Bug Report: Closing Zotero window with CMD-W when a document is open but My Library tab is active

hbuschme · 2025-10-16T14:37:01+00:00

I have recently noted that I cannot close the Zotero Window with CMD-W anymore, when one ore more documents tabs are open and the "My Library" tab has the focus. If a document tab is in focus, CMD-W closes this document and if no document tab is left CMD-W closes the Zotero window.

Closing the Zotero window with the mouse works regardless of which tabs are open or active and the state of the window is preserved (i.e., the document tabs are still there).

I'm running Zotero 7.0.26 on macOS 26.0.1.

dstillman · 2025-10-16T14:42:05+00:00

That's by design. Since the library tab itself can't be closed, it would be strange for Cmd-W to close the entire window there, and this prevents accidental closing of the main window with open tabs.

(The Thunderbird mail client, which has a main mailbox pane plus message tabs, does the same thing on the main pane.)

hbuschme · 2025-10-17T10:07:53+00:00

Thanks for the quick reply! I thought it was a recent issue, but on reflection, it has probably been bothering me for a while.

I would appreciate a configuration setting that would allow me to close the window regardless of open tabs (which are preserved when the window is reopened). I often need to move the Zotero window out of the way, but there doesn't seem to be a keyboard shortcut for this.

Alternatively, could there be a shortcut like alt+cmd+W that would close the window regardless of whether a tab is open or in focus? (Perhaps “accidentally” closing the window is more of a Windows problem, as on macOS the app keeps running in the background and the closed window instantly reappears when you click the Zotero icon in the Dock.)

poettli · 2025-10-17T10:13:03+00:00

Minimize any window in Mac: Cmd M

dstillman · 2025-10-17T14:16:48+00:00

I often need to move the Zotero window out of the way, but there doesn't seem to be a keyboard shortcut for this.

Cmd-M aside, one would normally just use Cmd-Tab to bring another app forward, and then switch back with the same shortcut without needing to find the icon in the Dock. Also, some Mac apps (like Photos) quit completely when the window is closed, so relying on Cmd-W just to view another window isn't really a great approach.

dstillman · 2025-10-17T14:21:43+00:00

But if you really want to hide the window, just press Cmd-H, which is better than Cmd-M, since the window will still reappear if you use Cmd-Tab, whereas a minimized window won't be automatically expanded on Cmd-Tab.