Please go through the Troubleshooting Checklist – especially #2 safe mode and #7 reset window sizes.
[I don’t understand what you mean by “in a separate macOS Space” – but if that’s normal macOS-specific terminology, I’m sure it will make sense to someone else.] Thanks for explaining, @BenJamesBen!
(In the macOS graphical UI, “Spaces” are desktops where windows appear. By default there is only one desktop, but it is possible to have multiple desktops to better organize and arrange windows.)
@Louska, you said that this problem started since you updated to Anki 26.09.2 and macOS Golden Gate 27. Was the behavior different on previous versions? If so, what was the different behavior, and what Anki versions and what macOS versions was the different behavior present on?
However, I suspect that you might be seeing the current expected behavior. It seems that when the Anki Decks window is full-screen and the Browse or Add windows are opened, they also are created as full-screen windows. And, macOS seems to create every full-screen window as it’s own separate Space.
In the above screenshot, I started the Anki app in the “Desktop 1” Space, made it full-screen, and then pressed the Browse and Add buttons to create those windows. You can see that there are 5 separate Spaces:
“Desktop 1”,
the full-screen Decks window for my “Testing4” profile,
the full-screen Add window,
the full-screen Browse window, and
“Desktop 2” (another Space that I had previously set up).
Been having the exact same issue, it is very annoying. Part of me thinks this is a macOS issue, but not sure. I am on Golden Gate 27.2 Developer Beta + Anki 96.09.2 and having the same problem.
@grant.delanoy Was the behavior any different on previous versions? If so, what was the previous behavior, and with what combination of Anki and macOS versions did you see the previous behavior?
If Anki was fullscreen and you either pressed browse, edit, or any button that opens an additional window, it would launch that window on top of the full-screen app in a daggable/resizeable windowed manner.
Thank you for telling us what the old behavior was.
I note that:
If I put my Safari window in full-screen and then in the menu select File > New Window, the new Safari window also opens in a new Space.
If I put my TextEdit window in full-screen, create a new document in a tab, and then in the menu select Window > Move Tab to New Window, the new TextEdit window also opens in a new Space.
If I put my Finder window in full-screen and then in the menu File > New Finder Window, the new Finder window also opens in a new Space.
So, it seems that for some types of windows, if you are in full-screen mode and then you create one of those types of windows, it is created full-screen in it’s own Space.
However, I also note that:
If I put my Safari window in full-screen and then in the menu select Safari > Settings…, the settings window opens as a smaller window in the same space. In the “traffic light” area of the settings window, there is only the red “x” button to close the window. The yellow minimize and green maximize buttons are not available.
Similarly, with Safari in full-screen and with the Safari > Privacy Report… menu item selected, the privacy report window opens as a smaller window in the same space, with the red and yellow buttons available.
If I put my TextEdit window in full-screen and then in the menu select Format > Font > Show Fonts, the fonts window opens in a smaller window in the same space, with the red and green buttons available.
If I put my Finder window in full-screen and then in the menu select Edit > Show Clipboard, the clipboard window opens in a smaller window in the same space, with all red, yellow, and green buttons available.
So, it seems that for other types of windows, if you are in full-screen mode and then you create one of those types of windows, it is created as a smaller window in the same Space.
I’m not sure if the new behavior seen with Anki is a bug or not. It could be that the Add and Browse windows are the first type of window and the new behavior is just the new standard behavior for those types of windows, as of macOS Golden Gate 27. But, it might at least be an Enhancement Request to have them changed into the second type of window, to bring back the old behavior, allowing them to appear in the same Space when created in full-screen mode.
I am having the exact issue. Previously, while doing my cards, I could add, edit, and browse all in the same, full-screen window. After this most recent Anki update I cannot figure out why.
I have:
Opened Anki in safe mode, and the issue was still there.
Reset the window sizes
Adjusted appearance zoom size (only changes the text size) in Anki’s settings
Browsed all anki settings looking for something to turn this off
Browsed all window tiling settings on my Mac’s settings
Completed every suggestion currently listed on this forum
I am really not ok with this not working how it used to.
This has been happening for me on Mac for a while (even before the newest Anki version). It didn’t always do this but I agree it’s pretty annoying to deal with.
@BenJamesBen hit the nail on the head with that breakdown of how macOS handles different window types.
What we are seeing here is an unintended side effect of Anki upgrading its underlying development framework from Qt5 to Qt6 (which was necessary to properly support modern Apple Silicon chips and security updates).
In older versions of Anki (built on Qt5), the Add and Browse dialogs were registered to macOS as the second type of window you described—essentially utility panels or child dialogs. Because of this, macOS allowed them to float directly on top of the main full-screen window without switching Spaces.
However, in Qt6, the framework handles window flags differently on macOS. It now initializes the Add and Browse dialogs as standard, top-level independent windows (your first category, like a new Safari window). Because macOS Golden Gate enforces strict isolation on native full-screen apps, it sees these “new” top-level windows and immediately banishes them to their own dedicated Spaces, causing the annoying sliding animations @ankigall and @Ahmed7 are experiencing.
Since opening it in Safe Mode doesn’t fix it (as it’s a core framework/OS limitation, not an add-on issue), this would definitely need to be submitted as an Enhancement Request.
The developers would need to explicitly change the Qt6 window flags for the Add, Browse, and Edit dialogs to act as child windows, sheets, or non-activating panels (Qt::Tool or Qt::Sheet flags in the code) so macOS treats them as floating overlays rather than independent desktop views.
Until they implement a fix, the best workaround to get the exact old behavior back is to exit native full-screen (Ctrl + Cmd + F), and instead hold the Option key while clicking the green plus/zoom button to manually maximize the window. If you hide your Mac Dock and Menu Bar in System Settings, it looks identical to full-screen, but your pop-ups will finally stay on the same screen again!
