[German]For many months, Windows 11 users have been complaining about the behavior of Windows Explorer. Back in September 2023, I described the effect of Explorer spontaneously coming to the foreground and grabbing the focus while working. Now it looks like Microsoft has finally fixed this annoying bug in Windows 11 with an update.
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The Explorer focus problem
Windows 11 users have been complaining about the behavior of Windows Explorer for many months. Back in September 2023, I described the effect of Explorer spontaneously coming to the foreground and grabbing the focus while working in the blog post Windows 11 bug: Windows Explorer opens spontaneously in the foreground.
German blog reader Tobias described the problem to me by email and wrote that Windows 11 kept annoying him because Windows Explorer windows seem to come to the foreground "out of nowhere". The focus switches to Windows Explorer while working without the user having done anything.
On Microsoft Answers there is this post from January 2023 where the problem is described. There are quite a few confirmations in this thread, but it seems no official statement has been released by Microsoft yet. My Google search at the time of writing the above article showed that this bug has been making the rounds on Windows 11 since January 2023.
Blog reader Tobias reported that the problem always occurs when his PC updates the GroupPolicies. He can trace this in the event log. I also received feedback on X that it can be reproduced (EventID 1501).
Microsoft is said to have fixed the bug
Yesterday, I came across information in two places that Microsoft had supposedly fixed the Explorer Focus problem with an update. German blog reader Martin Zett pointed out in this comment that the Explorer Focus bug was "fixed with the last MS patchday" – that would have been on December 12, 2023 (see Patchday: Windows 11/Server 2022 updates (December 12, 2023)). The cumulative update KB5033375 should have rolled out the fix.
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At neowin.net there is this article that describes it in more detail. The statement is that the bug has existed for over a year and was fixed with the preview update KB5032288 on December 4, 2023. I had described the update in the blog post Windows 11 23H2/22H2: Preview Update KB5032288 (December 04, 2023). But there I had missed the passage:
This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer windows. When you do not expect them, they appear in the foreground.
in the list of the many Explorer bugs that have been fixed. The above statement sounds to me like the fix for the focus problem described above. And these fixes were rolled out globally to all Windows 11 users with the December 2023 patch day.
But I need to refer to my article Windows 11 update KB5033375 can prevent Wi-Fi access (WPA2 Enterprise Wireless). Both the preview update KB5032288from December 4, 2023 and the cumulative update KB5033375 (security update) from December 12, 2023 causes connection issues with certain Wi-Fi chips.
Similar articles:
Windows 11 23H2/22H2: Preview Update KB5032288 (December 04, 2023)
Windows 11 update KB5033375 can prevent Wi-Fi access (WPA2 Enterprise Wireless)
Patchday: Windows 11/Server 2022 updates (December 12, 2023)
Windows 11 bug: Windows Explorer opens spontaneously in the foreground
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Comically enough, now we see users who are reporting that File Explorer will not come into focus when they need it to. :D