Supported apps and restore levels
ReturnFast keeps one Back/Forward history across Mac apps. The depth of a saved location depends on what each app exposes through macOS.
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Compatibility matrix
“Capture” is the context placed in the navigation trail. “Restore” is the action ReturnFast can take when you go Back or Forward.
| App family | Recognized apps | What is captured | What is restored | Important limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chromium browsers | Google Chrome, Chrome Beta, Chrome Canary, Brave, Microsoft Edge | The active tab title and full URL, including a URL fragment when present. | Activates the browser and selects an open tab whose URL exactly matches the captured URL. | The tab must still be open and its URL must still match. Safari and Firefox use window-level fallback. |
| Code editors | VS Code, VS Code Insiders, Cursor, VSCodium, Windsurf | The editor window and file name, plus a file path and line when the editor exposes them to macOS. | Opens the captured file and line when those details are available; otherwise raises the captured editor window. | File- and line-level restore is best effort because editor accessibility data varies by version and workspace. |
| Finder | Finder | The front Finder window, folder name, and folder path. | Raises the matching Finder window or reopens the captured folder if that window has closed. | A folder must still exist at the captured path. |
| Scriptable terminals | iTerm2, Terminal | The active session or window name and the focused window title. | Raises the matching terminal window. | ReturnFast does not recreate a closed shell, command, session, or working directory. |
| Window-title terminals | Ghostty, WezTerm, kitty, Alacritty | The focused terminal window title. | Raises the matching terminal window. | Restore is window-level; available detail depends on what the terminal puts in its title. |
| Other Mac apps | Slack, Discord, Teams, and other applications with accessible windows | The active application and focused window title when macOS exposes one. | Activates the application and raises the matching window, including un-minimizing it when possible. | There is no deep adapter for a Slack thread, chat message, document position, or other in-app object. |
What “exact restore” means
- URL-level: ReturnFast can select an existing Chromium tab with the exact URL it captured.
- File-level: an editor file can be reopened when a usable full path was available during capture. A line is added when the editor exposed one.
- Folder-level: Finder can reopen a folder at its captured path.
- Window-level: ReturnFast finds a window by its title, or falls back to the first available window when the original title is unavailable.
ReturnFast cannot reconstruct content that an app no longer has. A closed browser tab, deleted file, ended terminal session, or renamed window may therefore fall back to the app or another available window.
Permissions behind compatibility
Accessibility permission lets ReturnFast read focused window information and raise a specific window. Chromium browsers, iTerm2, Terminal, and Finder also use macOS Automation when reading or selecting app-specific context. macOS controls both permissions, and you can review them in System Settings.
Read the full capture and restore explanation or see which data stays on your Mac.
If your app is not listed
ReturnFast normally uses its window-level fallback: it records the frontmost app and focused window title, then activates that app and raises the closest available window. This is useful across many apps, but it is not an app-specific integration.
To report a compatibility problem, include the app name, version, and the context ReturnFast did or did not restore when you contact support.