MacOS – TextEdit issue opening file

filemacostextedit

Right clicking on a file -> Open With -> TextEdit. Instead of opening the original file, TextEdit creates a copy of it and opens that one.

As an administrator, I have both read & write permissions. I don't see anything relevant in the App's settings.

Any ideas how to fix this?

[Added] This started happening after I had to restart the system by…pulling the plug on it. I had a hanged-up app (not TextEdit) that would ignore the Force Quit command; in fact, it wasn't even listed as a process so I had nothing to kill to begin with.

[2nd Edit] If I start TextEdit first, and open the file from within, it works. I'm thinking that this may be a LaunchServices issue.

Best Answer

I discovered that having the Stationery pad checked under a file's properties will cause this behavior on purpose. This will create a new copy of an existing file every time it is opened, no matter the program doing so. (I suspect this flag became corrupted due to me having to "hard reset" the system.)

Of course, after all was said & done, I was able to find an explanation here.

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