This started a few weeks ago. I haven't found any way to reliably duplicate or predict the problem, but it's happening very frequently, and only when using Display Fusion.

Basically, I have a dual monitor setup, stacked vertically. A 38" curved ultrawide in 3840x1600 and a 32" widescreen in 2560x1440. The window focus keeps randomly changing to VSCode while I'm typing. I'll be right in the middle of typing a sentence and will look up and see I'm now typing in VSCode instead of the web browser, email client, Slack, etc. It's actually happened TWICE while I've been typing this message (that's how frequent it is). I'm at a total loss as to what's causing it, but it goes away completely when DisplayFusion is not running.

I figured out how to solve that issue so might as well post here to help dev narrow it down.

This problem started after the Windows 10 patch KB4522741 is installed. It is a .Net Framework patch for 3.5 and 4.8.

It is caused by the Multi-monitor Taskbars function. If you disable the feature it will stop happening.

That is the best workaround I have so far.

10:35:24 (ish) +/- a few seconds.

Hi Keith, I did some testing and if I disable Display Fusion's taskbar functionality and use the built in "Show taskbars on all displays" feature in Windows 10, the unexpected window focus changes go away. So it appears to be something with Display Fusion's multi-monitor taskbars. It's a pity because I like the way you do it over the way Windows 10 natively does it. But I'll have to settle for less for now.

Can confirm that this happens with the taskbar replacement.
Has been happening for around a week now.

Disabling the taskbar replacment fixes the problem.

The issue only occurs if my focus is on the 2nd screen - it never switches from the main screen to the 2nd screen.

If no window is open on the main screen it can even happen, that a background window is brought to the foreground on the 2nd screen.

I totally forgot to include that detail in my original post! For me it's the exact opposite. My primary monitor (the top one - monitor #1) always loses focus, while my secondary monitor (the bottom one - monitor #2) is the monitor the focus is always switching to unexpectedly. BUT it's worth noting that I do have my "primary taskbar" moved to monitor #2 (my bottom monitor), so that may be why my "focus issue" is the exact opposite of yours...

I'll turn the DisplayFusion taskbar back on and will re-enabling logging tomorrow when I start work, so I can hopefully have some better log results over to you. Maybe that will help you get to the bottom of it.

Please assume +/- 5 seconds to each timestamp

10:52:24 - Typing in Slack on monitor #1, unexpectedly focused to Visual Studio Code on monitor #2.

12:14:34 - Typing in LibreOffice Writer on monitor #1, unexpectedly focused to Visual Studio Code on monitor #2.

12:17:01 - Typing in LibreOffice Writer on monitor #1, unexpectedly focused to Visual Studio Code on monitor #2.

12:21:50 - Typing in LibreOffice Writer on monitor #1, unexpectedly focused to Notepad++ on monitor #2.

12:24:14 - Typing in LibreOffice Writer on monitor #1, unexpectedly focused to Notepad++ on monitor #2.

I can confirm the behaviour (only from #2 to #1 in my case), happened with the following apps:
Chromium, Opera, Sublime Text, Windows Explorer.

Also happened with: Chromium and Sublime both on screen #2, focus switched from Chromium to Sublime, so it actually brought Sublime in front of Chromium.

It never happened if the programs are minimized - only if they're in the background.

Attached.
Around 19:16:10 it switched from the opened Windows clock and brought the DisplayFusion settings window to the foreground, without any action on my side.

Can't find anything about the ID you listed, not even in Google?

Output is:

Funny thing, after downloading and installing another update (KB4522355), KB4522741 appeared and is installing now.

/edit:
KB4522741 is listed in the update history - but not under Get-Hotfix.

/edit2:
Focus switch is still happening, so not the culprit/solution.

Hi, I have the same issue, so I'll post my findings as well (maybe it will help someone here).
1st I thought that this is a Firefox issue as most of the time focus was switching from one Firefox window on one monitor to another Firefox window on another monitor. But when it started to do it also with other applications then it looked more like a Windows 10 or DisplayFusion Pro issue.
After reading some comments here I started playing with some settings of DisplayFusion Pro and I've changed setting in the 'Taskbar' tab called 'Taskbar Mode' from “All taskbars show relevant windows” to “Windows taskbar shows all windows, DisplayFusion shows relevant windows” and it seems to prevent from windows focus switching (no matter on which monitor I have a window with a focus on it).

Sure, here is the file.

I'm not 100% sure, but with the latest Win10 update, it doesn't seem to happen anymore.
I've reactivated the taskbar and settings and could work the last 2 hours without noticing another focus switch...

I'm with a customer tomorrow, so can't really check, but will update on friday if it occurs again.

I too experience the issue. I do not have the Xbox Game bar running, BUT I do have the Xbox for PC beta installed. I just tried exiting the XBox for PC Beta to see if it continues to occur.

I have attached the Debug Info you were requesting from other users to hopefully determine if it's DisplayFusion or some Windows issue.

Thanks!

Happened again, so it wasn't fixed with the last Windows Update.

If I quit Xbox for PC manually, the issue did not occur during the last 15mins.

Just an update. Once I killed the XBox for PC Beta I have had no issues with weird focus problems.

I'll just make sure to keep that closed when I'm not actually using it.

I have Xbox PC game pass beta as well, so maybe that is the case. I'll let you know!

Hi Keith, I've re-enabled the DisplayFusion taskbar (instead of the Windows 10 one) and can confirm that the issue goes away completely if I do NOT have the Xbox Beta app running in the system tray. The moment I launch the Xbox Beta app and minimize it to the system tray, the issue resumes exactly as before. Below is a link to the exact app in case you aren't familiar with it (I think it requires you to be a Windows Insider to install since it's still in Beta).

https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9MV0B5HZVK9Z

The Xbox Beta app is built on Electron, but Electron is definetely NOT the culprit since both Slack and VSCode are built with Electron and neither of those apps are causing such issues. It's only Microsoft's Xbox Beta app. So it's definetely something bizarrely specific to that specific app... As an aside it's a beautiful looking app but all that beauty can't make up for the fact that it's a clusterphuck of usability issues at the moment; so it's not surprising to me that it's causing problems. Based on this information, I think it's fair to point out that this focus issue does NOT appear to be the fault of Display Fusion (at least directly), but hopefully you can find a hack around it. Cheers!

It happens whenever the Xbox Beta icon exists in the system tray - regardless of whether or not the Xbox Beta app is opened or minimized in a window that shows in the task bar. If the icon is visible in the system tray (even if it's not a tab in the taskbar), the focus issue will be present. The moment I right click on the icon in the system tray and "exit" the app (formally closing the entire Xbox Beta background process), the problem goes away. So the background process itself is apparently causing the issue.

Cool beans. Ultimately there's two ways I can avoid the issue right now - either close the Xbox beta app and remove it from system tray or disable the DF taskbar. I'm a server-side programmer so know how frustrating it can be when you can't duplicate a problem; so no worries - it's not the end of the world..

In my case I have 'Xbox (beta)' application only in the tray and still focus is switching between different windows.

I am beyond thankful that I found this thread. I have been encountering this issue for weeks now and couldn't determine the culprit until I found this thread. I've disabled the multi-screen taskbar in DisplayFusion for now.

I have the same scenario here and was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what was causing it! Slack was the problem for me; I'd be typing messages and focus would shift to a browser and start making changes without me noticing (touch typist). I too run PC XBox Beta and had Multi-monitor taskbar set up which I've since disabled and will continue to leave disabled until this is fixed.

This happened for me in Slack during the day ALL THE TIME. Every 5/10 minutes typing or not.

This has been one of the must hair pulling, most frustrating issue ever. Yeah xbox beta app is the culprit. Once I disabled that, sanity was restored back to my desktop.

Slack is not the problem. I run it all day too. The problem is the xbox beta app, thats doing this shenanigans.

Install that, and im sure you will be able to recreate this.

Funnily, I have all apps you listed. The issue only happens with xbox beta running.
Here is my setup
I have 2 monitors
and nvidia rtx 2070
windows 10 pro
ryzen 3700x
32gb ram

Silly questions, are you using more than 1 monitor
and also are you using displayfusion muliti monitor wallpaper loading images from disk ?

I've been having the same issue - after 30 or so seconds, the focus would shift from the current active window to the last window I'd had active, and I'd have to reselect the original window. It happens without me doing anything, but is especially noticable when typing.

As with the others, I'd also had the Xbox for PC beta running in the system tray, and now I've turned it off, the issue has stopped, but as soon as I open that program again, the issue returns.

Deleted: My issue is not caused by DisplayFusion.

I'm getting a constant error that seem to happen when I get the re-focus issue:

Event ID 10016
The machine-default permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID
{C2F03A33-21F5-47FA-B4BB-156362A2F239}
and APPID
{316CDED5-E4AE-4B15-9113-7055D84DCC97}
to the user MyPC\Admin SID (S-1-5-21-1540865069-212541850-3187210981-1001) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost_10.0.18362.449_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy SID (S-1-15-2-155514346-2573954481-755741238-1654018636-1233331829-3075935687-286147870. This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.

Unsure if this means anything.

So guys here is an Update.
I put my windows on the slowring see attached.
I got the xbox beta app running, and no issues.
I have had it running for several weeks/days now, and no issues anymore.

None of us can see the thing you attached. Try putting the picture on Imgur or the like and share the link.

What was in the image, I have transcribed it out below.

Edition: Windows 10 Pro
Version: 2004
Installed on: 2/17/2020
OS build: 19041:113

I thought I'd follow up after finally working out what was causing my intermittent flickering windows, focus loss, and applications not responding. There were heaps of other random problems, crashes, errors and blue screens. I spent way too long assuming it was hardware or drivers or a rogue application.

The video I posted of the DisplayFusion settings shows the flickering in action but it had nothing to do with DisplayFusion.

This registry key existed but had no value.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\HungAppTimeout

So hopefully, in theory, the upcoming Anniversary update within the next couple months will include this fix.

Hi guys !

Just for letting you now that I have the same random issue, and now that you pointed at the Xbox app I have to tell it would make sens. Personnaly when I'm writing on my second screen (on Steam, Discord or TweetDeck in my browser for exemple) the focus go randomly back to the app on my main screen. A fix in Windows 10/the Xbox app or Display Fusion would be very nice !

For anyone else experiencing a problem of your window losing focus, or your text becoming selected text when you take a pause from typing, I had these issues for months and although it was annoying I learned to live with it... that was until I finally found the culprit! If you type in your Windows search bar "Event Viewer", then expand "Custom Views" and select "Administrative Events", there should be a bunch of errors displayed, these errors are what's causing the focus to be redirected. If you select one, under "General" it gives the details to the error that is occurring. I copy and pasted that error message in Google and found out my problem was with a Broadcom driver. Yours could be something similar or the same thing, either way the solution was found with that Google search. In my particular case, all I had to do was uninstall the Broadcom driver, and boom! Problem Solved!! I hope this helps someone that is having similar issues as I was banging my head against the keyboard for months trying to figure this one out! God bless!

This is the 18th of July, 2023. I'm using Windows 11 Home 22H2. This very bug is happening to me. I'm glad I have just found this thread which explains exactly what I've been through for the last months.

I have just switched off DisplayFusion's taskbar and traded it for the lesser effective Windows 11 one. Hope this helps.

This is also something bothering me. It feel like it was gone for some time but that might be just a feeling.
Anyway I also tried combinations of settings and still I did not find out how to bypass this behavior.

I would discribe it like: Some background process is stteeling the focus of my active Window maybe normally only for ms and normaly I guess the focus would be restored that fast I never recognized it. But with the DF Taskbar that focus retun does not happen or it is redirected to something like >NULL because I also did not find out where the focus is on when it was lost.

While disabling the DF Taskbar works as a workaround I would like to use it, becaus that a reason why I choose to use DF.

Having this issue during work is anoying but if it happens while running a game it turns into frustration very fast.
To workaround the Gaming issue I try to disable the DF Taskbar in the Borderless window script now. But that is not a real solution. So any Idea or help is welcome.

...And the annoyance goes on.

A few days ago, I imagined that it would already be working fine on my machine (Windows 11 Home) because, after all, several MS Hotfixes have been installed from the last time I tried to use DisplayFusion in the way I wanted to, which is why I paid for.

No deal.

I've had to disable that feature again. Back to the ordinary Windows taskbar.

It's clear that Binary Fortress definitely does not have any clue on why this annoyance happens.

If it does, it is no solution so I won't bother trying. I want it enabled because eventually I'll be working on an app running on full screen on display #1, therefore not allowing me to see the Taskbar System tray Icons on that display, so I would see the system tray icons on display #2.

...Unless you tell me that you want me to do that only as a test, to give you a clue on the issue.

Done.

Now, here, it is Tuesday, 16/Apr/24, 17:13 h UTC-4. I'll monitor my computer's behaviour for the next 48 hours and I post the result of your test here.

Thank you for now.

Two days straight without problem. No loss of focus while typing somewhere else.

It seems you've nailed it. What's the next step?

Hm, that matches my observations. My first intention was that it is something with the Windows Notifications.
I found a ps script that monitors the Window focus and it made me aware of where the focus went. It was/is a Backround app that is closed to tray.
Looks like some Apps (in my case xsplit vcam) are not playing well with the DF tray. But disabling tray is way better than disabling the complete Taskbar.

Nice update, thanks for that.

What is your understanding at this point?

1. It is a bug, so you'll fix it
2. It is as it should be, by design, so it will stay as is

To anyone who sees this. I can understand why you might suspect displayfusion, as it is a window manager. But let me let you know that it's not Displayfusion, it is most likely an electron app, that's running in the background, such as slack, discord, Xbox app.

To anyone who sees this: after reading the previous message from Binary Fortress, I have made another test: I have reenabled the system tray on the taskbar and haven't lost focus on typing after 48 hours straight.

What did I do: I have disabled Steam, so it is not loaded automatically when Windows is loaded. If I want to play a game, I run Steam, play the game and afterwards I shutdown the game and Steam altogether.