bug on Magnet/Rectangle side? Or is it on macOS?

 

[Muzosh2]

Does anyone think its a bug on Magnet/Rectangle side? Or is it on macOS?

I would definitely say MacOS side since it started with MacOS 11.3 and apparently is fixed in MacOS 11.4 Beta.

 

[iygk]

Hey all, I made an account just for this issue. I've been using Swish which is basically like Magnet or Rectangle except it is touchpad-friendly. It does window snapping and all. I would search a term on a PDF, scroll, and it would beachball immediately before the scrolling happens. I disabled Swish, and voila, problem resolved. I've since sent the programmer an email regarding this issue, here's to hoping he contacts me back and fixes this thing.

On that note, anyone else use Swish and have this problem? If so, do you have a workaround that lets you continue enjoying the window snapping features of the software without this software hanging issue? Please let me know!!!

 

[dukee101]

Can confirm I'm having this same issue on a 2020 M1 MBP running Big Sur 11.3. Preview crashes when initiating a text search in a PDF, whilst running the Magnet window management utility. Quitting Magnet resolves the issue. Hoping for a fix in 11.3.x or 11.4.

 

[rhsauer]

Thank you for identifying this problem and the cause. I had been struggling to figure out why Preview stopped displaying all annotations on annotated files and frequently crashed. Disabling Magnet fixed it. I would never have figured that out without this forum.

 

[dukee101]

Thank you for identifying this problem and the cause. I had been struggling to figure out why Preview stopped displaying all annotations on annotated files and frequently crashed. Disabling Magnet fixed it. I would never have figured that out without this forum.

100% with you on this! I'd have no idea were it not for people discussing it here on MacRumors. Having Magnet be the culprit was very surprising to me. My initial hunch was that it was a Spotlight indexing problem / mdworker issue. Thought my Spotlight index got corrupted when upgrading to 11.3, based on the fact that Spotlight indexes all the text in every PDF file you have. But I guess not! So a weird bug for sure, apparently having to do with WindowServer and some interaction with the search UI of Preview? Fix it Apple!

 

[msephton]

I get this problem. I'm a Rectangle and Tiles user.

 

[Aritt0923]

Same problem (magnet). Disabling 'snap windows by dragging' partly solves the problem, but as soon as I use magnet again - on any window - my preview pinwheels.

 

[rhsauer]

Well, quitting Magnet stops preview from crashing -- but even when Magnet isn't running Preview still does not reliably show all annotations. They all show up perfectly in PDF Expert. So either there's another program interfering with Preview, or Preview is just borked and not reliable. If you're passing around annotated PDFs for work, for example, you can't reliably use Preview as part of your workflow because you will end up missing comments (or parts of comments). Apple really needs to fix this.

 

[msephton]

Hurrah! macOS 11.4 release notes

- Preview may become unresponsive when searching PDF documents

 

[Muzosh2]

I can confirm that this issue has been solved in MacOS 11.4.

 

[harriska2]

I had to quit using preview for PDFs on Mojave because it messed up Zoom. I now use PDF expert to share part of my screen in Zoom to avoid the borking issue.