Explorer.exe randomly taking focus - Windows 11

Anonymous
2023-02-08T00:52:23+00:00

Firstly, I've been using my same PC for 3 years (minus a few upgrades, graphics card etc) on windows 10 and never ever had this issue.

Recently I had the pop up saying I'm eligible to upgrade to Windows 11 - Cool, why not.

So I've been using windows 11 for a couple of weeks now and I'm enjoying it... apart from one VERY annoying issue I'm having.

When playing a fullscreen application (or borderless window, it doesnt matter) It will randomly minimize itself to start bar, the same kind of action If I were to Alt-Tab out of it.

This isn't an issue with any one program, it can happen in any game I'm playing, or even just fullscreen applications I leave running, such as Heaven benchmark or other benchmarking programs.

Its not an accidental press of windows key or anything daft like that, It even happens when gaming with a PS5 controller, hands nowhere near the desk.

This can happen within a minute or 2 of playing a game, or sometimes go as long as 20 minutes without happening, but it WILL happen and will repeat itself periodically.

I figured somehow another window is taking focus out of my game and tabbing to it, but no other window or notification etc actually pops up, I'm just left staring at my desktop.

I managed to find a program online someone created which logs which windows are in focus in order, so using this program I was able to determine that when im gaming and this happens, the window taking focus is 'Explorer.exe'. which is suspiciously the same thing that is in focus if I just click on my background on my desktop from another program. Its essentially like my PC is just tabbing itself to desktop for no reason.

As mentioned above, ive not had this issue ever in 3 years with windows 10 and its only started happening when upgrading to windows 11 so clearly something new or different is causing this.

Things ive already tried... Disabling notifications, Turning on/off 'Game Mode'. Changing power plans. Disabling 'minimize when a second monitor is plugged in or removed.

None of these have solved this. At this point im thinking of just reverting back to windows 10 for now.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments

124 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2023-11-22T20:50:39+00:00

    Did you miss the 100s of reports of explorer stealing focus from other apps? This is an explorer.exe problem, not a VLC problem... please help to fix the actual problem.

    Was this answer helpful?

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-21T22:49:22+00:00

    why does microsht refuse to admit there is a problem that has already been coined as "windows explorer focus steal"?

    why do you keep insisting on giving useless redundant fixes telling your customers to perform a system file scan?

    why are the threads on reddit about this issue locked by moderators?

    for those unaware, this issue happens when you already have windows explorer open in the background but you have a different window in focus, what happens is windows explorer steals focus after a random amount of time.

    nice work, microsht. it has been at least 8 months since the first initial reports about this issue.

    Was this answer helpful?

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-12-05T08:43:36+00:00

    Recent? It's been like this since last year which stretches about half of Windows 11's lifespan so far. This isn't recent by any means at all. It's been a problem ever since they introduced the new Explorer with tab functionality.

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-09-26T19:35:30+00:00

    This problem was finally fixed (at least on my computer) after installing KB5030310 released today.

    Not on mine. The problem is really easy to reproduce. Just open two file explorers on the same window and just wait, it will happen even after KB5030310!

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  5. Anonymous
    2023-05-21T01:18:39+00:00

    same issue here, it happens randomly while playing games or even while using Chrome to watch videos :/

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments