Mojave Finder Tabs Reopen

I agree with all on this thread who've stated High Sierra behaves in this manner:

1. 1. have three Finder tabs open;
   2. mouse click Finder's red-circle-X to close it; or press cmd-q to close Finder completely;
   3. mouse click Finder dock icon;

4a. Finder opens a new window containing three tabs.

I, further, agree with all on this thread who've stated that the behavior of #4, above, is different in Mojave, e.g.:

4b. Finder opens a new window containing only on tab.

I've found a solution that appears, at first blush, to work for me in Mojave.

It comes to us courtesy of the user Eagle on apple.stackexchange.com:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/100433/finder-reopen-last-closed-window/100435

Eagle states:

• • Click on top-left Apple icon
  • Then click on System Preferences
  • Then General
  • And then uncheck the box saying, "Close windows when quitting an app"
  • It will save your session of Finder and when you restart your system it will show you last opened tabs of the session

This appears to work for me when I perform my original workflow, above, items 1-4a.

Note that it also appears to reopen the tabs to their prior directory/drive locations, if present.

I had not tested that behavior in High Sierra; so I can't speak to that whether it's consistent or not.

Further note that if a tab showed contents of a directory/drive that has been removed/unmounted between Finder sessions.

Finder simply does not open that tab; but opens all other previous tabs that it is able.

I've not tested how this System Preferences->General change effects, or afflicts, other applications from session to session.

So, as you'd surmise...YMMV.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

Agree. This was High Sierra behavior which has changed in Mojave when using red x button.

High Sierra:

• Red x button: restores all tabs
• Re-launch app or restart Mac: restores all tabs

Mojave:

• Red x button: doesn't restore all tabs; closes them
• Re-launch app or restart: restores all tabs

I doubt this behavior is intended

Yeah. I meant that if an answer gets the most clicks on the "helpful" button, then it will be at the top of the discussion forum like it's the solution to the question. And then next to it you see the "Apple Recommended" icon. Look:

But saying "There is no setting to change it back" is not fixing the problem at all.

And later on in this thread, I found out that, from another user, that you can leave Finder open when you shut down your computer and then tick the "re-open windows" option. So then Finder will open with all the tabs that you had before.
I tried it, it works. It's all I wanted. A way for Mojave to remember my open tabs in Finder when I turn the computer on in the morning.
So that should be the "Apple recommended" answer, it's all I'm saying.

The Finder behavior changed in Mojave. There is no setting to change it back.

You can't say Finder behavior changed in Mojave. Using Alt-Option + mouse click on Finder and doing re-launch, Finder restores all the Tabs without any issue.

The bug/issue is when one uses the red x button to close Finder. Then nothing is restored

hgkjhbkjhlh wrote:

You can't say Finder behavior changed in Mojave. Using Alt-Option + mouse click on Finder and doing re-launch, Finder restores all the Tabs without any issue.

The bug/issue is when one uses the red x button to close Finder. Then nothing is restored

Actually I can. In High Sierra the Finder remembered Tabs when using the "red x button".

1. OS X remembered the tabs that were open and restored them with a click on the Finder icon in the Dock
2. It worked this way since Finder tabs were introduced in ~2013 (Mavericks), but they broke in Yosemite (~2014) when it also did not remember to save the tabs, just like it's failing in Mojave
3. Besides the workaround suggested in this thread RE: leaving the window open when you shutdown/restart,
4. I created an AppleScript workaround for myself in 2014 and saved it as an Application for easy one-click restoration of my Finder window setup. Happy to share since Apple has made it useful again.
5. The line near the end about setting "bounds of the front Finder window" needs to be adjusted for your screen. See explanation for the Bounds property: https://www.macosxautomation.com/applescript/firsttutorial/11.html

AppleScript:

1. Copy/paste the code block into Script Editor, modifying the paths as needed for your own tab setup
2. Save As & choose File Format of "Application"
3. Put it someplace accessible

Note, testing in Script Editor or running the Application for the first time will cause an error / permission prompt since Apple now requires apps get explicit permission to send System Events in Mojave. To fix:

1. Open Mojave's System Preferences - Security & Privacy
2. Authenticate with an administrator account
3. Click the "Privacy" tab
4. In the left sidebar, click "Accessibility"
5. In the box at the right, click the plus button and then add Applications - Utilities - Script Editor (and make sure the box is checked)
6. OS X will prompt you to grant access for the app to control other apps. Once granted it will be listed in the Privacy tab under Automation with a checkmark next to the items it now can access. Review the AppleScript below and you can see it does nothing shady or dangerous beyond opening the exact windows and tabs you want it to.

Notes:

if you need to open a tab to a folder located on an external but physically attached disk modify the location for the last command group or delete the group entirely.

FWIW, when Apple Developer Relations themselves have previously classified and confirmed this changed behavior is a bug (the last time they unintentionally broke it ~4 years ago), and then the bug occurs again a few years later, I think it's probably safe and correct to call it a bug until they chime in and say they've changed their minds. The below is a straight copy/paste direct from Apple's response on that bug report:

"There is a difference between clicking on the finder icon in dock vs cmd-n .. (depending on whether you have multiple tabs). There is a known bug with that workflow."

Do not click the red button, click the YELLOW button.

RED - close window (might as well trash it, goes away, does not exist anymore)

YELLOW - minimize (=hide) the window (still exists, but is not displayed; tucked away in the Dock for future use)

Thus the yellow button minimizes the window, and clicking the Finder icon DOES open it back.

As I've said before, and I will say it again: it does not make sense if you click the red button to expect the window back.

I've been reading older posts in this thread claiming it worked that way in High Sierra, but I have just checked and rechecked and it doesn't.

Wrong. Ever since tabs were introduced, closing a finder window with multiple tabs via the red button retained the opened tabs when opening another finder window by clicking the Finder dock icon. This behavior changed in Mojave. Don't know if you call it a bug or a feature, but it is different. Personally, I prefer the High Sierra behavior.

You're 100% wrong, Luis. It does indeed work this way on High Sierra, Sierra and every version of macOS since the tab feature was introduced.

When you clicked the RED X on Finder (High Sierra), it does not stop finder from running, so the settings of its windows were retained / restored when opening it again.

However, this does not happen on Mojave and hundreds of people are aggravated by this change including myself, hence this thread. I've got an open support case with Apple on this topic and Apple Engineering is looking into it, but its been two weeks and no response from the Senior Advisor on the case other than to say it appear to be a bug and they'll need to fix it with a patch down the road.

I think you're completely missing the point of the thread. The issue is not that we don't know how to or can't open tabs, it's that if you close the whole Finder window by using the red circle, the next time you open a Finder window, the Finder no longer remembers and re-displays the tabs that were already open from the most-recently closed window. This is a bug vs previous Finder behavior.

The red button does not "close Finder", it closes a window.

If you quit Finder, and start it again, it will (depending on general settings) restore your windows. If you specifically close one window, it does not make sense to expect it will magically be back!

Open Finder tabs were retained (reopened) after a reboot in all the versions of MacOS I have used since Mavericks (Yosemite, El Cap, Sierra, H.S.). Sorry to see that feature/bug go, oh well. Your "Minimize" suggestion only works for the current session.

Try Command-Shift-Backslash. It should open a view to see all tabs (you probably only have one tab) and have a big plus sign that allows you to open another tab. They hid that feature pretty well, huh.