Resetting Launch Services

In associating documents with applications, Finder™ employs Launch Services. Launch Services uses several files to associate documents with applications and vice versa. If these files become corrupted, the following problems can occur:

• The wrong application is launched when double-clicking a file.
• Multiple copies of a single application appear in the Open With menu for a given document.
• Incorrect icons appear on files, folders, or other objects.
• Finder error code -10660. Note that this error code can also occur if you are attempting to open a document whose associated application is in the Trash.

This FAQ, derived from our Troubleshooting Mac® OS X series of books, provides the steps required to reset Launch Services. Be sure to:

• Read these instructions in their entirety, including the Notes, before proceeding.
• Follow the steps in the order specified for the version of Mac OS X you are using:
  • Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger™.
  • Mac OS X 10.3 Panther®.
  • Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar.

Reset Launch Services under Tiger

Reset Launch Services under Panther

1. Quit all running applications.
2. Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.6B.csstore file in the Macintosh HD > Library > Caches folder. Type your Admin password if prompted to authenticate the deletion of this file. See Note [1].
3. Restart your Mac.
4. Log in to the affected account.
5. Empty the Trash.
6. Verify that the problem is solved. If not:
   1. Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].
   2. Repeat steps 1-5.

Reset Launch Services under Jaguar

1. Quit all running applications.
2. Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].
3. Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.UserCache.csstore file in the Home > Library > Caches folder of the affected account.
4. Restart your Mac.
5. Log in to the affected account.
6. Empty the Trash.

Related Links

• Launch Services Concepts and Tasks.
• Launch Services Reference.

Notes

[1] This step will result in you being prompted to approve the launch of the application associated with a given document the first time you double-click that document. These alerts are a result of the security feature in Mac OS X. The list of applications which you have previously approved are saved in the caches deleted in this step.

[2] The first user account defined on your Mac is generally uid 501, the second uid 502, and so forth. For example, the second file ID for the first account would be:

• com.apple.LaunchServices-014501.csstore

You can find the uid number for any account as follows:

1. Launch NetInfo Manager, which is in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.
2. Select users in the middle column of the NetInfo Manager window.
3. Select the desired user account in the right column of NetInfo Manager.
4. The data for the selected user, including uid, is displayed in the lower pane of the NetInfo Manager window.

[3] This step will reset to default values all associations you have created between specific file types and applications. For example, if you set PDFs to open in Adobe® Acrobat® instead of Preview, they would now open in Preview again until the association of PDFs with Acrobat is reset.