Crashes

Send crash reports

After a crash, two crash report dialogs will pop up. The first one is provided by macOS and comes up immediately after the crash. We do not care about this one. Just click Reopen to restart Glyphs:

After Glyphs has restarted, there will be a second dialog bothering you. This time, it is carrying the Glyphs (or Glyphs Mini) logo. It looks like this:

This is the one we care about. Please, always send this one. Always, always, always. The more you send us, the better. Let me repeat that slowly: A…L…W…A…Y…S send the report with the Glyphs icon in the top left and the Send button in the lower right corner of the dialog window. In case you are still undecided, here is a handy diagram that covers all possible circumstances:

And if you fill in the e-mail field, we can get back to you. You only have to fill this in once, and the dialog remembers your info for the next time. Sometimes, we have the suspicion that it is related to a problem in the file. But of course, the crash report does not send any data from your files, and we have no idea what actually triggered the crash. So, if you provide your contact information in the dialog, there is a chance you will receive an e-mail from Glyphs Support asking for a copy of the file you were working on when the crash happened. If you can send us the file, or perhaps just the glyph that is causing the problem, it is much easier for us to figure out what went wrong, and fix the problem.

Can you reliably reproduce the crash? In other words, do you know exactly what you have to do in order to trigger the crash? Please, at least once, describe the steps we can do to recreate the crash. This is very important, because if we know how to trigger a crash, we can fix it very quickly.

Restart the app, don’t reopen the file

Want to continue to work on your fonts after a crash? It is advisable to simply start the app again. Do this either with the Reopen button in the crash report dialog, or with a click on the Glyphs icon in the Dock. Glyphs will start up and try to reopen all the files you had open at the time of the crash, in their latest state possible. If they do not open, use the File > Open Recent menu item to reopen your font files.

Do not touch the Autosaved copy next to your .glyphs file. This is the copy that the system keeps around for recreating the last file state. Don't mess with it. (Only exception: use it as a last resort if the original file has been damaged, and in that case, make a copy of it and rename it before you open it.)

Update to the latest cutting edge version

Perhaps the problem that causes the app crashes is already fixed in the most recent betas. Here is how to install the latest possible version: Go to Glyphs (Mini) > Preferences > Updates, make sure the Show cutting edge versions option is checked, and click on the Check Now button.

You will either receive a dialog telling you that you are already up to date, or you will get a notification about a new version being available. In that case, make sure all your files are saved and backed up, click on the Install button, and restart the app when it asks you to:

Is the problem gone? Congratulations, you’re all set. Is it still around? Keep sending those crash reports, please.

Feeling insecure with running a beta? To go back to the latest stable version, you can always redownload the trial app from the Get App page of this website. ‘Trial? But I paid for it!’ I hear you say. Don’t worry. When you open it on your Mac, it will automatically recognize your license and unlock itself.

Disable plug-ins

Perhaps the problem is related to an extension you have installed? To find out, run Glyphs without plug-ins. The easiest way to do this is to hold down Option and Shift while starting the app.

Note: In Glyphs versions prior to 2.5, the Option and Shift trick does not work, so you need to rename your Plugins folder and restart the app. To access your Plugins folder, Go to Script > Open Scripts Folder (Cmd-Shift-Y). The Plugins folder is located right next to your Scripts folder. To deactivate all plug-ins at once, rename your Plugins folder to something like Plugins OFF and restart Glyphs:

If that fixes your problem, one of the plug-ins has a severe bug. Remove all plug-ins, and reinstall them, either one by one or in groups. Restart the app every time and see if the problem is back. If it is, you most likely have found the culprit.

Please let the developer know about it. If you have the plug-in from GitHub, file a GitHub Issue in the repository of the plug-in. If you have the plug-in from the built-in Window > Plugin Manager, click on the GitHub link to access the GitHub page:

On the GitHub page, switch to the Issues tab, and click on the New Issue button to file a new bug report or feature request:

Hint hint: The developer will be very happy if you can describe steps to reproduce the problem.

Try with different document

Try to recreate the crash in a new file, or in a copy of a different file. If the problem occurs in one file only, there may be something fishy in that particular file. Describe the problem in the forum and, if possible, offer to send us the file. We either have a quick answer for you, or will be happy to take a closer look.

Or maybe it occurs in only one glyph? If you can indeed trace the problem back to a particular glyph, then check paths, components, anchors, background layers, layer copies. Try cutting everything (Cmd-X) and pasting it immediately back again (Cmd-V). That forces Glyphs to rewrite the information in the file.

Delete the prefs

There’s one more thing you can try. The app preferences may be damaged, so we can try deleting them before starting Glyphs. In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder… (Cmd-Shift-G). For Glyphs Mini, paste this file location in the dialog:

~/Library/Preferences/com.schriftgestaltung.GlyphsMini2.plist

For Glyphs 2:

~/Library/Preferences/com.GeorgSeifert.Glyphs2.plist

And for Glyphs 3:

~/Library/Preferences/com.GeorgSeifert.Glyphs3.plist

The dialog will look something like this:

If everything goes well, Finder will take you to the .plist file containing the app preferences:

Move them to the trash by pressing Cmd-Delete, then restart the app. You may have to go through Glyphs (Mini) > Preferences (Cmd-comma) to recreate your preferred app settings.

Delete autosaves

Perhaps what crashes the app is a file that opens automatically when you open Glyphs. If you know which one it is, perhaps delete the duplicate file that is marked with ‘(Autosave)’.

If you do not know which file it is, quit Glyphs, then go to this folder and delete all .glyphs files you find:

~/Library/Autosave Information/

And then, in this folder,

~/Library/Saved Application State/

… delete everything that starts with com.GeorgSeifert. Then restart the app.

Terminal.app miracle cure

Quick fix: Open Terminal.app from the Utilities folder in Finder (Go > Utilities, Cmd-Shift-U in Finder). Then, paste these lines in Terminal.app and press the Return key:

kill `pgrep Glyphs`
rm "~/Library/Preferences/com.GeorgSeifert*"
rm "~/Library/Preferences/com.schriftgestaltung*"
rm "~/Library/Autosave Information/com.GeorgSeifert*"
rm "~/Library/Saved Application State/com.GeorgSeifert*"

The first line quits the app, the following lines do the clean-ups described above. After this, relaunch Glyphs or Glyphs Mini, or restart your Mac.

Forum

Still no dice? Please keep sending the crash reports, and make yourself heard in the forum, as described above.

Update 2017-03-04: fixed typos, clarified the purpose of folder renaming, minor reformulations.
Update 2017-05-14: added section about deleting prefs.
Update 2018-01-17: added holding down Option and Shift for starting with plug-ins off.
Update 2018-11-12: added section about deleting autosaves.
Update 2021-02-05: updated for Glyphs 3.
Update 2021-06-14: added Terminal miracle cure.