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For certain file types (like PDF) my "Open With..." Finder menu has become uselessly long, and I would like to remove some specific items from it.

How do I remove specific items from my "Open With..." menu in High Sierra?

Note, this is not a duplicate of the many similar questions about how to reset the menu, nor (I hope) of the several very old questions with no or outdated answers on the same topic.

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    Have you tried any of the potential solutions with the "outdated" answers? What was your results? Don't dismiss a solution because you perceive it must not work simply because it has aged. See: apple.stackexchange.com/questions/64124/…
    – Allan
    Commented Jun 19, 2018 at 12:44
  • The list is based on what the apps you installed. The apps tell the OS what they can do, and the OS takes that and add it to the list. The apps are the point of control on what you have in that list.
    – John Keates
    Commented Jun 19, 2018 at 15:04
  • I think there might be confusion over what you're asking. By "remove specific items", you mean exclude specific apps, not just remove a few duplicates, correct?
    – JMY1000
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 4:38

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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To prevent a specific app from showing up under the "Open With..." for a particular file:

  • Go to your Applications folder and right click on the app you want
  • Right click and select "Show Package Contents"
  • In the Contents folder, open the file Info.plist with your favorite text editor
  • Under CFBundleTypeExtensions (there will be multiple), find the XML properties with <string>file extension</string>.
  • Delete the XML property that matches the file type you no longer want to associate. (i.e. <string>gif</string>) then save the file.
  • In Terminal, restart Finder (killall Finder)
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  • Doesn't work for me (macOS Sonoma)
    – xFioraMstr18
    Commented Feb 14 at 19:11
  • Oh, it actually works, I just need to run /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -f "/Applications/<TARGET_APP>.app/", where <TARGET_APP> is the app name
    – xFioraMstr18
    Commented Feb 14 at 19:20
  • Cf. superuser.com/a/1743038
    – xFioraMstr18
    Commented Feb 14 at 19:21
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Exclude the application from spotlight index, but they might reappear again one day regardless.

Then you might want to try this:

>> cd CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support 
>> ./lsregister -kill -r -all local, system, user; killall Dock;

This will clear them, and if excluded from spotlight index, they should vanish until they reappear.

EDIT:

No less than a week later, this OS is seriously garbage:

enter image description here

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