Opening new tabs in foreground in Windows 11 24H2 (with middle mouse button)

Question

Hi, first of all, don't tell me I have to submit the proposal through the Feedback Hub app, because I've already done that and they're not even paying attention to me.

I've recently updated to Windows 24H2 (coming from 23H2) and I use the middle mouse button to open folders in a new tab, only now, in the 24H2 update those new tabs open in the background instead of the foreground. Could you add an option to have new tabs open in the foreground again, like they used to? Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi Jaime,

Thank you for sharing the details. Based on Microsoft’s current documentation, there is no documented setting or policy in Windows 11 File Explorer to choose whether a folder opened in a new tab becomes active immediately or stays in the background. The official File Explorer in Windows guidance does not list a control for tab activation behavior, and the Windows 11 known issues page currently shows no active known issue for this specific behavior.

At the moment, the available workarounds are:

1. Use Enter or a regular click when you want the folder to open and take focus right away.
2. Use F6 or Shift + F6 to move focus to the File Explorer tab area after opening the new tab.
3. Use Tab to move between elements once focus reaches the tab area.

While there is not currently an option to restore the previous foreground-tab behavior, these steps may help make navigation quicker until a future update changes the experience. I understand this change can interrupt a familiar workflow.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Answer 2

Windows 11 provides options to control how tabs and windows appear when multitasking, but the available settings in the provided information only affect whether and how Microsoft Edge tabs are shown in Alt+Tab and Task View, not whether new File Explorer tabs opened with the middle mouse button appear in the foreground or background.

The documented controls are:

1. User-facing Alt+Tab settings
   • Go to Settings > System > Multitasking.
   • Under Show tabs from apps when snapping or pressing Alt+Tab, choose:
     • Don't show tabs – only open windows are shown, or
     • N most recent tabs – open windows plus a number of recent Microsoft Edge tabs.
   • These options affect task switching only, not the activation behavior of new File Explorer tabs.
2. Policy-based control for Edge tabs in Alt+Tab (not File Explorer)
   • The BrowserAltTabBlowout policy (./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Multitasking/BrowserAltTabBlowout) can restrict how many Microsoft Edge tabs appear in Alt+Tab:
     • 1 (default): open windows and all Edge tabs
     • 2: open windows and 5 most recent Edge tabs
     • 3: open windows and 3 most recent Edge tabs
     • 4: open windows only
   • This policy only affects the Alt+Tab switcher and only for Microsoft Edge tabs. It does not control whether new File Explorer tabs open in the foreground.

Within the provided information, there is no documented setting or policy that changes the behavior of new File Explorer tabs (opened with the middle mouse button) between foreground and background in Windows 11 24H2. The change in behavior described is therefore not configurable using the documented multitasking or Alt+Tab controls shown here.

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References:

• How to Multitask in Windows
• Policy CSP - Multitasking