How to open a new finder window in Finder on Mac: shortcut and menu steps

Finder is the app that shows your files, folders and drives on a Mac. Every Finder window shows one folder or location. You can have as many open as you need. This page covers the three routes in Apple's current guide, plus the settings that decide what a new window shows and whether it opens as a tab.

Open a new Finder window with Command N

This is the fastest route, and it is the one most people use. First, make Finder the active app. Click the Finder icon in the Dock. Apple's guide starts with that click. Then press Command N, written ⌘N. A new Finder window opens on your screen.

How do you know Finder is active? Look at the menu bar across the top of the screen. The word Finder sits just to the right of the Apple menu. When another app is active, that app's name appears there instead.

The click matters because keyboard shortcuts go to the active app. Community posts say ⌘N in another app runs that app's own New command, which may create a document instead. Apple's shortcut page does not confirm that detail, so test it on your Mac before you rely on it.

Open a new Finder window from the File menu

The File menu sits just to the right of the Finder menu in the menu bar. Click the Finder icon in the Dock first, so Finder is active. Then open File and choose New Finder Window. The result matches the shortcut.

Use the menu when you cannot remember the key. The menu item shows ⌘N beside its name, so you can read the shortcut as you go. That habit saves a trip to a help page the next time.

Count the actions. The keyboard route takes one click and one key press. The menu route takes three clicks. Pick the route that fits how your hands already work.

Compare the shortcuts for Finder windows

Apple uses ⌘ for Command, ⌥ for Option, ⌃ for Control, and ⇧ for Shift. Read ⌥⌘N as Option and Command pressed together, then N. Only ⌘N opens a plain Finder window.

Open folders as tabs instead of windows

Finder can open folders as tabs inside one window. Tabs help when you move between several folders. Two settings control this, and they live in different places. Check both before you decide which one you want.

1. Open Finder > Settings, then select General.
2. Tick Open folders in tabs instead of new windows to open folders as tabs.
3. Clear that box to keep separate windows.
4. Go to Apple menu > System Settings > Desktop & Dock, then find Prefer tabs when opening documents.
5. Choose Never to open folders in a new window, or Always to open them in a new tab.
6. Choose In Full Screen if you want tabs only in full-screen mode.

⌘T is a third control. It shows or hides the tab bar when only one tab is open in the current window, as Apple describes it. Press it to show the bar. Press it again to hide the bar.

Choose the folder a new window opens to

The folder a new window shows comes from a setting. Go to Finder > Settings > General. Look for New Finder windows show. Apple describes it as the setting that chooses which folder displays when you open a new Finder window.

Apple's settings page does not list the options in that dropdown. Open it on your Mac and read what it offers. Do not copy a dropdown list from an article without checking your own Mac. For the full setup, read how to change the default folder for new windows in Finder on Mac.

A worked example: two folders side by side

Say you are sorting invoices from Downloads into a client folder in Documents. Click the Finder icon in the Dock, then press ⌘N. Go to Downloads in the first window.

Press ⌘N again. Go to the client folder in the second window. Now you can move files between them without losing your place in either one.

Each window keeps its own location. If a new window opens on the wrong folder, return to New Finder windows show and check the setting. Then press ⌘N once more to test.

Option Command N opens a Smart Folder

Option Command N is easy to hit by mistake. It creates a new Smart Folder, which Apple's shortcut list gives as a separate action from a new Finder window.

If you wanted a plain window, press Command N without Option. Then check the window before you save or drag anything into it. A Smart Folder is a saved search, not a folder on disk.

When New Finder Window is missing from the menu

A community thread from November 21, 2025 describes a gap on macOS Tahoe 26.1. The Desktop right-click menu lacked Open in New Tab and Open in New Window. Replies suggested File > New Finder Window or ⌘N, then View > Show Toolbar.

No Apple staff replied in that thread. Treat the replies as workarounds from other users, not an official fix. If you see the same gap, use the File menu or the keyboard, and check the View menu for Show Toolbar.

Mistakes people make with new Finder windows

• Pressing ⌘N while another app is active. Click the Finder icon in the Dock first.
• Pressing Option too, which makes a Smart Folder instead of a window.
• Changing New Finder windows show and expecting tabs. That setting picks the folder. The tab options are separate.
• Changing one tab setting and missing the other one in Desktop & Dock.
• Looking for Finder on iCloud.com. That site is a separate web interface, not a window in the Mac Finder.

Check your macOS version first

Apple's page for these steps is labeled macOS 27 Golden Gate. Its version selector lists macOS Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15 and older releases. The page does not say which steps apply to which version, so treat the steps above as Apple's current instructions.

To check your version, click the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. Write the version down before you follow an older guide. If a menu name on your Mac differs from the steps, match the closest one and test the shortcut first.

Finder on the Mac versus iCloud.com

Some people look for Finder in a browser. iCloud Drive can be reached at iCloud.com. Apple's setup page says that on a Mac you find iCloud Drive under Locations in the Finder. Apple does not compare the two, so use the Mac app when you need a new window.

Where to go next

Once the window is open, you will probably move around. Go to a folder when you know the path. Search for a file when you do not. Show the path bar to see where you are in the folder tree.