Sometimes, Finale does something weird and it creates a coda system or something that looks like a coda system and you don’t want it. It’s a pain to get rid of…until today!


Why does it happen?

I have no idea.  It’s happened to me before, but I couldn’t tell you why.

What does the problem look like?

How to Fix It

  1. Using the default selector tool (hit escape a bunch of times to get there), right click the first measure next to the new barline, click Insert Measure Stack.  It’ll bring up a dialogue box that has the number 1 pre-filled.  Hit enter.
  2. Move the measures containing material you wrote to the next staff below.  Do this by using the keyboard shortcut Command + ↓ (on Mac) or Control + ↓ (on Windows).
  3. Switch to the page tool, right click the measure we inserted, and click delete systems.
  4. Select the system that is now compressed, right click, and select Edit Margins.  Set the Right margin to 0 and hit apply.
  5. Enjoy your coda-free music!


Zach Bornheimer
Zach Bornheimer

Zach Bornheimer is a musician and professional geek from South Florida currently attending the University of South Florida and pursuing both a Computer Science and Jazz Studies degree with minors in Mathematics and Business Economics. Find out more: http://about.me/zbornheimer.

    4 replies to "Finale’s Systems – Get Rid of Coda Structures"

    • David Morehead

      I have been using Finale since 1990 and this has never happened to me. Interesting.

      • Zach Bornheimer

        Yeah, it’s pretty weird! It tends to happen most to me if I use a coda and decide against it at the last minute.

    • Jim Maneri

      Yea man, that is the perfect work around! It is definitely a bug. 25 years on Finale and that’s never happened. Until last night. Nice problem solving, nice of you to take the time to blog it, Thanks for solving my problem right away, and send this to Finalé maybe? You rock!

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