windows hello opens behind existing window

Dear Charles McMullen Jr

Thanks for reaching out! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A. I'm Haien from Microsoft Q&A.

I understand that for the past couple of weeks, your Windows Hello/Credential Manager pop-up window has been opening behind the active window instead of on top of it. This forces you to click the taskbar to bring it to the foreground, which has become a nuisance. This is a frustrating problem, as it disrupts a core part of the Windows sign-in experience. A Windows security popup appearing behind an active window is usually caused by the User Account Control (UAC) settings or a misconfigured parent window.

Option 1: Check focus assist settings

• Go to Settings > System > Focus assist and ensure "Priority only" or "Alarms only" is selected, not "Off" or "Do not disturb," which might suppress pop-ups > Add "Windows Security" to the priority list under "Customize priority lists" and test logging in.

Option 2: Reset Windows Hello settings

• Open Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > scroll to "Windows Hello" and remove any existing PIN or biometric setup (e.g., face or fingerprint) > Reconfigure it by selecting "Set up" under the desired method, then test if the pop-up appears in front.

Option 3: Adjust User Account Control (UAC) Settings:

If your UAC is set to a lower level (like "Never notify"), it might prevent the security pop-up from appearing in the foreground.

To fix this, follow these steps:

• Open the Start menu > search for "User Account Control settings." > Adjust the slider to "Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer." > Click "OK" > restart your computer if prompted.

Option 4: Update or troubleshoot system

• Go to Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates to ensure you have the latest patches, as this might fix a recent bug.
• Run the System Troubleshooter: Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters > Windows Store Apps > Follow the prompts.

Recommendation: Report to Feedback Hub

If none of the above solutions work, I strongly recommend that you contact Microsoft Support and submit feedback regarding your issue so they can verify your error.

• Open the Feedback Hub app > Click "Add new feedback." > Provide a detailed description of the issue, including when it started, what you've tried, and the result > Submit the feedback under the suitable category.

For additional information about how to send feedback to Microsoft, please visit this article to know more: Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback Hub app - Microsoft Support

If you've already tried these steps and are still encountering issues, please reply to this thread with the requested details so we can investigate further and ensure your subscription is activated properly. Also, please keep me updated with anything new that you were try to each option.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

We appreciate your patience and look forward to resolving this quickly for you.

Warm regards,

Haien - MSFT | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist