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MS Teams stealing the focus when presenter switches into/out-of screen sharing...

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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

 

31 Replies
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).

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

Hi @Rich_Larson  Really, we're not trying to add to your workload :smile:  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.

That makes good sense Therese. I think the problem stems from the fact that Uservoice doesn't present itself as "the place to go" and it took you mentioning it here for me to even find it. After you mentioned it I started looking around, and I see what may be the problem: UV is linked to from the app's "Suggest a Feature" option, but there is no mention of it in the "Report a Problem" dialog, so those that are only reporting problems will have no idea that UV exists.

I guess maybe I need to "Suggest a Feature" to have a UV link included in the "Report a Problem" pop-up dialog box. ;)

Thanks again for your outreach! It's very much appreciated.

Rich

@CPeach Thanks Crystal. I have gone in and upvoted it as well. :smile:

best response confirmed by ThereseSolimeno (Microsoft)
Solution
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!
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.
Yeah, it still does it. They said they fixed it, but it seems to be unfixed in production. I know they (MS) are aware of it, so I've basically stopped trying to ask them to fix it. My only hope is that one day it will just "go away"....
Teams steals focus even when I am not sharing with anyone. If Teams is running, it will just decide to steal focus. It gets so bad I sometimes just shutdown Teams so I can work. I am using the 1.4.00.16575 (64-bit) version

@Emily Kirby

 

Hi, any idea when this will actually be fixed ?  It is a massive productivity drain and massively intrusive that an application steals focus with no input from me.

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".

@Rich_LarsonI'm not seeing that in my Teams client in Windows (v1.4.00.16575). Here is a screenshot for my Help menu.

@cheil1175 I have the same teams version and see the same thing. 

1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by ThereseSolimeno (Microsoft)
Solution
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!

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