Cannot switch between windows by hovering on taskbar and clicking a popup

Question

This has started to happen since a few weeks ago. I have Windows 11 Pro, 10.0.26100 Build 26100 on a i5-9600 @ 3.7GHz, 6 Cores with 32 GB RAM. Before this started to happen, I could hover over an icon on the task bar and then click the small version of the program that is running and that window would become focused. Now I cannot do that. I have to use ALT+Tab to switch between windows and it gets frustrating mainly because this has been a feature in Windows for as long as there has been a task bar (at least since Windows 8) and if it is no longer a feature...fine...just change the behavior so that those small versions of the running apps are no longer clickable at all. Otherwise this is a bug that should be fixed.

Just to give additional information: I have zero ease of use enabled. I have a 3 monitor setup.

Answer 1

This issue came to my laptop along with Security Update for x64 Client (KB5059200), that I installed on June 10th, 2025.
Before, I was using the taskbar icons without problems to switch to nother open window.

I havent't found a pattern yet. Sometimes the switching works, sometimes not.

Pleas fix this or let us know how to (re)configure the settings.
I have may taskbar 'Always on top' at the bottom. I made no changes there.

Answer 2

Hello! My name is Renzo and welcome to Microsoft Community.

I'm sorry to hear that you are experiencing this issue and I'll be happy to help you out.

1. Check Taskbar Settings

1.1Right-click on the taskbar and select Taskbar settings.

1.2 Scroll down to Taskbar behaviors.

1.3 Make sure the option for Task view and Widgets are enabled

2. Restart Windows Explorer

2.1 Right-click the Start button and select Task Manager.

2.2 Find Windows Explorer under the Processes tab.

2.3 Right-click on Windows Explorer and choose Restart.

3. Update Graphics Drivers

3.1. Press Windows Key + X then click on Device Manager

3.2. On View Tab, click Show Hidden Devices

3.3. Click the drop down for the Display Adapter

3.4. Find the correct driver > Right click then "Update Driver"

3.5. Click on "Search Automatically for drivers"

3.6. Restart your computer and test if you have the same issue.

4. Disable & Re-enable Taskbar Previews using registry

Warning: Editing the registry can cause problems if done incorrectly, so proceed with caution. It's a good idea to back up the registry first. Here's the link for the steps to back up the registry: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-t...

4.1 Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter.

4.2 Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

4.3 Look for the value "TaskbarGlomLevel". If it's there, delete it.

4.4 Restart your PC and see if the issue resolves.

I hope the above steps helped you. In case of additional questions, reach out back to me, and I will be happy to help and try my best to resolve your issue. Thank you.

Answer 3

None of that fixed me...however...AND this makes ZERO sense, but I just did the following:

dism /online /cleanup-image /checkhealth

with the result of:

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool

Version: 10.0.26100.1150

Image Version: 10.0.26100.3194

No component store corruption detected.

The operation completed successfully.

then I did:

Sfc /scannow

with the result of:

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.

Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

however, now I can hover over icons in the taskbar AND click on the popup version AND focus on those apps?!?!

ok...so now SCANNING fixes bugs...interesting...

Answer 4

Hello

It’s good to hear that you're able to hover over taskbar icons and click on the pop-up versions to focus on the apps again. The scanning might have fixed any underlying system file or UI rendering issues that were preventing the taskbar from behaving properly.

If you run into any other issues, feel free to ask and I'll be glad to assist you.

Answer 5

I have more clues. If there are no windows open on my desktop (they are all minimized), then hovering over the taskbar and clicking on a popup doesn't work. In that case, I have to use Alt-Tab to get a window to open. If at least one window is open, then hovering over any taskbar icon and clicking on any popup seems to always works.

As normal, clicking on a popup is necessary when there are more than one window for that icon, such as more than one Word doc open, or more than one Chrome window. If there is only one, then you can click on the taskbar itself to bring up the window without having to click on the popup.

One other anomaly. I often have several Chrome windows open. I often close them by hovering over the taskbar, then moving the mouse over the popups, and clicking on the red X to close it. If there are no other windows up, then clicking on the red X on the popups doesn't work. If at least one other window is open (say, a Word doc), then clicking on the red X (say, a Chrome window) works.

I'm on Windows 11 Pro, 24H2, installed on 2/9/202, OS build 26100.3775, Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.66.0 on an Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GHz 3.60 GHz with 32.0 GB RAM.