Windows 11--most recently opened Explorer window keeps popping up into the foreground

Anonymous
2023-01-01T17:15:47+00:00

About a month ago Windows Explorer started the annoying habit of routinely moving its most recently opened window into the foreground. Is there a way to stop it from doing this?

For example, I'll open an Explorer window to open a file into another application, and a few minutes later, for no apparent reason, Windows Explorer will interrupt the application by popping its Explorer window into the foreground. The same thing will happen when watching a video: a minute or two into watching the video and the most recently opened Explorer window will move into the foreground interrupting the video.

The only way to stop this behavior is to close all Explorer windows while watching a video or working in another application. Annoying as heck. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Microsoft Windows 11 Home Version 10.0.22621 Build 22621

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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

575 answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-11-03T21:29:20+00:00

    I'm at an absolute total loss about why nobody there has managed to fix this after getting up towards one year (or more). That is ultra surprising. Very odd situation.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-11-03T19:44:15+00:00

    Thank you for the suggestion. I installed 23H2, but same issue, though maybe the File Explorer pop-ups are less frequent, but I'm not sure yet.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-11-03T14:38:12+00:00

    yesterday 02nov23: 2023-10 Update for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB4023057)no mention of 23H2 for me (Home version) (both my Win11 systems)I do have:  "Get the latest updates as soon as they're available"   set

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-11-03T14:15:20+00:00

    Thank you for the evidence here. Shame to see the issue is still present in the latest update.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

    Comments have been turned off. Learn more