MacOS->Quit / Windows->Close All: Popup (floating) windows are not restored after closing

Bug graveyard
1

Steps to reproduce

Open the app
Open a note in the main window
Use the command pallete to “Open current tab in new window”
Quit Obsidian
Reopen Obsidian
Observe that only the main window is shown

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? Yes

Expected result

I expect to see both windows restored and visible.

Actual result

Only the main window is restored and visible.

Environment

Env 1:
SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.8.4
Installer version: v1.8.4
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 24.2.0: Fri Dec 6 19:01:59 PST 2024; root:xnu-11215.61.5~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000 24.2.0
Login status: not logged in
Language: en
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 7
Plugins enabled: 6
1: Dataview v0.5.67
2: Git v2.31.1
3: Calendar v1.5.10
4: Outliner v4.8.1
5: Excalidraw v2.8.3
6: Simple CanvaSearch v1.0.0

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Community plugins: for bugs, please first try updating all your plugins to latest. If still not fixed, please try to make the issue happen in the Sandbox Vault or disable community plugins.

Env 2:
SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.8.4
Installer version: v1.6.5
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 24.2.0: Fri Dec 6 19:01:59 PST 2024; root:xnu-11215.61.5~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000 24.2.0
Login status: not logged in
Language: en
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 3
Plugins enabled: 3
1: Dataview v0.5.67
2: Obsidian Git v2.19.0
3: Excalidraw v2.8.3

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Community plugins: for bugs, please first try updating all your plugins to latest. If still not fixed, please try to make the issue happen in the Sandbox Vault or disable community plugins.

Additional information

Visually it looks like the secondary windows dissappear a split second before the main window. Previously I could have a dozen different windows in the same vault and when quitting and reopening, they would all come back.

This is reliably reproducible.

However,
If I click the red icon in the upper left corner to close the main window, it will also close all secondary windows for that vault. Visually it looks like they all close at the same time. Then if I quit Obsidian and reopen it. I have to pick the vault to open. However, it will actually restore all of the secondary windows.
This is also reliable behavior.

i’m reporting from 1.8.4 on MacOs
maybe it happened earlier, I don’t know since I don’t think I ever looked at the version number before this. I did think I noticed this a few times in the recent past but just assumed I accidentally closed those windows.
I haven’t tried it on other platforms.
Tried on multiple vaults with different plugin sets, same issue

2

this seems to be the same/related to Closing the main window while secondary windows are open makes obsidian restart in vault selector mode

4

yeah, that post sounds like it’s what i noticed in the second part. but i am more concerned about the secondary windows just not reopening outside of that scenario.

5

should be fixed 1.8.6. NO ETAs.

6

Just got 1.8.7, it does not seem to be fixed

7

I have 1.8.9, still does not seem to be fixed

8

Steps to reproduce

Open the app
Open a note in the main window
Use the command pallete to “Open current tab in new window”
Quit Obsidian
Reopen Obsidian
Observe that only the main window is shown

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? Yes

Expected result

I expect to see both windows restored and visible.

Actual result

Only the main window is restored and visible.

Environment

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.8.9
Installer version: v1.6.5
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 24.3.0: Thu Jan 2 20:24:16 PST 2025; root:xnu-11215.81.4~3/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000 24.3.0
Login status: not logged in
Language: en
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 3
Plugins enabled: 3
1: Dataview v0.5.47
2: Obsidian Git v2.19.0
3: Excalidraw v1.8.26

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Community plugins: for bugs, please first try updating all your plugins to latest. If still not fixed, please try to make the issue happen in the Sandbox Vault or disable community plugins.

Additional information

Submitted the same bug previously and was told it was fixed in 1.8.7, it wasn’t and still isn’t fixed in 1.8.9

Visually it looks like the secondary windows dissappear a split second before the main window. Previously I could have a dozen different windows in the same vault and when quitting and reopening, they would all come back.

This is reliably reproducible.

However,
If I click the red icon in the upper left corner to close the main window, it will also close all secondary windows for that vault. Visually it looks like they all close at the same time. Then if I quit Obsidian and reopen it. I have to pick the vault to open. However, it will actually restore all of the secondary windows.
This is also reliable behavior.

It’s been happening since at least 1.8.4 on MacOs
I haven’t tried it on other platforms.
Tried on multiple vaults with different plugin sets, same issue

9

Try downloading and reinstalling Obsidian as well. You’re on a quite old installer 1.6.5.

(It might fix it, it might not, but that’s worth a try if they said it was fixed.)

10

I’ll double check this

11

I can’t reproduce. Download and reinstall Obsidian.
Please, create a new empty vault. Make a screen recording of the bug happening there. Thanks

12

Here’s a video on 1.8.9 using a brand new vault.

About Obsidian
Version 1.8.9 (Installer 1.8.9)

13

I was about to report virtually the same behavior in a feature request; I wasn’t aware that is was supposed to work. That is, when obsidian updates, only the main window reopens, my other windows do not and need to be reopened manual.
I’m using an M2 MacBook pro with Sequoia 15.3.2

14

exactly same issue (since 2-3 weeks) on a mac m2, everything is up to date

15

With the risk of sounding as a broken record - this should be prioritized along with other basic product hygiene bugs and “features”

Context is a critical productivity aspect ⇒ retaining context is a critical usability aspect. I wrote my own plugin to ensure every tabs opens in the same place. However all that is useless if all windows except the main window are lost upon quitting/crashing.

16

I did some tests and I believe this is a specific problem with macos via the quit command (Obsidian->Quit) (which is not present in other OSes).

17

This just happened to me today. I had a few windows open in Obsidian, quit the app, and reopened it, and only the main window and its tabs were restored. The other windows were not.

I am on macOS 15.5, Obsidian 1.8.10.

18

Any updates on fixing this?

19

Bump. Still happening.

20

I’ve been able to reproduce this when using Force Quit on Obsidian instead of the normal ⌘Q or the Obsidian→Quit menu item. When Force Quitting, workspace.json gets truncated to include just the main window.

This issue usually shows up after rebooting because macOS defaults to Force Quitting open applications as part of accelerating the shutdown process. This feature was introduced in 10.6 Snow Leopard and is called Sudden Termination.

App developers can opt out of Sudden Termination by calling the disableSuddenTermination() method in Foundation, though Apple only recommends that it be disabled during critical operations (e.g. data writes). Further information can be found by searching Apple’s docs for “Support Sudden Termination” (I’d post a link, but that’s (understandably!) disabled for new accounts).

21

After checking Activity Monitor, it seems that Obsidian and its helper processes already disable Sudden Termination, so the issue may lie elsewhere in how Obsidian handles workspace.json when force quit.