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.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 RPAMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3400GE @3.30 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo)20 GB DDR4 2666 (1x16GB + 1x4GB)AMD Radeon Vega 11
OS
Windows 11 RP
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M75Q-1
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3400GE @3.30 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo)
Motherboard
Lenovo 3151
Memory
20 GB DDR4 2666 (1x16GB + 1x4GB)
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon Vega 11
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
AOC 2369
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
WD 512 GB NVME + SPCC 240GB SATA SSD
PSU
External 65W
Case
Mini (1L)
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
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11
OS
Windows 11
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.
1671814646155.png
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Win-7-10-11Pro's10900k & 9940x & 5930kTrident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 36...Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
OS
Win-7-10-11Pro's
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Acer 17" Nitro 7840sn/ 2x16gb 5600c40/ 4060/ stock 1tb-os/ 4tb sn850x
CPU
10900k & 9940x & 5930k
Motherboard
z490-Apex & x299-Apex & x99-Sabertooth
Memory
Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 3600c16 4x8gb & 3200c14 4x8gb
Graphics Card(s)
Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
Sound Card
Onboard Realtek x3
Monitor(s) Displays
1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Screen Resolution
1920-1080 not sure what the t.v is besides 43" class scales from 1920-1080 perfectly
Hard Drives
2-WD-sn850x 4tb/ 970evo+500gb/ 980 pro 2tb.
PSU
1000p2 & 1200p2 & 850p2
Case
D450 x2 & 1 Test bench in cherry Entertainment center
Cooling
Custom water loops x3 with 2x mora 360mm rads only 980ti gaming air cooled
Keyboard
G710+x3
Mouse
Redragon x3
Internet Speed
xfinity gigabyte
Browser
Firefox
Antivirus
mbam pro
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.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11
OS
Windows 11
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?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

windows 11
OS
windows 11
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
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11
OS
Windows 11
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.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

windows 11
OS
windows 11
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
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Home - 26200.8246 - 25H2Ryzen 5500U
OS
Windows 11 Home - 26200.8246 - 25H2
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Huawei Matebook D15 Ryzen 5500U 8GB / 512 SSD, Windows 11 Home Single Language
CPU
Ryzen 5500U
Keyboard
Logitech K380, G15
Mouse
Logi m350, Everest SM-620, Logitech G9, Lecoo WS210
Browser
Chrome (Desktop), Vivaldi (Mobile)
Antivirus
Windows Security, (Alternative Eset)
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.
 

