How to make apps open in full screen automatically on a Mac

Can I make Mac apps always open full screen?

Not with a single setting. macOS has no option to force every app into full screen. What it does have is a setting that makes an app reopen with its windows exactly as you left them, full screen included.

How do I make an app reopen in full screen?

1. Open System Settings, Desktop & Dock.
2. Turn off Close windows when quitting an application. It was on, the default, on our Mac.
3. Open the app, make it full screen with ⌃ ⌘ F, and quit it with ⌘ Q while it is still full screen.
4. Next time you open it, it comes back full screen.

Some apps keep their own setting and ignore this; check the app's settings for a full screen or startup option.

How do I make apps open maximized instead?

The same setting brings back a window's size and place. Make the window fill the screen with Fill from the green button, quit the app, and it reopens filling the screen without moving to its own space.

Windows that open in their place

ClutterFreeMac puts each new window on its strip at a set width, beside the one you were using, so nothing opens small and nothing needs resizing by hand. Windows opening at the wrong size is its own problem: apps opening the wrong size.

Checked on 16 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1, by reading its settings and the labels in System Settings. Nothing was changed. NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows was not set, which is the default.