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

MilfordBadger · Oct 11, 2023

mlamiroy said:
It also happens in Windows 11 Home, where the grouppolicies folder by default remains empty.

Ah, that's disappointing then. I don't have a Home edition at hand to test.

barreleye · Oct 11, 2023

antspants said:
Easiest fix with this particular bug, I find, don’t have file explorer open when you’re not using it. Which isn’t a biggie, most of the time.

First words in the OP of this thread, "I normally close File Explorer windows after using them, but sometimes I forget". I remember writing them. :)

barreleye · Oct 11, 2023

MilfordBadger said:
I think I figured how to fix this annoyance.
It is linked to computer's local Group Policies and automatic schedule when Windows updates them every 90 minutes or so.
You can test this by closing all open explorer windows, then opening a fresh one and running gpupdate /force in command prompt.
The explorer should popup to front.

The Fix:
Clear all local group policies. Easiest way is to just delete files and folders in subfolder C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicies
See here a more complete guide: How to reset all Local Group Policy settings on Windows 10

I figured this when I compared one of my Win11 computers which didn't have this bug and noticed that on affected machines there were some local Group Policy files created with references to explorer. I have no idea what had created those policy settings as I haven't created ones myself.
I guess they were created by some installed application or possibly some Microsoft update. In any case, after clearing the C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicies folder the problem seem to be gone.

This was discussed last year, and the person who suggested it then noted that you have to be connected to a domain, and you will have event ID 1500 in the System log when it happens. I replied neither of those factors apply to me, so it isn't the sole cause, if it's a cause at all:

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

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.

www.elevenforum.com

FWIW, the only workaround I've seen confirmed by others since I started this thread is the one I mentioned a few days ago, namely, minimizing Explorer windows that you need to come back to later.

antspants · Oct 11, 2023

barreleye said:
First words in the OP of this thread, "I normally close File Explorer windows after using them, but sometimes I forget". I remember writing them. :)

I’m referring to my own fix for this issue, not yours

barreleye said:
, minimizing Explorer windows that you need to come back to later.

Still happens, at least for me.

barreleye · Oct 11, 2023

antspants said:
I’m referring to my own fix for this issue, not yours

Well, the point is, 90% of this thread is redundant. BTW, it would have been funnier if you had phrased your own fix like the old joke, "Doc, it hurts when I move my arm like this! Well, don't move your arm like that." Now that's classic!

Still happens, at least for me.

Aw. That's a real shame.

antspants · Oct 11, 2023

barreleye said:
Well, the point is, 90% of this thread is redundant. BTW, it would have been funnier if you had phrased your own fix like the old joke, "Doc, it hurts when I move my arm like this! Well, don't move your arm like that." Now that's classic!

When a second person reports the same bug in a thread, it’s no longer your bug, it’s a bug, otherwise the would be threads on the exact same issue all over the place. People have different fixes for bugs, the only fix I personally found that worked was to close file explorer.

Aw. That's a real shame.

Are you 12?

barreleye · Oct 11, 2023

antspants said:
When a second person reports the same bug in a thread, it’s no longer your bug, it’s a bug, otherwise the would be threads on the exact same issue all over the place. People have different fixes for bugs, the only fix I personally found that worked was to close file explorer.

I don't understand what you're trying to express in your first sentence. As for your second, do you think everyone needs to chime in with what personally worked for them, especially when it consists of, "Well, I just don't do it," which everyone can figure out for themselves, and which was captured in the first sentence of this nearly year-old thread? I sure don't.

Are you 12?

I think it's quite something that anyone is able to immediately and definitively reply that minimizing the window doesn't work. When I put that forth as an hypothesis a couple of weeks ago, I said I had to test it, because I don't have perfect recall of the minutiae of my moment to moment activities over long periods of time. I followed up as I said I would to report it hadn't popped up after 5 days of using my computer normally, which is pretty much all day long. Personally, if I were to dispute a claim like that, I would have more to say than simply, "Still happens", which is what you posted an hour and twenty minutes after I referred to that experiment in a reply to someone else. If you performed your own experiment in that short timeframe, I would encourage you to try to develop a repro case, because I don't know that anyone is able to elicit the problem with such promptness, although people connected to domains have talked about automatic group policy updates, which occur at regular times, accompanied by Event ID 1500 in the System log. Again, the problem I've been talking about occurs absent those conditions, and it would thus be nice to know if the popping up from the minimized state you say "still happens" is associated with it or not. We might be talking about different things.

antspants · Oct 11, 2023

barreleye said:
I don't understand what you're trying to express in your first sentence. As for your second, do you think everyone needs to chime in with what personally worked for them, especially when it consists of, "Well, I just don't do it," which everyone can figure out for themselves, and which was captured in the first sentence of this nearly year-old thread? I sure don't.

