Exit Evernote when we close Evernote!

[estevancarlos 30]

It's been a trend for years to discreetly leave applications open despite the application being closed. This obviously wasn't always the case for many programs. It's inconvenient and the usage across apps is inconsistent. 

When we close Evernote by clicking on the close button it doesn't actually exit the program (as it should). Instead it leaves the application open and hidden in the taskbar. I'm confident this goes against UX expectations for Windows. I'm confident most users actually expect the application to "Exit" and not be hidden. Do stop this. Thanks.

[Mike P 2,641]

2 hours ago, estevancarlos said:

When we close Evernote by clicking on the close button it doesn't actually exit the program (as it should). Instead it leaves the application open and hidden in the taskbar.

This is hardly uncommon behaviour for many modern Windows programs and has been the case with Evernote long before V10. If you want to close EN completely either close it by right clicking the elephant icon and choosing "Quit Evernote" or within the app use File -> Quit Evernote.

[estevancarlos 30]

5 minutes ago, Mike P said:

This is hardly uncommon behaviour for many modern Windows programs and has been the case with Evernote long before V10. If you want to close EN completely either close it by right clicking the elephant icon and choosing "Quit Evernote" or within the app use File -> Quit Evernote.

That's a very incorrect behavior. The "close" button used to exit applications for decades.

[PinkElephant 8,111]

There has always been a difference between closing a window and quitting an application. This is even engrained into the keyboard shortcuts right since Windows 3.11: ctrl-w to close a window (or click at the X ), ctrl-q to quit the app (or using the menu command).

The idea behind it was that with multiple windows of an application becoming possible, closing one of the windows must not bring down the whole app. In most (but not all) cases closing the last window of an app is quitting it as well.

EN keeps the app alive even without a visible window - what may be surprising, but AFAIK is within design rules.

You can always and quickly bring it back up again from this invisible status.

Edited December 30, 2021 by PinkElephant

[agsteele 2,949]

It isn't my expectation.

Applications that do a single task and once complete are not needed I expect to close.

Applications that are working and doing things like using reminders, notifications, standing by to receive documents dropped into an import folder I would expect to sit quietly in the taskbar.

[ThinkingTree 1]

I too wish it would be closed.

At the very least there should be an option in the settings for this.

It's such a pain to have to close the app twice.; Since I'm used to the big red x closing most programs.

I'm aware I could close it from the file menu but who in god's name does that besides serial killers? :p

[Mike P 2,641]

6 minutes ago, ThinkingTree said:

I'm aware I could close it from the file menu

I agree that an option would be godd. To speed up the process Alt and then {Down arrow} or {Enter} and then  Q will do it. Separate key strokes NOT Alt  and {Down arrow} together. The key sequence can of course be automated using Autohotkey or similar.

[PinkElephant 8,111]

There are plenty of other apps that keep close window „X“ or ctrl/cmd-W separate from close the app ctrl/cmd-Q. This is part of the UI as well - on Macs it is handled with even more consequence. A click on the „red dot“ never quits an application.

To ask this to be changed just because out of personal preference to me sounds sort of frivolous.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

11 hours ago, ThinkingTree said:

I'm aware I could close it from the file menu but who in god's name does that besides serial killers? :p

So that makes me a serial killer, I guess. Sheesh. @agsteele's response literally right above yours sets out the reasons why Evernote's behavior is best for the kind of app it is (in contrast to, say, Notepad). Would you want your browser to completely shut down every time you closed one window?

[polas 1]

Please add an option to the settings to actually quit the program. all hotkeys are still active when the application is closed to the tray and this is very inconvenient especially that evernote take over common hotkeys and replaces them. We use other applications too and we expect their hotkeys to work. I think it is quite rude for programmers to presume how we want to use the software and leave us no option to choose. 

[Mike P 2,641]

7 minutes ago, polas said:

Please add an option to the settings to actually quit the program.

In the mean time, file 🢂 Quit Evernote doesn't seem that hard.

Or {Alt} (by itsef NOT with another key) then  {Down arrow} then {q}

[PinkElephant 8,111]

It is a natural that there is a difference between „Close“ and „Quit“. Windows users sometimes confuse the two, because in some apps the X does not only close the active window, but the whole app.

To let the app run in the background when an active window is closed is the UI standard. It has positive effects: Global shortcuts stay available, and the EN helper is running to make a QuickNote or a screenshot.

To quit as posted ctrl-Q.

[Mike P 2,641]

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

To quit as posted ctrl-Q.

Ctrl+Q on Windows is "switch to" not quit. I am not aware of a shortcut on Windows that quits EN completely. Alt+F4 just closes it.