This issue easily makes top 10 Windows annoyances. Microsoft will just add more ads and AI instead of solving these fundamental issues. My other issue is making virtual desktops different (names, colors) to easily recognize them.
this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2024
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Windows 10
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KDE Plasma has this problem as well. I think GNOME actually solved it by displaying a notification once a launched application is ready. Not sure if applications can still force themselves to be in front though.
You want X-Mouse Controls I think.
This does pretty much exactly what it should, and I like that it's just a set-and-forget, one-time-run thing. I don't know if this is just Steam, but Steam specifically is still pretty pervasive about yanking all focus away from whatever I'm doing multiple times in a row.
I tested by slowly dragging a window around on my second screen while Steam opened up on my first. Sure enough, three times my cursor just slipped off as the window came to a grinding halt and forced me to start the click-and-drag again, just to kick me off again until Steam was satisfied its presence was thoroughly announced.
I know this whole thing sounds like such a petty gripe, but words can't describe how absolutely aggravating this is when it happens regularly. If I ever worked with someone who behaved like this, I'd be going hands-on in no time and making sure they never come within eye-sight of me again.
It's not a petty gripe when your workflow gets ruined by bullshit.
Like why does the taskbar need to let me know an application has been launched, bitch I JUST clicked on it, I know it's launching. (Sigh) .
I spend more time undoing 'autoformatting' than I ever did at formatting.
The old TweakUI (Microsoft Windows PowerToys) had an option to disable focus stealing. I doubt if works on current versions of Windows though.
Hey I think I found something better than X-Mouse for you.
Try editing the shortcut you are using to launch the Steam client, Right Click, Properties, edit TARGET to this:
"C\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe" -silent
There's a space between the last " and -silent.
Of if your shortcut has a different Target just add -silent to the end of it.
Lemme know if this works for you.
Oh yeah, that worked perfectly. That solves my Steam problem, so I think that combined with X-Mouse is about as good as Win10 users are going to do for this problem.
There's Always on top power toy that might help.
I see conflicting reports of it losing focus.
While I don't have a solution for what you're asking, my workaround was to make a script that opens every program I want on startup. Then I just boot my computer log in, then walk away for a few minutes while that i9 churns away.
I would be curious if there's a way to override that though. That and windows that open in the background (for no reason) drive me insane. I'd at least like it to be consistent.
That's not a bad idea for most at-work stations, but I frequently switch around throughout the day. That does give me the idea to have some specific apps open with a minimized argument (via batch file or shortcut arguments), but that only solves a fraction of my problem.