Forum Discussion
MS Teams stealing the focus when presenter switches into/out-of screen sharing...
I am using Microsoft Teams Version 1.4.00.11161 (64-bit). It was last updated on 4/22/2021. Ever since the latest release, it has been stealing the focus from other applications. It does this consistently whenever I am on a video call and one of the other participants switches into (or out of) screen-sharing mode.
By "stealing focus" I am specifically saying that if I am focused on any other application on either of my 2 screens, and the other person on the call switches into or out of screen-share on their machine, then my local MS-Teams app window forcibly comes to the top/foreground window and grabs the focus away from whatever other window/app I was in. It forces me to alt-tab back to that application to continue.
And before you ask: Yes, I reported this via the "Report a Problem" link in the application as well. I just am so frustrated by this that I felt the need to report it here too, maybe to see just how many others are experiencing this behavior as well.
MS Teams: PLEASE FIX THIS HORRIFIC BEHAVIOR!
Sincerely,
Rich Larson
- Hi all, thanks for reporting this issue. I'm from the Teams Engineering team, and we're aware of this. We have a fix ready that will be coming out in a release very soon.
Report a Problem is the best place to report an issue like this, or on this forum. We have a team reviewing all of the feedback and are very grateful for the time spent reporting it. UserVoice is another good option, but as mentioned sometimes takes time to pass our radar with the votes. Thank you!
- I'm wondering why this issue does not have any more traction? It's a pretty annoying bug.
- I'm not sure. I just know that it happens fairly consistently. I have confirmed it is happening with many of my co-workers as well, and they have basically just given up trying to get Microsoft to fix it (or anything else really). I basically posted my original post above just as a form of therapy to get it out of my system so I can move on mentally from it. I have come to expect absolutely no response, or fix, from Microsoft in these things. They don't listen any more, even when it's obvious the issue is popular (there are almost 2500 views of my OG post, so lots of people are looking for this issue to be resolved).
- Emily Kirby
Microsoft
Hi all, thanks for reporting this issue. I'm from the Teams Engineering team, and we're aware of this. We have a fix ready that will be coming out in a release very soon.
Report a Problem is the best place to report an issue like this, or on this forum. We have a team reviewing all of the feedback and are very grateful for the time spent reporting it. UserVoice is another good option, but as mentioned sometimes takes time to pass our radar with the votes. Thank you!- Is the report a problem link under Help in the bottom left hand corner?
I only see give feedback here.- Yes, you should see "Report a Problem" under that help menu in the lower left corner, just below "Suggest a Feature".
- Thank you so much Emily! I look forward to seeing this fix in production in the near future. I know these things take time, and there are a lot of things you and the team are always working on, so there are never enough hours in the day. Thank you again for reaching out on this. It's very much appreciated! --Rich
- This issue recently started for me. Do you have an estimate for when a fix will be available? Days/weeks/months?
- Yeah i just noticed this after coming back from vacation. Super annoying. Teams version: 1.4.00.16575 (64-bit) which claims to be up to date after checking for updates.
- ThereseSolimeno
Hello Rich_Larson, jonaslomholdt
Have you reported this bug on the Uservoice feedback forum? That's where Teams engineers review bugs, feature requests and the number of people who vote for an item is given a lot of weight when prioritizing the workload. Thank you
- Hi Therese!
I have reported it via the in-app "Report a Problem" link, and also here. Your post is the first time I have seen a link to a third location (Uservoice feedback forum) where bugs should be reported. I wish Microsoft would settle in on a consistent place for this type of thing. I will report it there.
PS: Thank you for the new info! I sincerely appreciate you reaching out on this, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I am extremely thankful for anyone like you that is trying to help!
Rich- ThereseSolimeno
Hi Rich_Larson Really, we're not trying to add to your workload
Each reporting vehicle serves a slightly different purpose: When you report a problem, certainly it goes straight to the Teams engineers. But when you open a ticket on Uservoice, other users with the same issue (or same feature request) can vote on it, adding comments, and that helps the engineering team establish priorities when needed (they can't work on everything all at once!) Also, people who vote in UV will get an update whenever the status of that item changes, including the originator.
ThereseSolimeno I found this that seems related, I've upvoted it: Teams focus issues when sharing content
CPeach Thanks Crystal. I have gone in and upvoted it as well.
- Emily Kirby
Hi all,
Thank you for your patience while this fix progressed through our release pipeline. I'm glad to share that this issue is now fixed and should no longer be impacting when a presenter shares/stops sharing. Please ensure you have the latest client by checking for updates, and do report back or "Give Feedback" in the Teams client via Help>Give Feedback to let us know if you continue to see any issues. Thanks!
Emily Kirby
Hello Emily, Now several months later it is still not fixed.
To elaborate again:
If any chat in Teams receives a message, which happens every few seconds in a busy Teams the Teams takes focus away from other applications. Which is especially annoying if one is typing or in a fullscreen application as it is the equivalent of alt+tab each time.
I have no idea how people are working like this.
Can you please verify that you are still working on the issue?
Regards, Sebastian- It is now February, 2022, and not only is this not fixed, it's gotten worse with recent updates. I have the latest Windows and Teams updates. I was typing a password in and Teams stole focus yesterday. This is a security issue and needs to be fixed. Not "it's fixed now" and then nothing, actually fixed.
Please, please take this seriously. It's not just annoying, it could cause actual problems for actual customers who are forced to use Teams. At this point I'm planning on installing Teams (and Outlook, which occasionally does the same thing with calendar reminders) in a VM and using them in a sequestered manner. I shouldn't have to do this. Nobody should.
Please fix this. It is a serious issue and Microsoft is not taking it seriously.rwoodsmall At this point I've given up. I honestly believe that Microsoft does not know how to fix this. Based on some of the things I've seen, I truly believe they have no clue as to what the underlying cause is. This is the result of writing software that has so many complexities and byzantine failure modes that they don't even understand their own app any more. I personally have just given up on trying to get them to fix it. If I could stop using Teams today, I would. At least it's on a company machine that I only use for work purposes, so I don't have to worry about it outside of that context. I understand that others don't have that luxury, so for you and them, I feel bad.
I have the latest version of Teams today and I'm still getting the focus stolen away. Is this now a configurable setting in the registry or via GPO? Emily Kirby
This is happening to me - I'm unsure what version I'm running but I work for a very large tech company, so it should be somewhat up to date.
