Many users rely on Finale's ability to recall past files you've worked on so that they can be quickly relaunched. On Mac, this is actually a device-wide feature for many applications that can be enabled/disabled from System Settings (macOS 12 Monterey and earlier: System Preferences).
If you find that Finale's Open Recent menu (from File menu, Launch Window, or when long-clicking the Finale Dock icon) is empty and not populating, even if you've opened several scores in Finale, you likely need to adjust your computer's settings:
macOS 13 Ventura:
- Quit Finale.
- Click the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen and select System Settings.
- Navigate to the Desktop & Dock section in the left menu.
- Scroll down to Menu Bar and look for Recent documents, applications, and servers.
- Make sure the number is set to something other than none (10 is the default setting).
- Close System Settings and relaunch Finale.
- Open some files and then check File > Open Recent. The files you opened should be listed.
macOS 10.13 High Sierra through macOS 12 Monterey:
- Quit Finale.
- Click the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen and select System Preferences.
- Choose General.
- At the bottom, make sure Recent items: is set to something other than none (10 is the default setting).
- Close System Preferences and relaunch Finale.
- Open some files and then check File > Open Recent. The files you opened should be listed.