My Computers My Computers

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel Series 3 Core Ultra X9 388H64GB LPDDR5x 9600 MT/sIntel Arc graphics B390 Panther Lake
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 16 DA16260
    CPU
    Intel Series 3 Core Ultra X9 388H
    Memory
    64GB LPDDR5x 9600 MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Arc graphics B390 Panther Lake
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16" 3.2K Tandem OLED Infinity Edge
    Screen Resolution
    3200 x 2000 16:10 236 PPI
    Hard Drives
    1 Terabyte M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
    Case
    Black Anodized Aluminum
    Cooling
    Vapor Chamber Cooling
    Mouse
    None
    Internet Speed
    942 Mbps Netgear Mesh + 2 Satellites
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge (Chromium)
    Antivirus
    Windows Security (Defender)
    Other Info
    NPU delivering 67 TOPS
    Microsoft 365 subscription
    Microsoft Office 365
    Microsoft OneDrive 1TB Cloud
    Microsoft Visual Studio
    Microsoft Visual Studio Code
    Microsoft Sysinternals Suite
    Microsoft BitLocker
    Microsoft Copilot
    Dell Support Assist
    Dell Command | Update
    Macrium Reflect X subscription
    1Password Password Manager
    Amazon Kindle for PC
    Lightroom/Photoshop subscription
    Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation
  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProSnapdragon® X Elite (12 Core) with Hexagon NP...32GB LPDDR5x 8448 MT/sIntegrated Adreno GPU
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Snapdragon® X Elite (12 Core) with Hexagon NPU delivering 45 TOPS
    Memory
    32GB LPDDR5x 8448 MT/s
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Adreno GPU
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.8″ PixelSense Flow touchscreen 120 Hz 600 NIT
    Screen Resolution
    2304 × 1536 (201 PPI), 3:2 aspect ratio
    Hard Drives
    1 TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Black Anodized Aluminum
    Cooling
    Vapor Chamber Cooling
    Mouse
    None
    Internet Speed
    942 Mbps Netgear Mesh + 2 Satellites
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge (Chromium)
    Antivirus
    Windows Security (Defender)
    Other Info
    Microsoft 365 subscription (Office)
    Microsoft Office 365
    Microsoft OneDrive 1TB Cloud
    Microsoft Visual Studio 2026
    Microsoft Visual Studio Code
    Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation
    Lightroom/Photoshop subscription
    1Password Password Manager
    Microsoft Sysinternals
    Amazon Kindle for PC
    Microsoft BitLocker
    Microsoft Copilot
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.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11
OS
Windows 11
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.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11AMD Ryzen 5 5600x 6-coreGigabyte 2x8GB DDR4 1333.3NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5600x 6-core
Motherboard
Asus B550M-A (wi-fi)
Memory
Gigabyte 2x8GB DDR4 1333.3
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
SAMSUNG C24F390
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
SATA SSD
PSU
530W
Cooling
Cooler master
Browser
FireFox
Antivirus
ESET
:wink: My solution :

Run PowerShell as Administrator and type:

Powershell:
winget uninstall "windows web experience pack"

Restart PC and the problem is over :thumbsup:
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11
OS
Windows 11
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.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11
OS
Windows 11
:wink: My solution :

Run PowerShell as Administrator and type:

Powershell:
winget uninstall "windows web experience pack"

Restart PC and the problem is over :thumbsup:
Does not work, sorry.
Problem persists. But thanks for the tip.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 RPAMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3400GE @3.30 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo)20 GB DDR4 2666 (1x16GB + 1x4GB)AMD Radeon Vega 11
OS
Windows 11 RP
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkCentre M75Q-1
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3400GE @3.30 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo)
Motherboard
Lenovo 3151
Memory
20 GB DDR4 2666 (1x16GB + 1x4GB)
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon Vega 11
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
AOC 2369
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
WD 512 GB NVME + SPCC 240GB SATA SSD
PSU
External 65W
Case
Mini (1L)
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).
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11i7-12700K64GB (2x32GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance RGB RSGTX 970
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Build
CPU
i7-12700K
Motherboard
MSI MPG Z690 Edge WiFi
Memory
64GB (2x32GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance RGB RS
Graphics Card(s)
GTX 970
Sound Card
Realtek (Onboard)
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung SM2443BW, 2 x Samsung B1940
Screen Resolution
1920x1200, 2 x 1280x1024
Hard Drives
Samsung 980 Pro 1TB, Samsung 980 1TB
PSU
Corsair RM1000x
Case
Thermaltake View 71 ARGB
Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE LCD
Keyboard
Corsair K55 RGB Pro XT
Mouse
Corsair Nightsword RGB
Internet Speed
80 Mbit
Browser
Firefox
Antivirus
Symantec
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.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11
OS
Windows 11
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.
 

My Computers My Computers

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8875i9-10900 10 core 20 threads32 gbnone-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8875
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x1tb Solidigm m.2 nvme /External drives 512gb Samsung m.2 sata+2tb Kingston m2.nvme
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    #1 Edge #2 Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26200.8875AMD Ryzen 7 6800U32 gbintegrated
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26200.8875
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink Mini PC SER5
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800U
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics card(s)
    integrated
    Sound Card
    integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Crucial nvme
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    still too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    System 3 is non compliant Dell 9020 i7-4770/24gb ram Win11 PRO 26200.8875
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)
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11
OS
Windows 11

Latest Support Threads

Back
Top Bottom