Fix “Fetching” delay when selecting “Open With” on Mac

Open with fetching

In my mind, computers are always supposed to work the way they should. And because they are computers, I shouldn’t have to wait for them to process basic tasks. That’s all in my mind of course, because in reality, things don’t always go the way they should.

A perfect example of that is the Open With menu you get when right clicking on a file. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, my iMac will spend several seconds “fetching” the applications that can be used to open that specific file type.

Like with most things computer-related, the fix is pretty simple.

How to fix the long Fetching time when choosing Open With on Mac

The solution here is fairly simple and quick. Open up Terminal and copy/paste the following command to reset Launch Services:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -r -f -v -domain local -domain user -domain system

From my own experience, this only appears to be a temporary fix though and I have to run that command from time to time. Still, it’s better than sitting here waiting for your Mac to be done fetching.