OSX: Can't re-open main window once closed

[Calum Benson]

Once a VM is running, I like to close the main window to reduce desktop clutter. However, there is no way from the VM's menu bar (or the dock icon) to re-open the main window.

(FWIW, it's a violation of the Mac Human Interface Guidelines to completely change the menu bar for different windows of the same application. The menu bar should remain constant, with items only enabled/disabled according to context.)

[Frank Mehnert]

Please reopen if this problem still applies to the latest release 2.2.2.

[Calum Benson]

I don't think this is fixed at all. I was asking for a way to open the main VirtualBox.app window from a guest's menubar or dock icon, but I still see no way to do that.

[Frank Mehnert]

Works here. Just go to the Applications directory and start VirtualBox (the VM selector).

[Klaus Espenlaub]

Note that the VM manager GUI (shows as "VirtualBox" in the dock) is NOT the same thing as when you're running a VM (shows as "VirtualBoxVM" in the dock), and neither of them is truly document based. This means that the Apple human interface guidelines actually strongly recommend quitting the corresponding application when the last window is closed.

See ​Apple HIG: "In general, quit when users close the last open window in your app."

I really don't see what VirtualBox is doing wrong, and therefore this ticket remains closed.

[romanlevin]

Since the last comment here doesn't address the actual bug at all, I'm going to try and revive this.

The issue here is that when, using the GUI, I start a VM and then close the main GUI window, there is no way to open that window again without shutting down the VM first. This means that I can't for example, start another VM without shutting down the VM I currently running.

[Socratis]

Replying to romanlevin:

there is no way to open that window again without shutting down the VM first. This means that I can't for example, start another VM without shutting down the VM I am currently running.

Yes there is (go to /Applications, run VirtualBox), and no, you don't have to shut down any VM, what are you talking about? Why do you have to shut down your VM in order to have the VirtualBox Manager show up? I'm sorry, but what you're saying doesn't compute.

[romanlevin]

So I had this slightly wrong. You can reopen the main window by going to Applications/VirtualBox.app.

My problem was that at some point I attached VirtualBoxVM to my dock, and I was using that to start VirtualBox, unaware it was not the proper .app to run, since there is not visual difference between them.