I can't close windows in Preview

There are three PDFs which are open in Preview that I cannot close, save or do anything with.
They started off life as Mail downloads, but the emails and the original attachments they came from have long since been deleted.  The PDFs that won't die have the same name as those original files, except they appear to be copies, the whole name is in brackets and this is prefixed with Untitled.  It's like the computer has made a phantom back-up file that can't be traced to anywhere.  I've emptied all sorts of Library files to try to get rid of them, emptied recent history, restarted Previes and the Mac.  They don't show up in Spotlight.
Any idea how I can close and delete these?
Thanks

Thanks Carolyn,
I don't have a problem closing Preview, I can do this just with Command Q.  The problem is three particular PDFs (as described above) which keep reopening each time I open Preview.  I cannot close those PDFs, they keep coming back despite me emptying every Preview and Mail related folder I can find!
Phil

Similar Messages

  • Can't close windows in Preview

    I'm using a 2011 Macbook Air running Lion 10.7.2. Here is my problem:
    I open a group of photos using Preview. I right click one and select "open in new window". It opens. I decide to close said window by clicking the red X button. Nothing happens. I click the red X button of the main preview window with the pane of thumbnails on the side. It closes immediately. I click on the red X of the other window again. Still nothing. I go to Preview>Quit Preview. I get 10-20 seconds of pinwheel spinning. Finally, it closes.
    Any ideas?
    I've also noticed Lion hanging sometimes, especially when booting up. Maybe theyre related.

    Go to your Finder "Go" menu hold the option key to choose "Library". The go to Preferences/com.apple.Preview.plist. Delete this file and relaunch Preview.
    I doubt the issue is related to the hang booting up, unless Preview is auto-launching on startup.

  • My pointer arrow is jumping around.  my windows flip.  i can't close windows--there are no 3 colored dots.i don't use a mouse.  i just downloaded Lion and my mac has been acting weird since.

    ALL OF A SUDDEN , MY POINTER ARROW IS OUT OF CONTROL OR WON'T MOVE.  I DON'T USE A MOUSE.  THE WINDOWS SHAKE LIKE WHEN I'M TOLD I HAVE THE WRONG PASSWORD AND THEN THE WINDOWS FADE, SWITCH AND/OR  FLIP AROUND.  THERE ARE NOT THE 3 DOTS IN THE LEFT-HAND CORNER SO I CAN'T CLOSE WINDOWS WHEN I FINISH WORKING WITH SITES.  MY MAC HAS STARTED ACTED WEIRD SINCE I STARTED USING LION.  HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Hi,
    I work for Dr Pod, an iPod repair company. This sounds to be that the hard drive is dying in the iPod. As it is an older iPod it is out of its one year warranty, the iPod won't be repaired for free by Apple, and you'd need to consider wether it'd be better to have the iPod repaired by an iPod repair company such as my own, or to purchase a new one from Apple.
    If you did choose to purchase a new iPod from Apple, then they do provide 10% off the cost of a new iPod if you exchange in your old one. I'm not sure if this applies to faulty ones though (I have heard of some people being turned away for having a faulty device).
    Hope this helps,
    Mark Sweeney
    Dr Pod Founder

  • Can't close documents in Preview or TextEdit

    I have a simple problem which I just cannot find any discussion of how to fix.  In both TextEdit and Preview (classic culprits on Lion), I have documents I can't close. 
    When I click the close button it waits for a few seconds then does nothing.  Same for menu commands.  If I quit and reopen, the app opens with those windows.  If I restart, the app still has those windows.  If I "Duplicate" a file, not only can I then not close that file either, but I also can't "Save" the file (to give it it's own name).
    I have several document open now in Preview which are basically permanent fixtures of the app.
    I imagine the version store is corrupt.  Can I delete it?  where is it?

