Finder

[Colinstuart28]

On my MacBook Air M1 I open Finder then open a document but when i close the document Finder also closes. Is there a way to keep Finder open?

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Maybe you don't understand what the "Finder" is?

The Finder is the program that's always open that renders your desktop, your menus, etc.

If your Finder "closes"...what do you see? A blank screen?

Could it be that when you launch a document, an application ("app") opens to render that document, and you are complaining that when you close such a document that the application closes with it? That would not be "normal" behavior typical of a Macintosh application, but I have seen applications that behave that way.

 

[Colinstuart28]

Maybe you don't understand what the "Finder" is?

The Finder is the program that's always open that renders your desktop, your menus, etc.

If your Finder "closes"...what do you see? A blank screen?

Could it be that when you launch a document, an application ("app") opens to render that document, and you are complaining that when you close such a document that the application closes with it? That would not be "normal" behavior typical of a Macintosh application, but I have seen applications that behave that way.

If Finder opens full screen and I open a file in Documents when I close that file the Finder window is not there, I have to click on Finder again but if Finder opens minimised when I close a file Finder is still there

 

[Randy B. Singer]

If Finder opens full screen

"The Finder" is *always* open. Always. Unless your Mac is really screwed up. "The Finder" is the Mac's interface when you aren't inside an application.

I don't know what running the Finder "full screen" means exactly.

and I open a file in Documents when I close that file the Finder window is not there,

So what's there? If you lose the Finder, you should have...nothing.

I have to click on Finder again

What are you clicking on, and why?

but if Finder opens minimised

I really don't know what it means to have The Finder open minimalized.

when I close a file Finder is still there

Yes, it should *always* be there.

I don't think that i can help you until I understand what you think that The Finder is. It seems to me that what you think is The Finder, isn't what the normal definition is.

See:

Organize your files in the Finder on Mac

On your Mac, use the Finder (identified by the blue icon with the smiling face) to organize, access, and share almost everything.

support.apple.com

Finder (software) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Colinstuart28]

"The Finder" is *always* open. Always. Unless your Mac is really screwed up. "The Finder" is the Mac's interface when you aren't inside an application.

I don't know what running the Finder "full screen" means exactly.



So what's there? If you lose the Finder, you should have...nothing.



What are you clicking on, and why?



I really don't know what it means to have The Finder open minimalized.



Yes, it should *always* be there.

I don't think that i can help you until I understand what you think that The Finder is. It seems to me that what you think is The Finder, isn't what the normal definition is.

See:

Organize your files in the Finder on Mac

On your Mac, use the Finder (identified by the blue icon with the smiling face) to organize, access, and share almost everything.

support.apple.com

Finder (software) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I have Finder in the bar at the bottom of the screen. I click it to get to my documents etc. as in the attached. If this window is minimised like it shows here then I can open a file and close it and this screen will still be there but if this screen is full screen it disappears once I close a file

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I have Finder in the bar at the bottom of the screen. I click it to get to my documents etc. as in the attached. If this window is minimised like it shows here then I can open a file and close it and this screen will still be there but if this screen is full screen it disappears once I close a file

AH!! Gotcha.

You have used the Finder to navigate to your Documents folder, which you have set to view in List mode.

If you open a document in the Document folder window, and then quit the program that opens, the Documents folder window is still there and open.

But if you put the Documents folder window in full screen (by hitting View menu --> Enter Full Screen) and then opening and quitting an application, the Documents folder window isn't there when you quit.

That's the same behavior that my iMac (running Mojave) exhibits.

I've tried several things, but no matter what I've tried, if I start out in Full Screen mode, all folder windows will be closed when I quit the app that I was working in. Maybe someone else has a suggestion.

 

[Colinstuart28]

AH!! Gotcha.

You have used the Finder to navigate to your Documents folder, which you have set to view in List mode.

If you open a document in the Document folder window, and then quit the program that opens, the Documents folder window is still there and open.

But if you put the Documents folder window in full screen (by hitting View menu --> Enter Full Screen) and then opening and quitting an application, the Documents folder window isn't there when you quit.

That's the same behavior that my iMac (running Mojave) exhibits.

I've tried several things, but no matter what I've tried, if I start out in Full Screen mode, all folder windows will be closed when I quit the app that I was working in. Maybe someone else has a suggestion.

Is there a different way to navigate to my documents folder?

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Is there a different way to navigate to my documents folder?

You can drag your Documents folder into the right side of your dock (at the bottom of the screen), which will create a shortcut to get there that is always present.

Or

Iin the Finder you can go to:
Finder menu --> Preferences --> General
and make sure "Show these items on Desktop: Hard Disks" is checked.
That will cause there to be an icon for your hard drive displayed on your desktop.
You can then navigate to your documents folder by opening this icon.
[hard drive] --> Users folder --> [your user name] --> Documents
Once you find your Documents folder you can highlight it and create an alias (in the File menu).
You can put the alias anywhere you like and it will directly open your Documents folder.