I love my Mac but sometimes it does some strange things, such as showing me duplicate entries in the “Open With” contextual menu you get when you right click on a document. While I’m not sure why it happens, I hear it’s due to the Launch Services database.

Of course, there probably is a valid explanation as to why and how it happens. Some people might even be able to convince me it’s more of a feature rather than a bug, but the fact of the matter is that it drives me absolutely insane.

If like me, you are annoyed by this, I’ll show you how to delete duplicates from the “Open With” menu on your Mac.

How to delete duplicates from the Open With menu

The solution is fairly easy. Simply launch Terminal and copy/paste the following command, then hit Enter:

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

Right click on a document again, and go to “Open With”. These duplicates should have been all cleared up by now, but note that it’s just a temporary solution. I’ve found that every time I update the Pixelmator app for example, a duplicate shows up again.

I’m glad I’ve finally posted this here. I won’t have to dig into my email archive for the solution that was emailed to me a few months ago every time this problem arises in the future. Of course, I also hope it will help those of you who have this problem.