various quirks and derailments of LaunchServices have already been plentifully discussed here and elsewhere… I have recently excluded my external backup drive from Spotlight search and all seems to be well in „Open with…“ (so far).
One question I still have though to which I couldn’t find an answer yet:
I can rebuild LaunchServices (via Terminal scripts) as often as I like, restart Finder, reboot the computer, etc. – the date and the innards of com.apple.launchservices.secure.plist remain unchanged. The folder in which it lives (~ /Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices/) updates its date/time stamp every time I rebuild LaunchServices but not the .plist file itself.
What gives?
(iMac late 2013, 16 GB RAM, El Capitan 10.11.6)
Best Answer
That file contains the bindings for some extensions to particular applications. But it is not the LaunchServices Database itself.
Its modification date will change if you change the default app for a given file type.