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[Mac] What does "Hide File extension" do? [Solved ...more or less]


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In the General category of Preferences (or Settings) there is an option on Macs named "Hide File extension" but it does not seem to do anything in the V2 Mac apps.

Anyone know how it is supposed to work?

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.5 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
A
ll 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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1 hour ago, R C-R said:

In the General category of Preferences (or Settings) there is an option on Macs named "Hide File extension" but it does not seem to do anything in the V2 Mac apps.

Anyone know how it is supposed to work?

It just hides the file extension in the Finder, just like selecting a file in Finder, choosing Get Info, and selecting Hide Extension. Mac files still have a file extension even if you hide them.

Some users prefer not to see file extensions. This is the classic Mac approach but now we can show or hide them.

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8 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

It just hides the file extension in the Finder, just like selecting a file in Finder, choosing Get Info, and selecting Hide Extension.

Do you mean from within Affinity it hides the extension when using File > Open, File > Place, or something else? Because for me it doesn't hide it anywhere, including in Finder windows. I would be surprised if it did override Finder's per folder or global show/hide extension options because I cannot imagine any way for Affinity (or any other app) to get access rights to do that.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.5 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
A
ll 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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2 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Do you mean from within Affinity it hides the extension when using File > Open, File > Place, or something else? Because for me it doesn't hide it anywhere, including in Finder windows. I would be surprised if it did override Finder's per folder or global show/hide extension options because I cannot imagine any way for Affinity (or any other app) to get access rights to do that.

It hides the extension in the Finder.

It doesn't override the Finder's global setting, it just sets the flag for this specific file. You can do this with Finder using Get Info, this just saves you a step if you don't want your Affinity files to show their extensions.

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As a test

Just now, MikeTO said:

It hides the extension in the Finder.

Maybe I do not understand what you mean but It does not do that for me if for example I do this:

  1. Open AD, enable 'hide extension'  
  2. Create a new AD document
  3. Use File > Save to save it to a folder, for instance to the Desktop, to the top level of ~/Pictures, or any other folder I have tried where its Finder preference is set to show extensions.

Can you provide a step by step list or screen recording of how it works for you?

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.5 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
A
ll 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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You must have "Show all filename extensions" turned off in Finder > Settings > Advanced for this to work. If you select that option then macOS will never hide a file extension.

  1. Select "Hide File Extension" in Publisher > Settings
  2. Save a document - the file will appear in Finder as "filename"
  3. Select this file in Finder and choose Get Info - "Hide Extension" will be selected. Deselect it - the filename will change to "filename.afpub"
  4. Now deselect "Hide File Extension" in Publisher > Settings
  5. Save a new document - the file will appear in Finder as "filename.afpub"
  6. Select this file in Finder and choose Get Info - "Hide Extension" will not be selected. Select it - the filename will change to "filename"

More info on Finder's hide extension feature is available here: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchlp2304/mac

Cheers

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1 hour ago, MikeTO said:
  • Select "Hide File Extension" in Publisher > Settings
  • Save a document - the file will appear in Finder as "filename"

Not for me. i still get the filename plus the .afpub extension.

1 hour ago, MikeTO said:

Select this file in Finder and choose Get Info - "Hide Extension" will be selected.

Yes, it shows that in info but the file still shows as <filename>.afpub in my Finder windows. In fact, toggling off & on that checkbox has no effect in the Finder window -- the *.afpub extension remains visible either way.

I have tried saving to the Desktop folder, to my user Documents folder, & various other folders but in every case the extension remains visible. This is true for all 3 V2 apps, & also for Save as... & for exported files.

EDIT: just tried this in the 2.5.3 (2516) beta of APub build & I'm still seeing the same thing -- the extension remains visible in Finder regardless of the Info > Hide Extension setting.

EDIT#2: I just noticed I had Finder Preferences > Show all filename extensions enabled, which overrides all the Info > hide options for all apps & documents, so with that disabled it works like you say it should. But since I do always want to see the extension I have reenabled it so the Affinity hide option is ignored.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.5 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
A
ll 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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8 hours ago, R C-R said:

EDIT#2: I just noticed I had Finder Preferences > Show all filename extensions enabled, which overrides all the Info > hide options for all apps & documents, so with that disabled it works like you say it should. But since I do always want to see the extension I have reenabled it so the Affinity hide option is ignored.

That's the way it is supposed to work. As I wrote, "You must have "Show all filename extensions" turned off in Finder > Settings > Advanced for this to work. If you select that option then macOS will never hide a file extension." https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchlp2304/mac

Affinity is just setting the file's hide extension flag.

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2 hours ago, MikeTO said:

As I wrote, "You must have "Show all filename extensions" turned off in Finder > Settings > Advanced for this to work.

Yes, did see that but for some reason I thought I had turned that off & rechecked that I had several days ago before starting this topic. Just a case of getting old & my memory becoming increasingly less reliable, I fear.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.5 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
A
ll 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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