OpenWith
Latest
How to spring clean "Open With" duplicates
If you use your Mac for any period of time, you will find the need to open a document with a different program other than the one set as default. The "Open With" menu appears in the Finder whenever you right-click or control-click on the icon of a document. The "Open With" command is designed to give you a list of alternative choices to handle the file that you've selected, but after long-term use you will find this list can get a little bit messy. Duplicate entries in your "Open With" menu can be easily cleaned via a simple terminal command. We initially covered this command in a 2009 post about rebuilding your launch services, but this post is updated with video and a few new methods that'll work in OS X Mountain Lion. In the video below, I will demonstrate the basic terminal command. I will also show you how to create a bash script to make it easier to repeat this cleaning whenever needed, as well as create an Alfred workflow to do the same (requires the Alfred powerpack.) Below you'll find the commands used in the video. If you are creating the .bash_profile alias method, remember you will have to quit and relaunch terminal for this to work. Fix Duplicate "Open With" Terminal: alias fixow='/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain user;killall Finder;echo "Open With has been rebuilt, Finder will relaunch"' Fix Duplicate "Open With" via Bash alias: alias fixow='/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain user;killall Finder;echo "Open With has been rebuilt, Finder will relaunch"' If you are a little shy of monkeying around in terminal and bash, you can use utilities such as Onyx or Cocktail to get the job done.
TUAW Tip: Freshening Up 'Recommended Applications'
Reader Julius wrote in with an annoying problem: Whenever he tries to open a file by selecting "Other" from the "Open With" contextual menu item in the Finder, he's presented with a list of "Recommended Applications" that (more often than not) has the app he wants grayed out. Ideally, there would be some preference to automatically show "All Applications" instead of just "Recommended Applications," but that doesn't seem to be the case. Sorry. The best option for you comes from our own Erica Sadun, who says to drag the file onto any application icon with the Command and Option keys held down. That way, the Finder will force the app to open the file. This works with items in your dock, or just with an open Applications folder in the Finder. Otherwise, every application maintains a list of the kinds of files it can open. Launch Services, a part of the Mac OS X system, reads these lists, and compiles the set of "Recommended Applications" that you are presented with. As such, many users recommend keeping your Launch Services tidy by rebuilding it using the Terminal, or a utility like RCDefaultApp. It will at least remove the cruft from your list of available applications. Thanks and good luck, Julius!
