Open application windows in the same place consistently

Hello,

I am hoping to find out if anyone knows of a good way to convince application windows to open in the same location on the screen every time, consistently. This is, clearly, a minor problem, but perhaps you know how to do it. For example, I tend to use Safari with the window open over the entire screen, but every time I open a new window it locates itself with a couple mm between left side of the screen and left side of the Safari window, and the right side of the Safari window (the scroll bar) is partially off the screen (because the window is shifted). So every time I open a new Safari window I have to click the top bar and drag it a little bit to place it where I want it. Is there a way to "teach" Safari where I want it to open so that it will open in the same place every time? Maybe the problem is that I have a hidden dock on the left side of the screen and Safari does not want to come too close to the dock?

(I also have the same issue with Mail, because though I use that program with the application window only open over part of the total screen area it always opens in the same place on the screen which is always slightly off from where I want it to be)

Any suggestions? Thanks!!

PS I apologize if this has been posted before; I tried several searches but the only results that came up were not at all related to my actual question.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5), Airport Extreme iLap iPod touch

Posted on Apr 14, 2009 6:47 AM

Reply
5 replies

Apr 14, 2009 1:59 PM in response to AaronJF

I don’t think there is a way to teach Safari not to shift the window when a new one is created. And I don’t think it is related to the position of the Dock.

I leave a few cm of space on the right side of the Safari window and have the screen filled from top to bottom with the Safari window. Then when I make a new window, it opens shifted a little to the right of the previous window, but it doesn’t put the scroll bar off the screen and because the screen is filled from top to bottom, it doesn’t shift down, just right next to the previous window.

You might try using tabs. When you click a link that you want in a new window, hold the Command key down. It will open in a new tab in the same window and you can change between the window tabs by clicking on it on the top of the window. The X on the tab will close the tab.

Apr 14, 2009 4:16 PM in response to AaronJF

This is a function of each application, not OSX.

Some apps are coded to save the window's location, usually to a preference file, when closed and read it back in and position there when re-opened. But apps that allow opening multiple instances of the same window (text editors, browsers, etc.) can't really do this effectively.

Apr 14, 2009 4:22 PM in response to Bruce Etnyre

Thanks for your comments. I almost exclusively work with a single window and multiple tabs, and am running into this issue when I start the program up for the first time in a day or if I happen to close Safari at some point. It also affects other programs (i.e. iPhoto I like to have open and fill the whole screen but it is similarly shifted slightly off to the right from where I would like it to be.)

It has been a long time since I used a Windows computer but I recall that there was a menu option to remember the position of an application window, and I was hoping there might be a similar command available on Mac.

Apr 14, 2009 4:31 PM in response to AaronJF

Only if the application allows it, and it would likely be in the Preferences section of the app's main menu.

Most apps don't have such a feature; those that do normally do it automatically.

iCal is a good example: whatever size & location it's in when you close either just the window or the entire app is retained, and automatically used when it's re-opened -- there's no option, that's just how it works. Most apps are like that; they either do it or not, there's no option.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Open application windows in the same place consistently

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.