Windows Explorer expands folders inappropriately, jumping the folder you expand to the bottom of the navigation pane

Anonymous
2009-10-28T18:12:01+00:00

When using a left-side Navigation pane, if there are enough folders in the navigation pane such that you have a vertical scroll bar, if you click on a folder with the mouse (so as to see the contends in the right pane), then expand the folder (either by clicking on the + symbol or with the arrow key), then the left pane will automatically scroll up as far as it can such that the folder you expanded is still in view at the bottom of the pane. This removes the folder from under your mouse, where it would be expected to stay.

This is certainly a bug, as it only happens the first time you attempt to expand a folder in the manner. After doing it once, you can scroll the navigation (left) pane so that the folder in question is back in the middle of the pane, and it will expand and contract as expected, remaining under the mouse.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2011-06-30T22:14:30+00:00

Because many people seem to be interested in this issue, I'll post some info on my recent contact with Microsoft regarding this issue.

It seemed that everywhere this issue was talked about, all anybody would get from a Microsoft employee was a boilerplate "Thanks for your feedback" response. Never was the validity of the issue discussed or even acknowledged. I decided to write an email to the man in charge, Steve Ballmer, clearly laying out the problem with links to a walkthrough of the problem, this discussion, and the bug report with 220 votes (at the time). I realized that Steve would never read it himself, but I figured his email must get auto-forwarded to someone who might actually read it.

Two days later I got an email from an Advocacy Specialist from Microsoft saying a "grace case" has been created and the Windows Escalation Team would get in touch with me. The next day an Escalation Engineer emailed me asking when would be a good time to talk on the phone about the issues. So that he would be completely clear with what I was talking about, I recorded a screencast that walked through precisely what the issue was.

Edit: I've made a more condensed video demonstrating the "folder jump bug", view it here.

The end result of our talking was this:

  1. The engineers are aware of this issue.
  2. They may or may not provide a fix for it.

Nothing groundbreaking, but it's one more little push in the right direction. In my opinion, posting in this thread about the problem is virtually worthless. I would suggest:

  1. Voting up and commenting on the bug here:

http://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsServerFeedback/feedback/details/621426/bug-when-expanding-folders-in-explorer-server-2008-r2-and-windows-7

He said that site is closely monitored by the dev team.

  1. Writing intelligent, profanity-free complaints that mention how the bug negatively affects your everyday file-management workflow. Email these up the Microsoft food chain until you get a response. You are a paying customer and you deserve to be heard.

I got tired of dealing with it, so am now using XYplorer when doing heavy file management. It stings to have to pay for a decent file manager, but that is life. If this issue bothers you at all, please comment and vote on the bug, and write an email.

UPDATE 9/13/11: Bug is still present in Windows 8 Developer Preview, see it here.

UPDATE 1/30/12: Finally we have a public acknowledgment that this is in fact a bug that needs to be addressed, and it will apparently be fixed in the upcoming Windows 8 Beta. This is good news, but I know I will be using Win7 for at least another year or two, as will many, many others. We deserve a patch to fix this issue in Win7. Until that happens, keep bugging Microsoft about it.

FINAL THOUGHTS: This is a real bug with 645! votes on their feedback page, however MS has no plans to fix it for their Windows 7 users. The bug is fixed in Windows 8, which means nothing for a vast number of us who have no plans to upgrade. If this bug really gets under your skin, I suggest installing Classic Shell, which has been recommended a few times in this thread. You can choose to only install the 'Classic Explorer' feature which fixes this bug among others, and even brings back the old File Copy UI which is so nice to have back. I've been using it for many months now without any troubles.

Also, to those of you who think they find a solution to this problem by simply changing a few options settings somewhere... thank you for your desire to help all of us, but you must not be having the same problem, and please don't post your 'solution' here. If you read some of the 29 pages of this thread, you'll see every solution imaginable has been suggested. This is a bug in Explorer itself. If you use Windows 7 and plan to keep using it, your options are 1) use Classic Shell, or 2) use a third party file management tool, such as XYplorer. If you stumble across this thread because you just noticed this bug, please vote up the bug, and do either 1 or 2.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-02-10T06:59:32+00:00

    I can confirm that, as expected, Windows 7 SP1 RTM (that is, the final version you'll install soon) ... DON'T solve the bug.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-02-09T19:16:18+00:00

    I would like to ask  blaqsmith, the original poster, to edit his first post and add the links to the microsoft's official connect bugreport pages, so more people who hit this thread from search engines to see it first:

    Thank you in advance, blaqsmith.

    bug #1:

    Bug when expanding folders in Explorer (Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7)

    bug #2:

    Explorer should expand folder tree the Windows XP way

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-02-09T18:03:14+00:00

    This bug has frustrated me to no end as it is a CONSTANT ANNOYANCE to be throughout the day.  I have no desire to add aftermarket stuff to patch up Windows as I'm trying to keep my system as clean as possible and don't want to complicate things and possibly add further problems.

    Unbelievable that someone thinks this is a feature.  This is one of the most annoying bugs I have ever encountered.  I just went to the posted website to vote to have it fixed and found only 80 people had voted.  Why?  I soon found out as I had to sign up for Live Messenger (I'm not interested in chatting with people during the day.  I use my computer for work and need to be productive.) and then, that was not enough, I had to go through a registration process, etc.

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-02-09T08:38:01+00:00

    Classic Shell doesn't solve the problem, just masks it - common dialogs (open,save...) still show the bug.

    Yes, it's better than nothing for some people, but this way you have 2 different behaviors, one when directly using windows explorer and a different one when usind common dialogs. Confusing, at best

    It's not a perfect fix, but most people find Classic Shell greatly reduces the problem (and their urge to throw the computer out the window). Classic Shell mostly eliminates the problem in Windows Explorer, but as you said it will still exist in the open/save dialogs.

    Hopefully Microsoft will fix it, but the problem has existed for over two years so don't hold you breath. A future release of Classic shell could also add improved handling of the bug.

    Click here to vote for fixing it.

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    FAQ - Common Windows 7 Installation Questions & Answers

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