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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-05T16:00:34+00:00

    Same issue,

    Win 11 Enterprise x64

    10.0.22621 Build 22621

    Intel Core i7-1265U

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-10-04T15:06:33+00:00

    Same issue.

    Win 11 Enterprise x64

    10.0.22621 Build 22621

    Intel Core i7-8650U

    Intel UHD Graphics 620

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-02T22:08:05+00:00

    Last touched Explorer windows popup up is happening my Microsoft Surface Studio laptop, my Intel i9 gaming rig at home, and with a brand new, 15 minutes ago clean Windows 11 install on a Lenovo P16. Most annoying. Hoping a new build fixes it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-09-28T23:34:05+00:00

    I'm having a similar issue to this, but with the new Photos update that just installed for me in the last couple days. Any time I open a new image from Explorer, it opens all the image windows that I have and brings them to the foreground, even if they're minimized or behind other windows.

    Obnoxious and extremely intrusive. I often need multiple images open in the background and to open new ones here and there without everything coming to the front and getting completely in the way.

    This issue is quite different from the topic here, but it sounds like how MS Word acts when I open a new document while others are open. For image handling, I highly, highly, highly recommend IrfanView (https://www.irfanview.com ) instead of what comes with Windows. It's completely free, fast, easy to use, has lots of features, and you can open as many windows as you want and they will stay where you put them. I have been using Irfanview as my default image viewer, editor, and batch processor for over a decade. (I own Photoshop but only use it for fancy things Irfanview can't do.)

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-09-28T20:44:07+00:00

    As I reported (maybe two-months ago) I have not had the issue (of Windows Explorer popping up after launching an Excel file) since that posting.

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