Applications now forgetting which display to open on

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Applications now forgetting which display to open on

I have finished upgrading the last of the five family macs to Mavericks and I've noticed a common problem on the two which are multi-monitor: in 10.8 an application would "remember" which display it was closed on. In 10.9 they always re-open on the main display.

For example: my 2010 Mini has two displays, and I keep Outlook open on the second display. If you close Outlook (for a reboot of the system, etc) it now re-opens on the main display and I have to move it over. Same problem with iMessage. Is there a setting I've missed somewhere? Its a small issue but somewhat annoying since one of 10.9's "big features" was the better multi-monitor support!

OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 24, 2013 8:49 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 6, 2017 6:49 PM in response to marshmallow49

Update: SecondBar continues to work for me and my apps go back t the monitor I want. However, it's a bit buggy on El Capitan and loses the app on the monitor and freezes. This happens occasionally. The fix is to go to the extreme right side of the menu bar to the little drop down triangle next to the time stamp and close the app, then reopen it and it'll work again until it does it again.

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Answer 2

Oct 24, 2013 1:39 PM in response to Mike Rivett

I am having this problem as well.

As I just wrote in another thread:

"Example: Prior to Mavericks, I had iTunes and Mail as two apps that were always on the left monitor, and Safari was always on my right as it is my main monitor. (Of course there were times where I would have two Safari windows, one on each monitor, but ignoring cases like that...)

Now when I boot up on Mavericks, any app could be anywhere. It's annoying.

I have learned though that when launching from the dock, now that there is a dock on each monitor, the app will open on the screen that you click the icon on.

The app 'jumping' seems like a very easily fixable bug. Submit it to Apple as a bug report and maybe they will fix it."

This thread may hold the key to a fix: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5471042?tstart=30

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Answer 3

May 3, 2016 10:54 AM in response to mikenaulls

I was looking forward to dumping Multimon (it was slow to respond) when I moved to El Capitan to get the 2nd menu bar without an app. Unfortunately, like so many have experienced, some of my apps don't return to the monitor they were on when they closed down. This may be more of an individual app issue since Firefox and other apps respond and remember their space on the 2nd monitor. The big culprit for me is Outlook 2011, it always reopens in the main monitor with the dock, when I want it to open like before, in the 2nd monitor. It's quite annoying having to move it over every-time or hide it and not close it down (the only other solution I could find).

The solution for me to get back to what I had in Mountain Lion, was to uncheck the "displays have separate spaces" in Mission Control (lose the 2nd menu when doing so) , then download and install the free app "SecondBar". The app is as fast as the Apple menu bar and doesn't have the slow lag response like Multimon. Now my apps remember their size and monitor position when they launch! :-)

Until Apple or Microsoft fixes this bug, it's the perfect and simplest solution to multi-monitor and app location work-a-round for El Capitan 10.11.4.

Cheers SecoindBar, you saved the day :-)

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