MacBook Air 2023 M2 - how do I get this computer to let me have more than one folder open. Every time I open one and then try to open another, it replaces the one open. Sometimes I want to compare content or move things around.
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MacBook Air 15″, macOS 15.3
"let me open more than one folder!: MacBook Air 2023 M2 - how do I get this [...] computer to let me have more than one folder open. Every time I open one and then try to open another, it replaces the one open. Sometimes I want to compare content or move things around."
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Finder in Split View:
Finder cannot be used in a split view.
Recommend this to Apple:
Do your Part: Inform Apple of this idea. You'd do so by providing Apple Feedback on this. Apple wont get back to you directly, but the more feedback thy receive from its users, the more likely they will know what their customers prefer, and what options to include in macOS versions to come.
I cannot recreate your issue. Using Command+N opens new windows. Perhaps you have multiple desktops open? You can three-finger swipe right or left to see if the new window is opening on a different desktop.
Try right-clicking/two-finger click on a folder and open in a new tab. Then, drag the tab to an open area on your desktop. Do you now have two windows open?
As long as the side bar is showing, opening a subfolder will always take over the view of the same Finder/folder window.
To prevent that, with the folder highlighted, press Command+Option+T to hide the sidebar. Now when you double click any subfolders, they'll open in their own window, and so will any deeper folders as they will all open with the sidebar already hidden.
To make this the default (as much as possible), create a new folder and set it up they way you would prefer. I always use List mode and the side bar hidden. When you have it set, right click on the folder and choose Show Options. At the bottom of the palette, click Use as Defaults. Close the window.
In the future, all new folders you create will have these attributes. All except for any created directly on the desktop, which for some reason, are still created with the sidebar as visible.
Hopefully, I got these keyboard commands right. On my iPad at the moment.
"open folders in tabs" does not show up under my finder settings, General. - I have About, Software Update, Storage, Apple Care & Warranty, Airdrop & Handoff, Autofill & Passwords, Date & Time, Language & Region, Login Items and Extensions, Sharing, Startup Disk, Time Machine, Device Management and Transfer or Reset.
I suppose it could be an additional setting under one of those but seems counter intuitive and not at all user friendly if that is the case:)
IdrisSeabright wrote:
chessplayr wrote:
I have a magic mouse, so no right click button.
To perform a right-click (also known as a secondary click) on a Mac using a Magic Mouse, you can either hold down the Control key and click the mouse or click with two fingers.
The OP may need to enable a secondary click in System Settings > Mouse. (In Sequoia, there are three options in the pop-up menu: Click Right Side, Click Left Side, and Off.)
While I appreciate the reply and will go to Apple to make a recommendation, I don't understand the whole "split view" thing. Prior to this mac, I could open several folders that were on my desktop and be working in them simultaneously. Why make it so complicated? And this is just one of several problems I have with it. When I get files out of my cabinet and open them, I don't have to put one on one desk, another on second drsk and so forth. Doesn't seem user friendly to me. After years of using Apple, I am ready to just quit.
"While I appreciate the reply and will go to Apple to make a recommendation, I don't understand the whole "split view" thing. Prior to this mac, I could open several folders that were on my desktop and be working in them simultaneously. Why make it so complicated? And this is just one of several problems I have with it. When I get files out of my cabinet and open them, I don't have to put one on one desk, another on second drsk and so forth. Doesn't seem user friendly to me. After years of using Apple, I am ready to just quit. "
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Why this Way?:
Because that's the way Apple Designed it: Finder is what you are using to view these folders. Finder cannot have two active windows open at once. If it were in Split View, then you could just Drag & Drop it easily from left-to-right, and vice versa.
Finder doesn't offer the ability to create a single window, with a split view onto the contents of two folders at the same time.
However, you can certainly create two Finder windows, and position them so they do not overlap on the screen. Use Finder > New Finder Window or the shortcuts that muguy mentioned.
I have a magic mouse, so no right click button. I did discover I had two windows open and closed one of them. Now when I click Command N, I get Macintosh HD, with folders called applications, library, system and users listed beneath it, then Network under that. I can go to Users, click my name, and it shows folders with applications, downloads, icloud drive movies, music, pictures, public and a stock account. Below that are 2 more folders labeled shared and test. If I click on test, under that are folders named desktop, documents, downloads, icloud drive, movies, music pictures and public.
Entirely too many files and too much trouble to figure out how to open two folders - if I could even figure out how to at this point. I did not have this problem a few months ago,, so it seems the solution is to either go back to an older operating system or buy a windows laptop:(
chessplayr wrote:
I have a magic mouse, so no right click button.
To perform a right-click (also known as a secondary click) on a Mac using a Magic Mouse, you can either hold down the Control key and click the mouse or click with two fingers.
Now when I click Command N, I get Macintosh HD, with folders called applications, library, system and users listed beneath it, then Network under that. I can go to Users, click my name, and it shows folders with applications, downloads, icloud drive movies, music, pictures, public and a stock account. Below that are 2 more folders labeled shared and test. If I click on test, under that are folders named desktop, documents, downloads, icloud drive, movies, music pictures and public.
Please carefully re-read Kurt Lang's most recent post.
When I highlight a folder, then click, simultaneously, command option T, my computer dings twice, then switches to another folder. The side bar doesn't go away. The rest of it I haven't tried since I'm trying to open actual folders on my desk vs. subfolders. They are all set up in List view.
When I highlight a folder, then click, simultaneously, command option T, my computer dings twice…
Just click the folder window so it's the active foreground item. After that, let go of the mouse. Then press Command+Option+T. The sidebar should disappear.
While in finder use command-N to open a new finder window. Or, right click on a folder to open in a new tab.
That doesn't do anything except open a window saying HD and my laptop - in place of the folder I had open.
Again, see reply to muguy - it closes the folder I have open and opens a screen with HD and my laptop - does that mean I need to take additional steps to open another window?
How can I open more than one folder on my Mac?
