File icons changed

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jhecht
Posts: 52
Joined: 2004-12-09 10:41:48
Location: Boston area

File icons changed

Post by jhecht »

Something has gone wonky with my Nisus Writer Pro files on my Mac running 11.11 (El Capitan). It looks like the icons for most rtf files I created with Nisus Writer Pro have the icon for Word .doc files, although they retain their .rtf designations. I went to Get Info and tried to set those .rtf documents to open in NWP (so they didn't pop up in Word), and they do open in NWP. But they still have the MS Word .doc icon. Oddly, some Nisus.rtf files still have the Nisus icons, but they follow no obvious patterns.

Microsoft .docx files retain their .docx MS icons. and are set to be opened by Word
Microsoft .doc files also retain their .doc MS icons. and are set to be opened by Word.

Any idea what might be happening and how to fix it?
Vanceone
Posts: 211
Joined: 2013-05-03 07:06:31

Re: File icons changed

Post by Vanceone »

Your Launch Services database needs to be rebuilt. Prior to OS X, rebuilding the Desktop fixed this kind of thing.

That's not around anymore, so you need to rebuild your Launch Services database. That can be done via terminal..... or it's easier to download a little utility called Oynx, located here: https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/index.html

Make sure you download the version of Onyx for your operating system. It's a good little utility that's been around for a long, long time. Does lots of things besides rebuilding the launch services database.
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ScottinPollock
Posts: 36
Joined: 2017-09-11 08:16:47

Re: File icons changed

Post by ScottinPollock »

Or just run this in Terminal:

Code: Select all

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user
jhecht
Posts: 52
Joined: 2004-12-09 10:41:48
Location: Boston area

Re: File icons changed

Post by jhecht »

Thanks for the suggestion of Onyx, but rebuilding the Launch Services database didn't accomplish anything. All the .rtf files saved by Nisus Writer Pro still show Microsoft Word 2011 icons, and after rebuilding the Launch Services database they opened with Microsoft Word 2011. I was able to change that using the Change All option in Get Info so NWP opens RTF docs, but the icons are still wrong. The NWP app shows the proper icon.

I did not try the Terminal command because it seems to do the same thing and because I don't want to mess up anything more than it already is messed up.

Any other ideas?
Vanceone
Posts: 211
Joined: 2013-05-03 07:06:31

Re: File icons changed

Post by Vanceone »

You could maybe try rebooting in safe mode? I had some funky icon issues as well, and rebooting into safe mode causes a fair amount of maintenance to happen. Cache's cleared, etc.

To reboot into safe mode, hold down the shift key as the computer restarts. You can let the shift key go once the box with the progress bar shows up.

Be warned, it may take much longer than normal to reboot into safe mode. That's part of the startup maintenance being done. Also, many if not most services will not be available in safe mode. Once it gets to the Finder, you can reboot normally and see if it is fixed.
jhecht
Posts: 52
Joined: 2004-12-09 10:41:48
Location: Boston area

Re: File icons changed

Post by jhecht »

Thanks for the suggestion of booting up in safe mode, which got my Nisus icons back. Note that to get to safe mode you have to shut down, then start up; you can't just reboot into safe mode.
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