I think it's quite something that anyone is able to immediately and definitively reply that minimizing the window doesn't work. When I put that forth as an hypothesis a couple of weeks ago, I said I had to test it, because I don't have perfect recall of the minutiae of my moment to moment activities over long periods of time. I followed up as I said I would to report it hadn't popped up after 5 days of using my computer normally, which is pretty much all day long. Personally, if I were to dispute a claim like that, I would have more to say than simply, "Still happens", which is what you posted an hour and twenty minutes after I referred to that experiment in a reply to someone else. If you performed your own experiment in that short timeframe, I would encourage you to try to develop a repro case, because I don't know that anyone is able to elicit the problem with such promptness, although people connected to domains have talked about automatic group policy updates, which occur at regular times, accompanied by Event ID 1500 in the System log. Again, the problem I've been talking about occurs absent those conditions, and it would thus be nice to know if the popping up from the minimized state you say "still happens" is associated with it or not. We might be talking about different things.

Just don’t leave Explorer open, works a treat

Yes, Explorer will pop up for me from a minimised state, tried & tested. Yes they’ll patch this.

barreleye · Oct 11, 2023

antspants said:
Just don’t leave Explorer open, works a treat

Rimshot!

Yes, Explorer will pop up for me from a minimised state, tried & tested.

Oh, in that case, Aw. That's a real shame.

antspants · Oct 11, 2023

barreleye said:
Rimshot!

Oh, in that case, Aw. That's a real shame.

Your replies come across better when you use AI to assist you.

barreleye · Oct 11, 2023

antspants said:
Your replies come across better when you use AI to assist you.

You just can't help yourself, can you.

hdmi · Oct 12, 2023

antspants · Oct 12, 2023

barreleye said:
You just can't help yourself, can you.

Don’t forget… close file explorer we you’re finished. It prevents the bug.

barreleye · Oct 12, 2023

And just like that, "Ignored".

Ghot · Oct 12, 2023

Everybody play nice, or I'm gonna start singing the Barney Song!
And you really won't like that.

antspants · Oct 12, 2023

Ghot said:
Everybody play nice, or I'm gonna start singing the Barney Song!
And you really won't like that.

mlamiroy · Oct 12, 2023

It is starting to look like this is not one but a series of related issues that result in similar unwanted behaviors and with different triggers.

What I have noticed by now, is that in my case, there are a limited number of triggers:
- A change in wallpaper when using a slideshow.
- Notifications that bypass the notification center, like, e.g., e-mail notifications from Chromium-based browsers.
- And sometimes a desktop refresh after a program is updated.

In all three cases, a desktop refresh is involved. What probably happens is that when the taskbar is refreshed by one of these triggers, the focus temporarily shifts to the Explorer icon in the taskbar, where it behaves like it is pressed rather than just refreshed.

antspants · Oct 12, 2023

mlamiroy said:
, the focus temporarily shifts to the Explorer icon in the taskbar, where it behaves like it is pressed rather than just refreshed.

Very possibly, it is after all the most dominant App? As apposed to any other app that may be open at the same time. Having said that, if I am playing a full screen game and I have Firefox open in the background (without explorer) Firefox doesn’t come to the front.

barreleye · Oct 12, 2023

mlamiroy said:
It is starting to look like this is not one but a series of related issues that result in similar unwanted behaviors and with different triggers.

What I have noticed by now, is that in my case, there are a limited number of triggers:
- A change in wallpaper when using a slideshow.
- Notifications that bypass the notification center, like, e.g., e-mail notifications from Chromium-based browsers.
- And sometimes a desktop refresh after a program is updated.

In all three cases, a desktop refresh is involved. What probably happens is that when the taskbar is refreshed by one of these triggers, the focus temporarily shifts to the Explorer icon in the taskbar, where it behaves like it is pressed rather than just refreshed.

As I believe I stated earlier, I'm using Windows Spotlight for wallpaper, and I know I've seen the wallpaper change without bringing File Explorer windows to the front. Of course, I haven't directly observed all such transitions, so I can't say it never happens. There are two cases where I've caught it in the act while I'm doing stuff, but they're not reproducible at will:

1. Pressing the Start button on my keyboard.
2. Typing in Edge or Firefox.

A lot of posts have gone to trying to pin it down, but I really doubt Microsoft is waiting for the community to determine the correlations before they look at fixing it. I think it's pretty well-established there's nothing you can do to solve the problem other than to avoid it, like trying to remember to close Explorer windows when you're through with them, as I mentioned in the thread starter, and like I mentioned more recently, try minimizing the ones you need to keep around for a while. I've had good luck with that.

mlamiroy · Oct 12, 2023

barreleye said:
As I believe I stated earlier, I'm using Windows Spotlight for wallpaper, and I know I've seen the wallpaper change without bringing File Explorer windows to the front. Of course, I haven't directly observed all such transitions, so I can't say it never happens. There are two cases where I've caught it in the act while I'm doing stuff, but they're not reproducible at will:

1. Pressing the Start button on my keyboard.
2. Typing in Edge or Firefox.

A lot of posts have gone to trying to pin it down, but I really doubt Microsoft is waiting for the community to determine the correlations before they look at fixing it. I think it's pretty well-established there's nothing you can do to solve the problem other than to avoid it, like trying to remember to close Explorer windows when you're through with them, as I mentioned in the thread starter, and like I mentioned more recently, try minimizing the ones you need to keep around for a while. I've had good luck with that.

I'm not using Windows Spotlight. I'm using a Theme that comes with a slideshow.