Windows 11 ALT+TAB "ghost" windows

Question

Windows 11 ALT+TAB "ghost" windows

Máté 6

Since got the new update some days ago, some windows, (usually when netflix is opened on any browser) started appearing multiple times.

I found out that restarting windows explorer fixes it, but after a bit of time they start appearing again.
Is there any way to fix this, or should I just wait for an update?

Pierre Erard 0 Reputation points

2023-04-23T00:11:37.8166667+00:00

I also have the same problem with Google Chrome. It appears to happen when I put windows into fullscreen side-by-side mode. Windows seems to recognize two windows on opposite sides of the screen as also another window. I currently have two ghost tabs that I had dragged for multitasking, which I think Windows is just doing a bad job of handling when windows are updated. If I close all my desktop windows, I can still not get rid of these, so the only way to make them disappear is by going in cmd and typing 'taskkill /f /im explorer.exe' and then 'explorer' to restart the window manager. Sometimes that doesn't work but when I restart the next day it will be fixed. Here's two ghost windows I have that I cannot pull up and when I click on them they just do nothing. (I can't even close them because the X button does nothing)

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Pierre Erard 0 Reputation points

2023-04-23T00:11:37.8166667+00:00

I also have the same problem with Google Chrome. It appears to happen when I put windows into fullscreen side-by-side mode. Windows seems to recognize two windows on opposite sides of the screen as also another window. I currently have two ghost tabs that I had dragged for multitasking, which I think Windows is just doing a bad job of handling when windows are updated. If I close all my desktop windows, I can still not get rid of these, so the only way to make them disappear is by going in cmd and typing 'taskkill /f /im explorer.exe' and then 'explorer' to restart the window manager. Sometimes that doesn't work but when I restart the next day it will be fixed. Here's two ghost windows I have that I cannot pull up and when I click on them they just do nothing. (I can't even close them because the X button does nothing)

Answer 1

Hi @Máté

There might be many reasons like malware to corrupted registry for this behavior. Let try to isolate the cause of the issue.

-Run a Windows Defender Full Scan to check if your PC is infected by malware/virus.

-Perform Clean Boot (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd) then try to press ALT + TAB and see if the issue still there.

If the issue doesn't persist in the clean boot it means the issue might be caused by the non-Microsoft program.

-Press ALT + TAB right after startup, See if the strange Windows appear right after startup.

As you have said that this happened after the update try uninstalling the update and see if that sorts the issue.

Hope this resolves your Query!!

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Windows 11 ALT+TAB "ghost" windows

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