Windows 11 24H2: Explorer bug opens menu "upwards" – Workaround

[German]The list of bugs that have been introduced with Windows 11 24H2 is getting longer. In one of the last posts, users pointed out a bug in Explorer that may make it more difficult to use. If you click on the three-dot icon in the ribbon, a menu opens, but upwards – and the commands are cut off. However, there is a workaround.

The bug explained

If you open Explorer in Windows 11, the icon with the three dots is displayed on the right-hand side of the toolbar (see following image). This icon can be used to display a menu which can be used to call up commands or access the properties window with the settings.

Explorer dot menu opens upward, source: MS Answers

The problem: Windows 11 24H2 has a but and opens the menu upwards. This is annoying if the Explorer is used in full-screen mode – or if the title bar is near the upper corner of the display – then the commands are not accessible. To reach the commands, you have to pull the Explorer window far down enough and hope that the screen resolution is sufficient to display all the commands.

Problem already reported multiple times

German blog reader MOM20xx wrote this comment on November 3, 2204 and noted that "it is strange that no one has yet recognized the File Explorer bug at Microsoft". It can't be because of "we haven't heard that yet".

The blog reader referred, for example, to the Microsoft Answers forum post  I have a problem with file explorer after windows 11 24h2 update, where someone reported the bug as early as October 8, 2024. The affected person writes: "When I click on the three dots, the menu opens upwards. Shouldn't it open downwards because the other menus also open downwards?"

There is also this post in the Eleven forum from October 6, 2024, which also mentions the bug. Someone there writes that they checked the feedback hub. The problem was reported with Windows 11 version 26120.1843, which is presumably a beta or development version.

Another post can be found on reddit.com (thanks to MOM20xx for the links), which also confirms the problem. There are references to "workarounds" in the linked threads, but they didn't work straight away in my tests. However, I didn't test for too long in the VM. On reddit.com, users are complaining about the numerous bugs in Windows 11 24H2, and one participant has found a nice name for this Windows version: "Windows Issue Edition" – nothing more to add.

There are mentions that Microsoft is aware of the problem and wants to fix it on November 12, 2024 (patch day).

A workaround helps

The menu opening upwards is (according to this article) caused by the feature with the ID 51960011. As a workaround, you can deactivate the function in question using the vivetool.

• To do this, download the vivetool from GitHub and unzip it into a folder.
• Then open a command prompt with administrative rights (press cmd + Shift key when calling).
• In the command prompt, navigate to the relevant folder with the vivetool and then enter the following command:

vivetool.exe /disable /id:51960011

If the message "Function configuration(s) successfully set" (or similar) is displayed, restart Windows 11. The menu should then open downwards. I have tested it in my VM – it works.