processing / processing/processing4

Opening a new sketch doesn't replace the default empty window

Open
#1,117 7 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee View on GitHub

@AbhishekTiwari9926 is already working on this.

Since Feb 25, 2026.

enhancement help wanted pde
Dominant language
Java
Stars
494
Forks
183
Avg merge
4h 39m
Merged PRs (30d)
3

Description

Most relevant area for this enhancement?

PDE

Feature to enhance

Sketch window behavior on startup

Desired enhancement

When starting Processing and immediately opening a sketch (like an example or a recent sketch), the initial sketch window remains open even though it wasn't used.

When opening an existing sketch from the Examples browser or the File menu, the default empty sketch window (sketch_XXXXXa) should automatically close or be reused, instead of remaining open in the background.

Image
Potential benefits

It makes the interface feel more intentional and avoids unnecessary windows.

Possible drawbacks

No response

Additional context

No response

Would you like to work on the issue?

This can be assigned to a contributor

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Assessment

This issue has not been assessed yet.

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.