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Clicking on outlook email notification does not open the email on the foreground

Star Jamal 5 Reputation points
2025-07-15T07:38:50.12+00:00

Whenever I click on an e-mail notification pop up, the e-mail does not open on the foreground.
I would have to navigate to the outlook application and I can see the e-mail opened but I would have to click onto it. This behavior defeats the purpose of urgently having to respond to an e-mail.

There was a solution for me to check a windows setting:

System > Power & Battery > Set "Turn energy saver on automatically when battery level is at" to NEVER

This worked only for a little while. The behavior presented itself again couple of days later.

I have done possible checks of other settings like windows notification settings, windows focus settings, battery saver settings.

Where else should I be checking?

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business
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  1. Rin-L 19,080 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-07-15T08:49:52.21+00:00

    Hi Star Jamal, 

    Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Community! 

    Thank you for sharing the details of your issue. Since the Windows 11 24H2 update, Microsoft has introduced stricter focus management to prevent background apps from stealing focus from active windows. This change is intended to improve security and user experience, but it has affected how Outlook handles desktop alert notifications. 

    When you click on an Outlook notification, the email window may open behind other applications instead of coming to the foreground. This behavior has been confirmed as a known issue in Windows 11 24H2 and is currently under investigation by Microsoft. You can find more details here: Outlook desktop alert notifications open behind other applications - Microsoft Support 

    Some workarounds you can try:

    1. Registry Tweaks 

    Note: Please back up your registry before making any changes. 

    • Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter 
    • Navigate to:  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop 
    • Create or modify the following entries: 
      • ForegroundLockTimeout → Type: DWORD (32-bit), Value: 0 (Decimal) 
        • ForegroundFlashCount → Type: DWORD (32-bit), Value: 0 (Decimal) 
    • Restart Windows to apply changes.

    For reference:  Change ForegroundLockTimeout to Open App window in Front in Windows 11 | Windows 11 Forum

    Note: These references are not official Microsoft documentation. 

    2. Turn Off Focus Assist 

    For reference:  

    Windows 10: How to Turn Off Focus Assist Windows 10 Settings - Solve Your Tech 

    Windows 11: How to Turn Off/On Focus Assist in Windows 11 

    Note: These references are not official Microsoft documentation. 

    3.Outlook Reminder Settings 

    • In Outlook Classic:  Go to File → Options → Advanced → Reminders 
      • Check Show reminders on top of other windows 
      • Restart Outlook to apply 

    I appreciate your patience and understanding. I hope this information helps clarify the current limitations and gives you a few options to work around the issue while Microsoft works on a fix. 

    Please let me know if you need further assistance! 

    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.

     

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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