For the past few weeks, every time I open a pdf in Preview, the sidebar with thumbnails disappears. To make it come back, I have to go to the search bar and delete the empty space there. It is happening on two different desktops (an imac and a mac mini) and my laptop (Macbook). How can I solve this problem permanently?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: Disappearing thumbnail sidebar in Previes
Mac mini, macOS 14.6
Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.
NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;
• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed
• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)
• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically
• Disables user-installed fonts
• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files
NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.
If you have a PDF open with the Sidebar visible, then select Hide Sidebar before closing that PDF and quitting Preview. It will remember the hidden Sidebar for all subsequently opened PDFs — until you select Show Sidebar again.
I always keep the sidebar displayed and never use the hide sidebar feature. When I open a pdf, the sidebar is always there. As soon as I click anywhere, for example to select text in the pdf or to jump to a page using the sidebar, the sidebar goes blank with no thumbnails displayed. It is still there, but it is empty ("no results found"), as if I've done a search with no results. The way I get it to come back is to put my cursor in the search window and hit backspace one time, that makes the sidebar come back. This only happens when I first open a pdf. Once I've done this once, it does not happen again. It's as if opening the pdf and then clicking on it automatically inserts a space into the search field without me doing it.
Tested and using Sequoia 15.5 on 1 M2 Desktop, 1 M3 Laptop and 1 M4 Desktop
This is from an 8 page PDF representing page 1 Thumbnail in sidebar
Un-Tick " Hide Sidebar "
I can't see what would cause opening a pdf to have already text inserted into the search box.
Does the same thing happen:
a) on a new user account?
b) on your account, if booted in Safe Mode?
How can I permanently restore disappearing thumbnail sidebar in Preview?
