Since 22H2, File Explorer windows sometimes spontaneously move to the front

Subscriber43 · Dec 23, 2022

Nifi235 said:
Hi, I'm having the same problem, has anyone found a fix yet? Would reinstalling Windows be a solution to this problem?

That's kind of an extreme step, unless it bothers you that much.
Microsoft will (hopefully) fix it eventually, probably in one of the next few upcoming builds.

Nifi235 · Dec 23, 2022

Subscriber43 said:
That's kind of an extreme step, unless it bothers you that much.
Microsoft will (hopefully) fix it eventually, probably in one of the next few upcoming builds.

Is there nothing we can do to fix it ourselves? This issue has been really annoying for me. But I'm concerned that reinstalling Windows won't fix this problem. Thanks

ThrashZone · Dec 23, 2022

Hi,
Never be surprised at what happens in developer or insider builds
Use the feedback hub.
I've not seen this on mainstream updates yet.

barreleye · Dec 23, 2022

Nifi235 said:
Hi, I'm having the same problem, has anyone found a fix yet? Would reinstalling Windows be a solution to this problem?

If you did that for every new Microsoft bug, that's all you'd ever be doing. IOW, absolutely not.

KrazyLurt · Dec 23, 2022

Happened again at precisely the same time as always, 18:31.
Disabling Nvidia telemetry did nothing sadly.

Are you guys getting this issue more than once per day? Anyone else that it happens on a specific time?

Nifi235 · Dec 23, 2022

KrazyLurt said:
Happened again at precisely the same time as always, 18:31.
Disabling Nvidia telemetry did nothing sadly.

Are you guys getting this issue more than once per day? Anyone else that it happens on a specific time?

For me it happened within seconds of 11:41 am every thursday-saturday for 2-3 weeks. Yesterday it happened at 5:05 pm. But on days it happens for me it happens once per day

KrazyLurt · Dec 25, 2022

I did a change yesterday and today I didn't get the issue at 18:31, or at all.

I noticed yesterday when monitoring TCP activity through TcpLogView that widget.exe was phoning MS a lot eventhough I have no widgets.
And widget.exe is always running in the bg eventhough Widgets is unchecked in windows settings.

So following this guide How do I prevent Widgets.exe from getting automatically started on Windows 11? I un-installed "windows web experience pack" through Powershell, see the link. This makes sure widgets.exe isn't running in the bg or sending packets through tcp.

I'm not sure this was the culprit or not, the bug might be back tomorrow who knows, but it's worth trying if you dont use widgets. And "windows web experience pack" can easily be re-installed with powershell again.

erhanercan · Dec 25, 2022

KrazyLurt said:
I did a change yesterday and today I didn't get the issue at 18:31, or at all.

I noticed yesterday when monitoring TCP activity through TcpLogView that widget.exe was phoning MS a lot eventhough I have no widgets.
And widget.exe is always running in the bg eventhough Widgets is unchecked in windows settings.

So following this guide How do I prevent Widgets.exe from getting automatically started on Windows 11? I un-installed "windows web experience pack" through Powershell, see the link. This makes sure widgets.exe isn't running in the bg or sending packets through tcp.

I'm not sure this was the culprit or not, the bug might be back tomorrow who knows, but it's worth trying if you dont use widgets. And "windows web experience pack" can easily be re-installed with powershell again.

I always remove widget.exe when I first set up the system. File explorer sometimes comes to the fore on its head though

TraderGary · Dec 25, 2022

FWIW, I've not had this experience on either of my two computers. I'm not a Windows Insider member. You can see my computer specs and how I use my computers by clicking on "My Computers" below.

barreleye · Dec 25, 2022

KrazyLurt said:
I did a change yesterday and today I didn't get the issue at 18:31, or at all.

I noticed yesterday when monitoring TCP activity through TcpLogView that widget.exe was phoning MS a lot eventhough I have no widgets.
And widget.exe is always running in the bg eventhough Widgets is unchecked in windows settings.

So following this guide How do I prevent Widgets.exe from getting automatically started on Windows 11? I un-installed "windows web experience pack" through Powershell, see the link. This makes sure widgets.exe isn't running in the bg or sending packets through tcp.

I'm not sure this was the culprit or not, the bug might be back tomorrow who knows, but it's worth trying if you dont use widgets. And "windows web experience pack" can easily be re-installed with powershell again.

It ain't widgets. I did the "winget uninstall" on them a long time ago, long before 22H2 introduced this new problem.

KrazyLurt · Dec 25, 2022

Damn

MasoudRahmani · Dec 26, 2022

It's like it would come when it can annoys you the most.
each time i am working on a project in vs code it would jump up to mess with every thought i had.

mxlexmark2 · Dec 27, 2022

My solution :

Run PowerShell as Administrator and type:

Powershell:

winget uninstall "windows web experience pack"

Restart PC and the problem is over :thumbsup:

KrazyLurt · Dec 27, 2022

mxlexmark2 said:
My solution :

Run PowerShell as Administrator and type:

Powershell:

winget uninstall "windows web experience pack"

Restart PC and the problem is over

Did that resolve the issue for you? I posted this as a possible solution in this thread.

barreleye · Dec 27, 2022

KrazyLurt said:
Did that resolve the issue for you? I posted this as a possible solution in this thread.

I and at least one other poster who had done this for other reasons long before the Explorer problem began have stated it doesn't help.

Subscriber43 · Dec 27, 2022

mxlexmark2 said:
My solution :

Run PowerShell as Administrator and type:

Powershell:

winget uninstall "windows web experience pack"

Restart PC and the problem is over

Does not work, sorry.
Problem persists. But thanks for the tip.

worldofneil · Dec 31, 2022

I've also been having the same problem since 22H2, but I've also narrowed my cause down to when the computer group policy refreshes, even if nothing has changed (this defaults to every 90 minutes with up to 30 minute random offset either side of that).

It's event ID 1500 in the event log (system log specifically) so perhaps others could check to see if they're finding this too? (if you're not connected to a domain you're not going to have any policy refreshes).

barreleye · Dec 31, 2022

worldofneil said:
I've also been having the same problem since 22H2, but I've also narrowed my cause down to when the computer group policy refreshes, even if nothing has changed (this defaults to every 90 minutes with up to 30 minute random offset either side of that).

It's event ID 1500 in the event log (system log specifically) so perhaps others could check to see if they're finding this too? (if you're not connected to a domain you're not going to have any policy refreshes).

I'm not connected to a domain, so this isn't a necessary factor.

glasskuter · Dec 31, 2022

None of you having this problem has indicated what version of 11 you are running. (My guess would be one of the insider builds.) For me, the release version has never had this problem. Search your feedback hub to see if others on insider have reported the same problem and if MS has responded.

barreleye · Dec 31, 2022

glasskuter said:
None of you having this problem has indicated what version of 11 you are running. (My guess would be one of the insider builds.) For me, the release version has never had this problem. Search your feedback hub to see if others on insider have reported the same problem and if MS has responded.

I'm running the release version. If I was running an Insider version, I would have said so.

ETA: Actually, in my OP, I did specify my OS: Windows 11 22H2 (OS Build 22621.819)