I know that when I close a finder window the next time it opens, it will open at the same size.

This works with me for a while, but sometimes all the finder windows just go back to the default size (Small window) except for the Macintosh HD folder!

Why is that? How can I fix it? It is VERY annoying.


If you hold down option while resizing the window and then close it, the next time you open it from the dock it will open at the new default size.

You will need to do this with the other ways of opening the finder window, such as clicking the HD icon on the desktop of after closing a window going to file -> new finder window.

Once these have all been done you will not have to do it again.

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  • I couldn't reproduce either of these. Are you sure that resizing while holding option is required, or that the default size depends on the way windows are opened? – Lri Dec 16 '11 at 19:34
  • Yes, I have just done this again on OSX Lion. You will need to make sure you close the window down and that it is the only window open. – Graeme Hutchison Dec 16 '11 at 20:28
  • This is really useful! – gentmatt Feb 11 '12 at 17:58
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    I don't know if this ever worked, but it certainly doesn't work now, and not since Leopard, I think. Holding option just resizes from the center of the window; holding shift constrains proportions—just like in Adobe Creative Suite. Yes, resizing a window and closing it causes that folder to remember the size when you open a Finder window to that folder, but holding option has nothing to do with it (and I don't think holding option ever had anything to do with it…). – iynque Jan 20 '13 at 18:20

Whenever you close all finder windows, the last window closed seems to determine the default size for new finder windows. By 'new finder windows' I mean those created with the Command + N shortcut. If you happen to Command + double click on a folder to open it in a new window it does not always respect this 'default size'.

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    Yeah but as I said all the finder windows get resized to the default small one after a while. Also, I need to physically open each folder and resize it to get it resized. – darksky Aug 7 '11 at 9:57
  • That's a shame - I'd like to have each window have its own window size. :| – JFW Sep 2 '11 at 16:05

Set your favourite Finder window size and then go to Finder's menu: View -> Show View Options (you can also change settings in this window) and finally click "Use as Defaults".

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    I'm not able to click on "Use as Defaults" unless I change something other than the window's size. I don't think it's saving window size as a default, just the View Options. – iynque Jan 20 '13 at 18:26

There is a bug in some versions of OS X where if you move even a small part of the window off screen before closing it then, when next you open that folder, it will reset to the built in os x default position and size. (I've tested 10.9-Mavericks and 10.10-Yosemite)

After confirming this issue for yourself you can report the bug at bugreport.apple.com

By the way, this is made more complicated if you have multiple screens of differing sizes. Say you have a macbook pro 13 inch attached to a 27 inch iMac type display, now size a window as desired on that screen and put it in the centre of the 27 inch screen. When you next open that folder window on the MacBook Pro's built in screen it would be, positioned from the top left corner, now somewhat off screen; the size and location resets.

I noticed this issue when I started using one 4k display with a few other much smaller screens. Since discovering this issue I try to keep my finder windows completely within the top left quadrant of the 4k monitor, or completely within the bounds of the other smaller displays.

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Make sure you have a password (make one if not - SystemPreferences:Users&Groups).

Launch Terminal from Applications:Utilities

Close all Finder windows.

At the UNIX shell prompt enter the following UNIX command:




If the problem still remains with particular window, you will need to copy any DS_Store file in that directory manually.

Enter the following UNIX command:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true


killall Finder

Open Finder window and copy DS_Store file. Then paste it to the directory which had previously displayed is not correct.

Enter the following UNIX command:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false


killall Finder

So this way I fixed the bug with displaying the size of windows on my computer (Mac OS X 10.7.2).

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  • This would clear out any previous settings, but it does not set the default size. After clearing .DS_Store files, if you open a new Finder window, change the size, and then close it, you get a new .DS_Store for that folder with the window size saved in it, and any new Finder windows opened to that specific folder will retain the window size setting. …but it's still not the default. – iynque Jan 20 '13 at 18:23
  • You have a syntax error. The correct syntax is sudo find / -name ".DS_Store" -depth -exec rm {} \; – bswinnerton Jan 11 '14 at 23:40

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