Searching text within PDFs in Books.app

[GLTirebiter]

I’ve run into issues searching for text in certain PDFs in Books. The search results show accurately, but clicking on a result takes me always to the first page of the document. Anyone else experience this? It may be an issue with the PDF itself, or with Books. only happens with the odd PDF.

 

[gilby101]

What version of macOS? I ask because the current Books opens PDFs with Preview.
Can you provide a link to the problematic PDF? Bit hard to assist if this is a problem with only a few PDFs.

 

[HDFan]

the current Books opens PDFs with Preview.

mine open in Acrobat.

 

[gilby101]

mine open in Acrobat.

I assume that is because Acrobat is your default PDF reader. Maybe I should have said that "current Books opens PDFs with your default PDF reader".

 

[HDFan]

Since the PDF opens in Preview is the problem then that Preview always takes you to the first page? In that case the behavior would appear to be understandable, if unfortunate. Books sees that it has to open a PDF file with Preview. It has no way of knowing where, exactly, you were in reading the PDF. Preview is a separate app so once it launches Books has no knowledge of what it is doing. So it always starts at the beginning.

You could fine an enhancement request.

Addenda: opening a .pdf document with preview from the finder does seem to remember the location. Not sure where this location information is stored and why Books seems not able to use it when using Preview.