This strange behavior has been around for many years, and you are not alone, many of us wonder why...

We’ve been told in the past that when a file is opened, Finale runs a file check on it, resulting in the requirement to save.

True? ¿Quién sabe?

This strange behavior has been around for many years

Yep. I don't recall when it began.

True. Of course, Finale users know that Finale is the only app that does this. Likewise, Digital Performer users know that DP is the only app that exhibits this behavior. Well, there are other apps that do the same. Yes, really.

If you feel strongly about this, it's easily ignored—don't Save if you made no changes.

I was told Finale reads the date from the computer upon opening and of course even though you may have opened it only a few seconds before it would be seen as a change. Thus triggering the Save before exit. I have no idea if that is true or not.

Another odd behavior in this same vein is the re-opening of files upon close. Every once in a while Finale will restart itself even though nothing was wrong. No Finale isn't responding and will close screen. Regular closing out.

But we got file sharing! 😁

Every once in a while Finale will restart itself even though nothing was wrong. No Finale isn't responding and will close screen. Regular closing out.

Huh? In over 30 years, I’ve never seen this behavior—not once, not ever. I certainly don’t consider this normal behavior. You might want to diagnose the cause—could be a memory leak but doesn’t have to be caused by Finale.

Huh? In over 30 years, I’ve never seen this behavior—not once, not ever

Perhaps you are lucky. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, though.  I have seen it on a couple, at least three, different unrelated computers. So, unless all of them are faulty, I must think it to be a Finale issue. It seems so random and rare it isn't easy to tell how often it might happen or why.

No biggie just another annoyance like the Save thingy.

There have been versions of Finale where it was possible to open a file and close without a prompt appearing. I would welcome to have this again. It's annoying when you open up 20 files to search for something and then have to click 20 times to let the prompts disappear.

It's annoying when you open up 20 files to search for something and then have to click 20 times to let the prompts disappear.

Really? Hitting the Enter or Return keys doesn't do it for you? Works for me without having to click on anything.

… Hitting the Enter or Return keys doesn't do it for you? Works for me without having to click on anything …

You save the document (again) if you hit Enter or Return.

Instead I routinely hit Command-D (for Don’t Save).

Or, in Windows, just hit one key - N (for Save Changes? - No) 

If you are opening 1 file per day it's not an issue, but if you are working every day on hundreds of small files, for educational books for instance, then it is annoying. Also when you are working with macro programs such as quickeys. What I'm missing in the comments is what is against it. Almost every problem in Finale is solvable, directly or indirectly, but what is the problem with making the program more effective?

Exactly. This is an idiotic feature that has no apparent function. People have been complaining about it for years and it is really incomprehensible that it can't be fixed.

Reason?  One of or both reasons. One MM doesn't know how or two MM doesn't have the money to do so.