    Is it save to hunt down the versions of those files and delete those?  Or is there only one, huge versions file for the whole drive?
    It is a critical operation - I would only attempt it if you do not know your System well. I suspect one of the Frameworks in /Library/Frameworks might be corrupt, that can happen, if you install some app that installs its own Frameworks, and accidentally installs an incompatible version. So what you would have to do is to compare the backup of the /Library/Frameworks folder with your current Frameworks and try to spot a difference and then to restore that different file. You need to quit all Applications while you do that, and still you would risk to cut the branch  that you are sitting on - this operation is best be done from a second machine, so as not to change the system while it is running. It would be safer to reinstall Lion by booting into the recovery HD.
    Before you take any drastic measures, perhaps another test: Do you have a second account on your system? Then it would be a good idea to check if "Preview" and "Textedit" show the same buggy behaviour when started from another account. If they work fine, then the problem must be caused by something in your user library and not in the system library.
    Also you could try to boot into "Safe Mode". This will turn off start up items and third party extensions, that may cause problems.
    If the problem occurs in all these tests, then I would opt for a reinstall.
    Regards

  • Can't close windows

    I am unable to close new windows in Safari. I can close individual tabs, but I can't close the windows. It's been like this since for a few months, now, and it's driving me crazy! (I think it happened right after I installed some update, but I don't know which...)

    Hello joel:
    There is no "automatic" way to determine what you have added (IMHO, adding 'stuff' to programs is not a very good idea).
    I would try the things I mentioned above. If that does not help, delete Safari and reinstall it from your software install DVD.
    Barry

  • Can't close window from button

    I am trying out Safari 4 Public Beta on my HP 2133 which runs Vista Business with service pack 1.
    When I try to close a Safari window by left clicking on the cross in the red box on the top right of the window nothing happens. In fact all 3 buttons (minimize, window size and red cross) act as one to change the window size when I double left click.
    I can only close the window by right clicking on the application in the tray and selecting close.
    Any ideas please?

    I too was having this problem with my home HP Desktop. I love the new beta an use it on my home HP desktop, home HP laptop, and work HP desktop and was having the problem only on the Home desktop. Tonight I discovered that if I change my Windows Theme (right click desktop/personalize/theme) to anything but Windows Vista then the functionality of said buttons work again. It appears that Safari Beta does not like the straight Windows Vista theme or at least that's my diagnosis as of now.

  • How can I close windows when quitting an application - but leave desktop windows open?

    In Mavericks...
    Is there any way to close the windows of application (when quitting - ie System Preferences => General) BUT not have this affect the finder application.
    I want the windows I have opened in the finder to remain opened, but everything else to close upon quitting

    Well, for some time now (since I upgraded to Mavericks) my startup goes on and on.
    It will, on occasion, finish correctly and I can go on with my work, but usually, it hangs.
    I can restart the finder 2 or 3 times and get it to finish loading.
    If I go into System Preferences => General => and turn “Close windows when quitting an application” on, then restart, the finder usually starts up faster and does not hang
    Obviously, there is some operation that is running in the background that is trying to restore itself to some unknown state that is holding up the finder application.
    I have uninstalled and turned off all sort of applications that run in the background, but have not yet been able to locate the culprit.
    So, I’d like to be able to have “Close windows when quitting an application” on because everything else on the machine can revert to a clean start-up state -- but I want the windows I leave opened in the finder to remain opened and where I put them.

  • Can't Close Windows in Safari

    Because of some bad RAM, I had to do some system and software re-installs. I am running the latest version of Tiger, and windows in Safari will not close. They will go to the dock with the yellow button, but will not close with either the red button, the close window command in the File window or the command W combination. When I quit the program, the old windows go away, but that is a pain. I wait to quit Safari until I have 6 or 8 Safari windows open in the dock. Do I need to reset Safari? (I really don't want to lose the keychain passwords.) I've checked and re-checked preferences, and I don't find anything there, either.

    Hello bassomac:
    Try a couple of things.
    Clear the Safari cache.
    Trash the Safari preference file (com.apple.safari.plist).
    Restart safari and see what happens.
    Barry

  • I can't close an app preview on newsstand

    I opened magister magazines icon and now I can't close it ...

    Try reset iPad
    Hold down the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears
    Note: Data will not be affected.

  • Can't close docs in preview; command + W not working

    I created two "New from clipboard" images in Preview. I have no red button in the window to close them, but that might be my theme - I do have a gray button with an X. However, it doesn't work. Command + W also does not close them. I have cleared out my recent menu. I have quit and restarted preview, and quit and rebooted the computer.
    Every time I open Preview these images open. I cannot save them directly as documents; I tried duplicating one in order to save it, hoping somehow that would make closing an option, but all it did was create a third image for Preview to irritatingly reopen. Images I've opened from existing documents do not behave this way and can be closed. Preview seems slowed down by this, since other commands don't work (Open, Save) and getting menus to appear is very slow.
    This is my work computer and these images are getting in the way. Can someone help me out? Many thanks in advance!

