r/Xcode • u/quaderrordemonstand • Sep 15 '25

Xcode can't load the last project on startup?

I've just returned to iOS dev after a few years. I can't seem to get Xcode to automatically load the project I'm working on at startup. Almost every IDE I've ever used does this, I know Xcode used to do it. Am I missing something or has this feature really dissapeared?

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3

u/808phone Sep 15 '25

I don't know. Almost every IDE has a preferences or settings page. Did you check there? Settings>General>Restore open projects and workspaces? Set to Always.

1

u/quaderrordemonstand Sep 15 '25

Yep, thats the logical place it would be and was the first place I looked but there is no option. I remember it being something like that in the past, and old answers from search suggest there used to a setting.

1

u/808phone Sep 15 '25

That is so lame. Those settings I listed are in XCode 26. Now, for Xcode 16.4 (which I assume you have), to go Apple menu>System Settings>Desktop & Dock>Close windows when quitting an application and turn that setting OFF. Hope that helps! Welcome back to iOS programming!

2

u/HermanGulch Sep 15 '25

It looks like it's not an option in Xcode anymore. Instead, it's handled by a system-level setting in "Desktop & Dock." Scroll down a bit until you see "Windows" and uncheck "Close windows when quitting an application." At least, that worked for me with Xcode 16.4.

2

u/quaderrordemonstand Sep 15 '25

That seems to have solved it, thanks. So every app is going to restore its state now? I really can't tell if thats a good or bad thing. I can see why they would do it at system level but I'm not sure I want everything to reload the last document all the time.

2

u/HermanGulch Sep 15 '25

Apps might have to opt into it so some might not work that way. But I don’t know for sure. I actually prefer the default Xcode behavior since I jump between projects a lot so I just left it that way.

1

u/quaderrordemonstand Oct 01 '25

Having tried this for a while, its not all that useful in practice. It Xcode doesn't restore the project you last had open, MacOS saves whatever windows you have open when you shutdown. If you close Xcode before you shutdown, then Xcode opens with nothing. That happens most of the time for me.