Window menu

How to get there

The Window menu is one of Finale’s unchanging menus; that is, it appears regardless of which tool is selected.

What it does

The Window menu controls (and indicates) which windows are open, and which are in front (active). It also has Tile and Stack commands, which automatically and neatly arrange multiple open windows into a more convenient layout.

Minimize • Minimize All • Zoom. Choose Minimize to minimize the active window (this is the same as clicking the yellow button in the document's title bar). Choose Minimize All to minimize all document windows. Choose Zoom to expand the window to full size, and choose it again to return the window to its prior size (this is the same as clicking the green button in the document's title bar).
Score Manager. Choose this command to display the Score Manager, which allows you to control virtually all aspects of your score instruments.
Mixer. Choose this command to open the Mixer, which offers master and staff controls that allow you to adjust playback output in real-time.
Movie Window. Choose this command to open Finale’s integrated Movie Window, which allows you to view movie clips and Finale’s scrolling playback simultaneously.
Playback Controls. Choose this command to display the Playback Controls, the floating window that controls playback in your file. Choose this item a second time - so that the check mark disappears - to hide the Playback Controls.
Main Tool Palette. When this item is checked, Finale’s Main Tool palette is open on the screen. The Main Tool Palette always floats in front of all other windows; you can close it by choosing this item so that the check mark disappears.
Simple Entry Palette. When this item is checked, the Simple Entry palette appears on the screen. Depending on the settings in Preferences-Palettes and Backgrounds, you may have to click the Simple Entry tool to display this palette.
Simple Entry Rests Palette. When this item is checked, the Simple Entry Rests palette appears on the screen. Depending on the settings in the Preferences-Palettes and Backgrounds dialog box, you may have to click the Simple Entry tool to display this palette.
Smart Shape Palette. When this item is checked, the Smart Shape palette appears on the screen. Depending on the settings in Preferences-Palettes and Backgrounds, you may have to click the Smart Shape tool to display this palette.
Special Tools Palette. When this item is checked, the Special Tools palette appears on the screen. Depending on the settings in Preferences-Palettes and Backgrounds, you may have to click the Special Tools tool to display this palette.
Tile Windows. If more than one file window is open on the screen, this command neatly places them one atop the other, subdividing your screen area so that all windows are the same size. The active window is the one whose title bar is highlighted.
Cascade Windows. If more than one file window is open on the screen, this command neatly stacks them so that they overlap by a half-inch or so, as though they're a deck of cards being fanned from upper-left to lower-right. Because this arrangement leaves each window's name bar visible, it's easy to jump from one window to another (by clicking any visible part of it). The active window is the one in the lower-right.
New Window. Choose this command to create a duplicate of the active window (and of the same file), in which you can scroll, enlarge, reduce, or change views independently of the original window. The various windows of a single file are identified in the bottom portion of the Window menu.
When you edit music in one of the duplicate windows, the music is instantly edited in the other window(s) as well. This can be useful if you have a score with multiple linked parts. You can tile the Score window and the Part window and observe how your edits in one affect the other.
Bring All to Front. Choose this OS X command to bring all Finale windows to the foreground (in front of any other running applications).
[File windows]. The names of all file windows are listed in the order they were opened at the bottom of the Window menu. A check mark appears by the active window. Choose a window's name to make it active.

Tip: To switch the active document window, press COMMAND+` (grave accent).