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Minimised File Explorer window always pops up to the front.

Anonymous
2023-03-07T21:32:46+00:00

So, I've had this problem for a good while now and it's really annoying.

When I have an opened File Explorer window, minimised, it will often just randomly pop up after a few seconds or minutes all by itself.

It is not a new File Explorer window, but a window that's already opened, but minimised, and if I'm playing a video, for example, in full screen it will pop up over the video.

It's really annoying, and I have done virus checks, SFC, etc, but it doesn't seem to be anything like that that's causing the issue.

Anyone know what's going on here?

I'd prefer not to get catch-all responses, like "try a clean boot" or "create a new user account", because these are generally responses from people who don't have a clue what the problem is, and I'd like somebody who already has a solution and knows what the problem is, or someone who has a vague sense of what the problem might be..

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-03-15T15:30:46+00:00

    Hi

    Thanks for your reply.

    If the problem is caused by the index, as you said, it may need to be repaired by the image or reset the computer.

    Observe for a period of time to check whether the new account has the same problem.

    We have multiple users on different machines experiencing this issue and it is a matter of time before something gets deleted. When will a patch come out to address this issue?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2023-10-11T23:32:33+00:00

    I am getting the same issue. It is not when a video is playing. I can be sitting here working on a Word document and suddenly the File Explorer window pops to the front, with the cursor blinking in the search box.

    It happens at extremely irregular times, as the first person said, it could be four minutes before it happens again, or four days. It just happened to me half an hour ago while I was sitting here talking to a colleague - I didn't have my hands on the keys or the mouse, I have a wired mouse and keyboard because those battery ones are terrible, and darned if the File window didn't pop from being minimized to the front of the screen with the cursor blinking in the search box again.

    Have you ever had that thing where your trackpad is on even though you're using the mouse, and if you bump it, the selected window changes? It's a lot like that, except we don't have trackpads here at the office. And it happens when you aren't even touching the computer in any way. So it isn't a trackpad error and it isn't that I bumped the mouse accidentally.

    Yea, I don't think it's specific to watching a video in my case either, it's just that I usually have file explorer open after selecting a video file.

    I never noticed the cursor flashing in the search box but I'll watch out for it the next time.

    I'm on AMD, 5800X and an RTX 3080, just wondering if your specs are similar?

    But yes, it seems totally and absolutely random, and I'm pretty sure that it carried over from my last fresh install as well which probably rules out a Windows OS issue.

    I also have Power Toys installed, several photo editing tools (photoshop, etc), and some ASUS and LG driver software, Argus monitor, and I think Hyper-V is running in the background too, if any of those ring a bell with you?

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-09-08T05:47:58+00:00

    My mouse and keyboard is NOT logitech, and I get the problem.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-03-08T05:09:41+00:00

    Hi

    Welcome to Microsoft community.

    I'm glad to help you.

    In order to better judge your problem, what is the specific hardware configuration of your computer, such as CPU, memory size, etc. And what is your computer model?

    When did your problem appear? For example, after the update.

    Clean startup and creation of new accounts are to eliminate the possibility of interference from other programs. So it can be tried in the process of troubleshooting.

    If anything is unclear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

    Best regards

    Derrick Qian | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-03-08T16:32:46+00:00

    Hi, thanks for the reply.

    My specs are:

    Ryzen 5800x

    16GB DDR4 memory

    Rtx 3080

    2*HDDs

    1TB & 500GB NVMEs

    So, if we assumed that it wasn't a 3rd party program causing the issue, what would/could be the next possibility? Because it seems like it's Windows deciding "Oh, I'll just bring this window from minimisation to the front, for no reason"

    It would be nice to understand the logic of the process to figure out why it's happening, or how an action like this could theoretically be performed without a mouse click.

    Sometimes it will happen after about 5 seconds, and other times it might be 20 minutes into a movie.

    I might try the clean boot and new account later, but the issue is totally random so it may be difficult to replicate.

    My Library also has these messed up lines on it that just won't go away. Could that have something to do with it? I'm pretty sure they have been there since before I did a complete reinstall a few months ago.

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