Apps not immediately opening on double-click

[WillemSleegers]

Hey everyone,

I seem to be having this issue that if I double-click on a file to open it, the app does not immediately open. Instead, the file starts to open if I click on the application in the Dock. Does anyone else have this problem and have a fix for it?

Thanks!

 

[appltech]

Does this happen with all apps?
If it happens with only one or two, try this:
- right click (or control-click) the app in Dock, select Options > Show in Finder
- it should bring the app up in Finder. Compare what it showed with your expectations
- it is possible, that some of app files, or the app itself is corrupted, or is in another location.

Next steps? Depend on your reply and on the app. If it's a third-party app, try removing the Dock icon, reinstalling the app, opening it, and then 'pinning' its icon in Dock again.

 

[martin2345uk]

Hey everyone,

I seem to be having this issue that if I double-click on a file to open it, the app does not immediately open. Instead, the file starts to open if I click on the application in the Dock. Does anyone else have this problem and have a fix for it?

Thanks!

I have this too so I’m following this discussion...

 

[WillemSleegers]

Does this happen with all apps?
If it happens with only one or two, try this:
- right click (or control-click) the app in Dock, select Options > Show in Finder
- it should bring the app up in Finder. Compare what it showed with your expectations
- it is possible, that some of app files, or the app itself is corrupted, or is in another location.

Next steps? Depend on your reply and on the app. If it's a third-party app, try removing the Dock icon, reinstalling the app, opening it, and then 'pinning' its icon in Dock again.

It seems to be happening to all apps. I've had it happen with opening PDF files using PDF Expert and Word files using Word.

I also don't think it's Dock related. I think the issue is that macOS wants me to first explicitly open the app before it will actually open the files...

 

[anonymess]

Same issue here. It happened a while ago for all apps. A fresh install on a new Mac: same issue.

The first time I double-click a document (Word, PDF, etc) it launches the app but does not open the document. If I double-click again, once the app is launched, it works ok. Subsequent documents will open correctly, but only if the app is already running.

 

[chabig]

I've never heard of anything like this, but I would suspect your Launch Services database might be corrupt. The easiest way to reset that using a free tool named Onyx.

Titanium Software | Operating System Utilities for Mac - OnyX

OnyX is a multifunction utility that you can use to verify the startup disk and the structure of its system files, perform cleaning and computer maintenance tasks, configure some hidden parameters of many Apple applications, and more.

www.titanium-software.fr

It's under the Maintenance tab, and you can do only that, or you can just run them all, as I do.