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

barreleye · Nov 21, 2022

I normally close File Explorer windows after using them, but sometimes I forget, and since the 22H2 update, I've noticed that File Explorer windows sometimes spontaneously move to the front. After engaging in an arms race with developers in the 90's and 00's to stop programs from stealing focus in this way, Microsoft seems to have largely given up on preventing applications from doing this, but these Explorer windows are just sitting there doing nothing when it happens. They haven't completed any action and have no reason to try to get attention, which is usually why apps want to do this. I can't be sure, but this new behavior may have begun when File Explorer tabs were enabled, but using tabs is not a condition for the misbehavior. It definitely did not happen before 22H2. No other windows do this. Anyone else notice this?

barreleye · Nov 24, 2022

It happened just now when I clicked a Twitter trending link in Firefox. The File Explorer window was on the other side of the screen, so it couldn't be explained with bleedthrough, improbable as that would be. I wish it were reproducible, but it's apparently random and somewhat infrequent. Maybe I'll leave a File Explorer window open all the time to better assess the behavior.

Subscriber43 · Nov 24, 2022

I have experienced this too. It started recently, and is extremely annoying.
And yes, I believe it started since the advent of the tabs.

MasoudRahmani · Dec 17, 2022

Thank you for starting this thread.
It has been irritating me constantly.

A inconsistent pattern that i saw explorer jumps up was when my background changes therefore my accent color has to be updated.
That was a common thing i noticed between jumps.

OAT · Dec 17, 2022

I started seeing this as well in the Dev build last week.
It is infrequent and surprising.

erhanercan · Dec 17, 2022

barreleye said:
Normalde Dosya Gezgini pencerelerini kullandıktan sonra kapatıyorum, ancak bazen unutuyorum ve 22H2 güncellemesinden bu yana, Dosya Gezgini pencerelerinin bazen kendiliğinden öne geçtiğini fark ettim. 90'larda ve 2000'lerde geliştiricilerle programların bu şekilde odağı çalmasını engellemek için bir silahlanma yarışına girdikten sonra Microsoft, uygulamaların bunu yapmasını engellemekten büyük ölçüde vazgeçmiş görünüyor, ancak bu Explorer pencereleri hiçbir şey yapmadan orada öylece oturuyor. . Herhangi bir eylemi tamamlamadılar ve dikkat çekmeye çalışmak için hiçbir sebepleri yok, bu yüzden genellikle uygulamalar bunu yapmak ister. Emin değilim, ancak bu yeni davranış, Dosya Gezgini sekmeleri etkinleştirildiğinde başlamış olabilir, ancak sekmelerin kullanılması hatalı davranış için bir koşul değildir. Kesinlikle 22H2'den önce olmadı. Başka hiçbir pencere bunu yapmaz. Bunu fark eden başka biri var mı?

I have that same problem. File explorer sometimes opens on its own. Or it's coming from the front if it's on. I've been observing this. I thought it was just me.

mxlexmark2 · Dec 17, 2022

I have that same problem

jds63 · Dec 17, 2022

Never seen nor had this issue before. Almost a month since thread starter posted and has no response since.

Winuser · Dec 17, 2022

I'm running The Insider Dev build on three computers and I've never experienced this problem. My wife is running the latest release to the public build and she never had this problem. If she did, I would be the first to know. Fixing any problems on our home computers is my job. Even our son comes to me when he can't fix a problem on his desktop.

barreleye · Dec 17, 2022

MasoudRahmani said:
Thank you for starting this thread.
It has been irritating me constantly.

A inconsistent pattern that i saw explorer jumps up was when my background changes therefore my accent color has to be updated.
That was a common thing i noticed between jumps.

I do use Windows Spotlight for wallpaper, but I normally use maximized windows so don't typically notice when it loads a new one. I guess I could switch to a static wallpaper to see if it stops happening, but where's the fun in that? lol

Besides this, the other thing that started within the last few weeks is the taskbar refreshing the icons. This happens as frequently as every hour or two.

barreleye · Dec 18, 2022

OK, an open File Explorer window just spontaneously jumped to the front, and the desktop wallpaper definitely had NOT changed. Still using Windows Spotlight, so that's not the reason. This window had multiple tabs open. I'll trying leaving one open with a single tab and see if it happens.

barreleye · Dec 18, 2022

barreleye said:
OK, an open File Explorer window just spontaneously jumped to the front, and the desktop wallpaper definitely had NOT changed. Still using Windows Spotlight, so that's not the reason. This window had multiple tabs open. I'll trying leaving one open with a single tab and see if it happens.

ETA: Multiple tabs vs. a single tab isn't the reason, either.

fleapower · Dec 19, 2022

I'm having the same issue. Has anyone tried disabling AutoPlay to see if that stops the behavior? I just turned it off to see if that helps.

MasoudRahmani · Dec 19, 2022

I am watching full-screen movie even there explorer jumps.
I had one explorer with one tab open. movie file was selected. Downloads on left panel was selected too.
I was connected to WiFi with no Internet. I had no background application.

fleapower · Dec 19, 2022

fleapower said:
I'm having the same issue. Has anyone tried disabling AutoPlay to see if that stops the behavior? I just turned it off to see if that helps.

This doesn't work. Just had Explorer pop to the front.

barreleye · Dec 19, 2022

fleapower said:
I'm having the same issue. Has anyone tried disabling AutoPlay to see if that stops the behavior? I just turned it off to see if that helps.

Turning off AutoPlay is one of the first things I do after installing Windows. That ain't it.

KrazyLurt · Dec 22, 2022

I too have this bug, for me it's happening at a specific time or time frame. Two days in a row at 18:31 CET, but I think it have happened in between 18:25 and 18:31 before.

This is on Windows 11 Stable, and also now when testing the latest beta build.

Nothing shows up in Event Viewer, but Task Scheduler have NvTmRep_CrashReport2_{B2FE1952-0186-46C3-BAEC-A80AA35AC5B8} at a 18:25 schedule everyday. This is NVIDIA crash reporter and I will disable this as well as the other nvidia telemetry tasks and see if that helps.

Wish me luck =)

fleapower · Dec 22, 2022

KrazyLurt said:
I too have this bug, for me it's happening at a specific time or time frame. Two days in a row at 18:31 CET, but I think it have happened in between 18:25 and 18:31 before.

This is on Windows 11 Stable, and also now when testing the latest beta build.

Nothing shows up in Event Viewer, but Task Scheduler have NvTmRep_CrashReport2_{B2FE1952-0186-46C3-BAEC-A80AA35AC5B8} at a 18:25 schedule everyday. This is NVIDIA crash reporter and I will disable this as well as the other nvidia telemetry tasks and see if that helps.

Wish me luck =)

Just curious, how many other folks experiencing this issue have an NVIDIA card? I do, for one.