Typing 'File:///' Will Crash Almost Any Mac Application

LIKE

TWEET

SHARE

PIN

SHARE

POST

MAIL

MORE

Posted February 2, 2013 at 8:47am by iClarified

An interesting bug in OS X Mountain Lion causes almost all Mac apps to crash when typing in 'File:///', according to a Radar report spotted by 9to5Mac.

The crash is thought to be caused by Spell Checker and affects numerous apps including: Safari, TextEdit, Console, Messages, Xcode, TweetBot, Chrome, and others.

The bug does not affect Lion or Snow Leopard.

Read More [via 9to5Mac]

Typing 'File:///' Will Crash Almost Any Mac Application

Follow iClarified

Add Comment

Would you like to be notified when someone replies or adds a new comment?

Yes (All Threads)

Yes (This Thread Only)

No

Notifications

Would you like to be notified when we post a new Apple news article or tutorial?

Yes

No

Comments (27)

You must login or register to add a comment...

Sotiris Karayannis

Sotiris Karayannis - February 5, 2013 at 6:37am

Could not reproduce bug. Tried on several applications. Running 10.8.2 on mid-2007 iMac.

Reply · Like

mavrik101

mavrik101 - February 4, 2013 at 3:47am

reproduced this crash as stated in the article. true, however - so what? why would this be a problem?

Reply · Like

can berk

can berk - February 3, 2013 at 12:07pm

was able to replicate the issue on a late 2012 RMBP. Trying to read the console log for the crash crashes the console application as well. Issue is very big!

Reply · Like

iH85CH001

iH85CH001 - February 3, 2013 at 9:18pm

What's "RMBP?"

Reply · Like

SomniusX

SomniusX - February 3, 2013 at 9:19pm

Retina Macbook Pro, oh man..

Reply · Like

John

John - February 3, 2013 at 9:05am

No issues here. Running mountain lion on a hackintosh

Reply · Like

SomniusX

SomniusX - February 3, 2013 at 9:20pm

I think it's a permissions problem of the "/" folder.. cause i'm on a hack and i ain't got the problem!

Reply · Like

sl33k

sl33k - February 5, 2013 at 8:02pm

I'm on hackint0sh too. 10.8.2 and it is definitly crashing my safari as well as notes and textedit. If you look at the stack trace you will see that is has something to do with the way the ":" and the "/" are dealt with in the NSSpellChecking Object.

Reply · Like

steve

steve - February 3, 2013 at 7:51am

what so "interesting" very few companies manged to fukup unix so badly, it is pathetic the most expensive laptops that 5year old can crash

Reply · Like

SomniusX

SomniusX - February 3, 2013 at 12:19am

if some one has the problem at hand, give us a dump of the bd or dmesg or activity / console so we could examine!

Reply · Like

aquariusrick

aquariusrick - February 3, 2013 at 12:15am

Could not reproduce the crash in Messages or Safari. Early 2011 MBP on 10.8.2. Can we get a Snopes weigh-in on this one?

Reply · Like

SomniusX

SomniusX - February 3, 2013 at 12:04am

haven't had any problem, tested it on any app i could find (after 10 i stopped) and i shot a quicktime screen capture to prove to a friend that i'm not affected..

Reply · Like

iH85CH001

iH85CH001 - February 2, 2013 at 11:05pm

Type it into the address bar in Firefox... It shows you all of your files on your computer... :) Haha! kinda scary though...

Reply · Like

iH85CH001

iH85CH001 - February 2, 2013 at 11:01pm

Haha!!! It just crashed Spotlight! Lol!!!!! How do people find this stuff?

Reply · Like

geethreeforce

geethreeforce - February 2, 2013 at 9:10pm

No issues here. Works as it should.

Reply · Like

Adil

Adil - February 2, 2013 at 8:51pm

Didn't crash for me. 12' MBA here.

Reply · Like

Guess what

Guess what - February 2, 2013 at 3:48pm

Nobody gives a crap.

Reply · Like

ExeciN

ExeciN - February 2, 2013 at 2:35pm

Ok lets all spam Apple with our crash-reports

Reply · Like

bunam

bunam - February 2, 2013 at 12:38pm

confirmed but file:/// is ok

Reply · Like

ArieCloud

ArieCloud - February 2, 2013 at 12:23pm

on mine, it just open finder to HDD path.. not safari crashed...

Reply · Like

Ash

Ash - February 2, 2013 at 10:03am

How often would you actually type that though?

Reply · Like

Sev

Sev - February 2, 2013 at 9:33am

yep mine did too on text edit and safari. lol

Reply · Like

Robert

Robert - February 2, 2013 at 9:28am

Just tested, it worked haha! Love it!

Reply · Like

ExeciN

ExeciN - February 2, 2013 at 2:37pm

What is your problem? Are you his student and he gave you a bad grade or something?

Reply · Like

MUKAI

MUKAI - February 2, 2013 at 9:24am

Not with me, my Mac is fail safe.

Reply · Like

Recent. Read the latest Apple News.

RECENT

President Trump Asks Supreme Court to Delay TikTok Ban

President Trump Asks Supreme Court to Delay TikTok Ban

Apple Shares 'Severance' Season 2 Sneak Peek [Video]

Apple Shares 'Severance' Season 2 Sneak Peek [Video]

Apple Teases Something Special for Apple TV+ on January 4 and 5

Apple Teases Something Special for Apple TV+ on January 4 and 5

OpenAI Confirms Major Outage for ChatGPT

OpenAI Confirms Major Outage for ChatGPT

New Apple Watch Ad Inspires You to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions: 'Quit Quitting' [Video]

New Apple Watch Ad Inspires You to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions: 'Quit Quitting' [Video]

Tutorials. Help is here.

TUTORIALS

Where to Download macOS Sequoia

Where to Download macOS Ventura

AppleTV Firmware Download Locations

Where To Download iPad Firmware Files From

Where To Download iPhone Firmware Files From

Deals. Save on Apple devices and accessories.

DEALS

New M4 Mac mini (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) On Sale for $100 Off [Deal]

New M4 Mac mini (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) On Sale for $100 Off [Deal]

Apple Unveils 2025 New Year Sale in Japan with Gift Cards and Limited-Edition AirTag

Apple Unveils 2025 New Year Sale in Japan with Gift Cards and Limited-Edition AirTag

Apple's Beats Sale Is Still Live for Christmas Day! [Deal]

Apple's Beats Sale Is Still Live for Christmas Day! [Deal]

New 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro (24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) On Sale for $300 Off! [Lowest Price Ever]

New 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro (24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) On Sale for $300 Off! [Lowest Price Ever]

Apple AirTag 4-Pack On Sale for $69.99 [Lowest Price Ever]

Apple AirTag 4-Pack On Sale for $69.99 [Lowest Price Ever]