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alicexendrae
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

PDF functions haywire after Golden Gate

Since the update (macOS 27.2 on Macbook Neo) I find it very irritating to use the PDF functions on Preview. I had no problems whatsoever before Golden Gate.


I used to be able to seamlessly swap in between papers and annotate. Now I can't do that. The texts suddenly became hard or impossible to select, I can't type in the PDFs, can't use any of the markup functions and then they crash.


I am a university professor and I have been using Macbooks the past decade this the first time I felt so disgruntled by an update.


If anyone can offer a solution for this, I'd be forever grateful.

Posted on Nov 4, 2026 10:42 PM

4 replies

kaz-k
User level: Level 9 (53,902 points)

Nov 4, 2026 11:37 PM in response to alicexendrae

Hi,

Try to startup in Safe mode if preview.app works correctly.

If it doesn't, move to "~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Preview/Data/Library/Preferences/", then remove "com.apple.Preview.plist" and "com.apple.Preview.ViewState.plist" if you can find it to desktop and restart your Mac and see if preview.app works correctly.


Luis Sequeira1
User level: Level 9 (77,942 points)

Nov 5, 2026 1:25 AM in response to alicexendrae

alicexendrae wrote:
Oh my gosh this is sounding so technical but I will give it a try. Thanks so much!

Take it slowly.


First, try starting in Safe Mode.

If things work ok in Safe Mode, it will mean that the problem is caused by some third party software, and all that part about deleting plist files does not apply.


To start in Safe Mode:


1) Shut down your Mac.

2) Press and HOLD the power button until you get a screen with some options - similar to the image below

3) Hold the Shift key down; then click "continue in safe mode":



See how things work while in Safe Mode. Does it work all right, or does it have the same problems as before?


To get out of Safe Mode, just restart your mac normally.

Luis Sequeira1
User level: Level 9 (77,942 points)

Nov 4, 2026 11:47 PM in response to alicexendrae

Do try the steps that were suggested. As a professor myself, I also use Preview’s markup features profusely. I can tell you that on my mac these features work in Golden Gate just as they did before, so it seems likely that a conflict of some sort may be playing a part in your troubles. If further troubleshooting is needed, please run Etrecheck and post its full report here.

Use the “additional text” button and paste the report into the text box.

alicexendrae Author
User level: Level 1 (4 points)

Nov 5, 2026 12:08 AM in response to kaz-k

Oh my gosh this is sounding so technical but I will give it a try. Thanks so much!

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256389013