Preview not opening all images in separate windows

Preview - open all files in own windows, Tahoe 26.1

In System Settings I have "prefer tabs when opening documents" set to "never". In Preview I have "open each file in its own window" selected.

Yet when opening 30+ images via selecting in Finder and using "open with Preview" only a dozen are opened in separate windows, with the rest in one tabbed window.

How can I stop this? It is absolutely infuriating.

I've tried Terminal commands but they didn't help.

% defaults write -app Preview AppleWindowTabbingMode -string never

% defaults write -app Preview AppleWindowTabbingMode -string manual

% defaults write -app Preview AppleWindowTabbingMode -string fullscreen

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 26.1

Posted on Nov 15, 2025 9:49 AM

17 replies

AlWeir

Level 5

4,983 points

Nov 15, 2025 12:02 PM in response to chocfruit

Must be a limitation in the app it's self. I would definitely send your thoughts to Apple about it and have their code adjusted.

dialabrain

Level 10

135,881 points

Nov 15, 2025 3:06 PM in response to chocfruit

chocfruit wrote:

Not everyone comes here to complain about things which annoy them in macOS.

Thankfully. 😎 Personally I don't know the reason behind the limit. Only Apple knows.

Preview not opening all images in separate windows