An app shows one row instead of its windows

First, make sure it's this problem. A row with a bold count at its right end is a group, which you get with Group by app, or a browser window's tabs: press → or click the count to see what's inside. A “No windows” row for an app that really has no windows open is normal too; it's there while Settings › General › Show apps without windows is on. This page is about an app whose windows you can see on screen, but not in Flick. If a single window is missing rather than a whole app, start with a window is missing from Flick's list.

A busy or stuck app

Flick asks each app for its windows through Accessibility, the same channel macOS uses for VoiceOver. Every app is asked separately, on its own queue. An app that's launching, loading something heavy or not responding can take a while to answer, so its windows show up late, or the app shows as one row until they do.

Flick doesn't wait on it. If an app doesn't answer, Flick asks again after a second, then at growing intervals, until it does. Meanwhile the panel and every other app's windows work as usual: one stuck app never slows down the rest.

Windows macOS doesn't report as standard

Flick lists a window when macOS reports it as a standard window or a dialog, at the normal window level, and at least 40 points wide and tall. Some apps draw windows that don't fit that description:

• a window the app keeps on top of all the others, at a floating level like a palette's;
• a window the app reports as a panel or with no standard role;
• a window the app draws without telling Accessibility about it at all.

Flick can't tell the first two from a palette or an overlay, and it never hears about the third, so the app appears as one row. Picking that row asks macOS to open the app, which brings it forward. An app with no window open may open a new one, as Finder and Mail do.

Electron apps

Slack, Visual Studio Code and other apps built with Electron are a special case: some of them report their windows only when they're asked. Flick asks for you when it sees one of their windows on your current Space but gets none back. If one of these apps shows as one row, bring one of its windows onto your current Space, then open Flick again. Windows from Electron apps don't appear explains why.

What you can try

1. Give it a moment

   Close Flick, wait a few seconds and open it again. Windows that arrive while the panel is open are added at the end of the list.

2. Bring the app forward once

   Click the app's window, or pick its row in Flick. For an Electron app, this is the fix: Flick needs one of its windows on your current Space.

3. Quit and reopen the app

   If the app has stopped responding, quit it and open it again. Flick can quit it for you: select its row and press ⌥⇧Q. If a normal quit doesn't work, open the row's actions menu with ⌥⇧K, press F for Force Quit, then Return to confirm. In macOS itself, ⌥⌘Esc force quits an app.

4. Tidy the row away

   If an app always appears as one row and that bothers you, turn off Settings › General › Show apps without windows, which removes every “No windows” row and never a window. Or ignore just that app: choose Ignore and the app's name in its actions menu. See Flick's list settings and ignore an app.

Questions