fixed : “the file couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it“ error in Preview.app when trying to open a JPG-file

Question :

I am trying to open a JPG-picture in Preview.app, but I get this error : “the file couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it“

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

It isn’t clear why you get this error message, but the way to fix it is rather simple :

  • first, Quit the Preview.app if it is open :
    • press the [CMD]+[Q] key-combo on your keyboard
  • then reopen the Preview.app
  • then Force Quit the Preview.app :
    • press the [CMD]+[ALT]+[ESC] key-combo on your keyboard
    • when the new window opens, select Preview (the app) from the scroll-list
    • then click on the Force Quit button (bottom-right)
  • then reopen the Preview.app
  • now, the JPG files should open in Preview.app without a problem

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

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2 thoughts on “fixed : “the file couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it“ error in Preview.app when trying to open a JPG-file

  1. I have been trying for 3 hours to work out how to do that – Thank you for info. It worked.

    However – for me it only seems to work once. It will open the one file that I couldn’t open but then it will go back to saying the same thing. Even on the same file.

    • @DPC :

      Great to hear !
      Thanks for the feedback !

      As mentioned, it is not clear what exactly causes Preview to produce this error, so trying to fix the file using Preview.app may not work.
      I figure that opening the file in another app that is able the read the file-format and then saving it again under a different name might fix the file.

      Hope this helps !
      enjoy 😉

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