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Troubleshooting

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fvignals edited this page Oct 15, 2013 · 43 revisions

Brackets not working for you? Consider the following tips.

System Requirements

  • Mac OSX 10.6 or newer.
    • Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) by default will not allow Brackets to run since it's not being digitally signed yet. To work around this, right click the Brackets app and choose Open, then click Open on the dialog that appears. You only need to do that once -- afterward, launching Brackets the normal way will work also.
  • Windows Vista/7/8 (x32) and (x64).
  • WinXP w/ Service Pack 2.
  • You should have at least 2 GB of RAM to do Live Development.

Can't Install Brackets

1. Download the Right Package

Make sure you download one of the "brackets-sprint-XX.dmg" (Mac) or "brackets-sprint-XX.msi" (Windows) installers from the Downloads page.

2. Windows Vista: Nothing happens when launching installer

Some Windows Vista computers will block installers downloaded from the Internet, so nothing at all happens when you try to run the installer. To work around this: right-click the installer file, choose Properties, and click the Unblock button.

3. Windows error: "Installation directory must be on a local drive"

This can happen on some Windows machines. To work around this, try executing the installer from an elevated command prompt:

  1. Open an elevated command prompt using one of the techniques on this page: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/783-elevated-command-prompt.html
  2. cd to the folder containing the installer.
  3. Run the installer using msiexec, e.g.: msiexec /i "brackets-sprint-xx-WIN.msi" (where "xx" is the sprint number)

Can't Run Brackets

1. Lion/Mountain Lion Security Dialog

The Brackets app is not yet signed, so depending on your security settings, you might get a dialog on Lion or Mountain Lion telling you that you can't run an application from an unknown developer. If so, you'll need to Ctrl-click on the application and choose "Open", then click on the "Open" button in the dialog that comes up.

2. Check the File Permissions

If Brackets won't launch, check the permissions of the main executable files (e.g. using ls -l). On Mac:

  • bin/mac/Brackets.app should be drwxr-xr-x
  • bin/mac/Brackets.app/Contents/MacOS/Brackets should be -rwxr-xr-x

To fix permissions, use a command like chmod +x bin/mac/Brackets.app/Contents/MacOS/Brackets.

Some archiving programs, such as Keka don't appear to preserve file permissions when unarchiving zip files. (More info here). If you run into this issue on Mac, try to unarchive the zip file by using Finder.

3. Clear The Cache

If you had previously used Brackets, your cache may have information that is conflicting with the most recent version. Find your cache folder and delete the cache. Warning: this will reset all of your Brackets preferences.

4. Run Brackets From The Command Line

Next, try running Brackets from the command line. Open up a Terminal (or Command Prompt in Windows), navigate to the executable, and run Brackets. (On Mac, type open bin/mac/Brackets.app.). Did an error appear? If so, file an issue or find us on IRC or the mailing list and we'll try to figure it out.

Live Development Isn't Working

Live Development Workflow with CSS, HTML, and JavaScript

Currently, Live Development works differently for different types of files:

  • For CSS, your changes are applied in the browser immediately as you type, without reloading the page.
  • For HTML and JavaScript, when you save your changes, the page is reloaded to reflect your changes.

We plan to add as-you-type Live Development support for HTML and JavaScript content in the near future.

Install Chrome For Multiple User Accounts (Windows Only)

If you get the error An error occurred when launching the browser. (error 2) when doing Live Development, installing Chrome for multiple user accounts may solve the issue.

Restart Your Computer

If you keep getting errors when trying to launch Chrome, or if you keep getting prompted to restart Chrome, try rebooting your machine. Rebooting has resolved many odd issues with Live Development.

Also, if you keep getting prompted to restart Chrome when switching between HTML files, make sure that you have another tab open in Chrome. This prevents Chrome from shutting down and restarting between each file, so it's much faster and smoother.

Check Windows Registry

If Brackets cannot launch the Chrome browser on your Windows system, check the Registry setting here:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\chrome.exe

This is the file path that Brackets uses to launch Chrome. If this is not correct, then try reinstalling the Chrome browser at this location.

Re-install Brackets

On Windows, you may run into issues starting Live Preview if you installed Chrome after installing Brackets. In that case, re-installing Brackets should fix the problem.

Brackets Is Acting Weird

Debug w/ The Developer Tools

If Brackets opens, but behaves incorrectly, don't forget you can open the Developer Tools. Under the Debug Menu, select "Show Developer Tools" to open an instance of the Developer Tools for Brackets. If you've used the Developer Tools in Chrome this will look familiar. Ensure the Console tab is open and see if any errors show up there.

Can't Paste Text Into Brackets

There's a known issue when running the Webroot firewall where text can't be pasted into Brackets. If you're running webroot you can find some potential workarounds on their support page. The team has also reached out to Webroot to try and get Brackets on the "known" list so this isn't a problem in the future.

Still Having a Problem?

File an issue or contact us via one of the channels mentioned in the README. It is best to list the following information:

  1. OS & version
  2. brackets version
  3. extensions / plug-in listing
  4. detailed steps for problem & if it is repeatable
  5. steps for attempts of working around
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