    Needless to say, you have landed in a very bizarre place.
    Others might have better suggestions, but if this were happening to me, I think I would try to clear out the "Saved state" info for Preview.  Here are some instructions:
    Delete Specific Application Saved States from Mac OS  X 10.7 Lion ...
    Long shot - but harmless.
    charlie

  • Can't close windows and palettes created in a script (CC)

    Hi,
    I developped a Script for After Effects, and sometimes I need to show a window or a palette, but when this window is showed more than once, it can't be closed again (the close button, the one with the cross on the title bar) does nothing, whether it's a palette or a window.
    Here's my sample code :
    creating the palette :
    var mesurefenetre = new Window ("palette", "test",undefined, {resizeable:true});
    var resultattexte = mesurefenetre.add("statictext",undefined,"text added");
    showing the palette is done with a button in my main panel :
    var bouton = fenetre.add("button",undefined,"mesure");
    bouton.onClick = function () { mesurefenetre.show(); };
    But with this code, when the window is shown once, then closed, then shown again, it then can't be closed...
    So I tried to reimplement onClose on the window :
    mesurefenetre.onClose = function () { mesurefenetre.close(); }; //does nothing
    mesurefenetre.onClose = function () { mesurefenetre.hide(); }; //does nothing
    So my current workaround is to use the button in my main panel to check if the window is visible and hide it...
         bouton.onClick = function () { if (mesurefenetre .visible) mesurefenetre .hide(); else mesurefenetre .show(); }; //don't like this behavior, really not user friendly
    This example is with a palette, but it does not work with a window too.
    This seems to be a bug from After Effects, it worked well with CS4~CS6, (used this in Duik (http://ik.duduf.com) for a long time)
    Any idea what I can do ?
    Thanks,
    Duduf

    Up!
    Just to let you know, this still isn't fixed in my current version of After Effects (13.2.0.49 on win7, and win8.1) and it can be reeeeeaaaaally annoying to have to always add a close/cancel button on every windows...

  • Can't close window without quitting?

    I've noticed that if i try to close the iPhoto window (using Apple+W or the red gel button) that the whole program quits.
    This isn't in line with how the other apple products work is it? Normally I can close a window, yet the program remains active. The advantage being that I can open a new window very quickly instead of having to wait for the library to be created again.
    Is this in line with everyone else's experiences?
    Thanks,
    Ben

    Hi Benjamin,
    For programs that normally only use one window, like iPhoto, the program will quit when the window is closed.
    I either "Hide" iPhoto or click the middle button to swish the window into the dock, when I want to hide the window.
    Lori

  • Finder stops responding. Can't close window or click icons in window bar without moving window.

    When moving files between disks, the Finder stops responding to the close, minimize and expand window (red, yellow, green buttons). If I grab the title bar and move the window, even one pixel, I can click on the boxes. The same is true of the trash button in the window icons.
    It's just annoying.

    I have been plagued by the same problem ever since upgrading to Mavericks.
    I click the red button on windows (various apps), it goes dark but window won't close until I actually make that window active or move it around somewhere.

  • Disconnected iPhone from iPhoto during import. Can't close window now

    I recently accidently imported some of my photos from my iPhone to iPhoto on my MacBook Pro. During that process, I wasn't aware that I was actually importing my photos until I disconected my device. I tried closing the window for iPhoto, but it said: 'Please wait for import to complete.' I tried shutting down, logging off, and even restarting. The same windows keep on popping up. Once I connect my device, the whole window is frozen, and my iPhone won't import my photos anymore. What should I do?

    try Back up your iPhoto library, Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - rebuild your iPhoto library database
    LN

  • How to close documents in Preview?

    I can't close anything in Preview. When I got to "Show All Windows" it show all kinds of things I've recently opened.
    I go to each one and File > Window, and File > Close Selected Image but neither works. The window displaying the file disappears, but the file still shows up when I click and hold the Preview icon in my dock. I've tried the keystrokes (Command + W and Shift + Command + W), too. This just closes the windows, but nothing will keep them from showing up as open.
    I don't see any preferences to stop this. Surely I can avoid showcasing everything I've been opening to anybody who might use my computer, right? SURELY.

    One possibility:
    Where are these windows appearing? If they are appearing along the bottom of the screen in Show all windows, they are not open but are being shown as your history of recent items. A sort of heavy-handed way to eliminate this display of recent items is to set "Number of recent applictions", "Applications", to zero in System Preferences, General.
    charlie

Maybe you are looking for