is plagued with the bafflingly inability to remember window sizes and positions, which is odd considering that past OS X versions allowed a window to be opened exactly how it was left.

Thankfully, it’s possible to override a window’s default opening behavior on OS X Yosemite and set it to open to the same size as the last one you created. This tutorial will teach you how to set a Finder window’s default opening behavior.

How to get a new Finder window in Yosemite the size you want

Step 1: Open a model window by double-clicking the drive icon on your desktop, or click the Finder icon in the Dock to create a new window.

Step 2: Set the new window the size you want. Don’t navigate to a different folder as resizing the window must be the first way you interact with it.

Step 3: Close the window.

Step 4: Close all open Finder windows, if any, by hitting the Command (⌘) – Option (⌥) – W combination on the keyboard. You can also hold down the Option key while clicking each window’s close button or while choosing Close All Windows in the Finder’s File menu.

Step 5: Now hold down Option while right-click the Finder icon in the Dock to reveal options. Choose Relaunch.

That’s all there is to it!

From now on, all subsequent Finder windows will now open in the same dimensions, whether you resized them manually or not. In a typical Apple fashion, new windows offset slightly in location.

This nifty little trick was originally shared by MacWorld.

Keep in mind that the aforementioned method does not work in El Capitan betas, indicating the trick might not be an Apple-created workaround solution after all. As such, there are no guarantees it will work in OS X 10.11 El Capitan when it launches to consumers this fall.

If you though about resizing a Finder window and setting its other attributes before accessing the Finder’s View Options (⌘-J) to choose the Use As Defaults button, think again—that option behaves somewhat erratically as it doesn’t appear to save the window size and proportions.

Last but not least, you might consider giving dedicated tools like Total Finder a whirl. Among other things, Total Finder opens the same window at the same size every time.

See also:

• How to repair disk permissions on a Mac
• How, why and when to boot your Mac in Safe Mode
• How to boot your Mac in Verbose Mode
• How to boot your Mac in Target Disk Mode
• How to choose a startup disk on your Mac
• Our archive of Mac tips
• Our archive of tutorials
• Our archive of how-tos

Should you find this tip useful, please bookmark the article and consider passing it along to your Mac friends and support folks.

Oh, and we like feedback so chime in with your thoughts in the comments and submit your tutorial ideas to tips@iDownloadBlog.com.