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

Ben Layton

How To Complain Via Microsoft's Feedback Hub

If we all keep posting, etc., via MS's Feedback Hub it could help bring a quicker solution (squeaky wheel and all that). Here's how you do that:

On your Win 11computer (not sure how to do this in Win10), in Settings, go to System & scroll to bottom, select About, scroll to bottom again and punch Give Feedback.

Select:

Category - Files, Folders, & Online Storage

Subcategory - File Explorer

Then search for: "Sometimes on the latest version of Windows 11, File Explorer will take foreground focus by itself and go on top of the app I was using"

Then upvote it. You can also post your own grip thread there as well...

This issue has completely taken over our entire organization. If the file explorer window is left open in the background, it'll just randomly seize control and pup up on top of whatever you are working on. It is MASSIVELY frustrating and has caused us to accidentally delete things. PLEASE FIX THIS!

My laptop is an HP Zbook with AMD Radeon Pro WX3200, so looks like the issue is not linked to Nvidia

I seem to remember MS insisting on replacing/updating the Nvidia graphics card driver with their own - might there be a connection?

I have an RTX 3060 Ti using Nvidia's latest drivers (v531.68). If Microsoft is messing with that then I'm unaware.

I'm not convinced this is a useful line of enquiry - we've had people with AMD cards reporting the same issue (aromack was one, on page 12).

This issue have absolutely nothing to do with hardware at all. Use an AMD, Intel, nVidia or integrated graphics, it does not matter. Use an physical or an virtual computer, same deal. An laptop from 2010? Same issue, an laptop from this year? Same issue (except for processing power). This issue began the moment an update was installed, pretty sure it was an cumulative one too, so that means you can't really remove it, also if you have this issue it is basically too late to uninstall the update anyways since this annoyance is never persistent.

I can get a week where it never happens a single time or a single day where it happens like every hour or so. I can be gaming, working, watching a video/movie or recently rebooted computer with nothing running except for the explorer and a web browser, in fact, just having 2 explorer windows is enough to make it noticeable since the explorer window that is not in focus will actually just pull your focus at random.

I seem to remember MS insisting on replacing/updating the Nvidia graphics card driver with their own - might there be a connection?

I have an RTX 3060 Ti using Nvidia's latest drivers (v531.68). If Microsoft is messing with that then I'm unaware.

I'm not convinced this is a useful line of enquiry - we've had people with AMD cards reporting the same issue (aromack was one, on page 12).