Windows 11: Microsoft fixes, after 15 months, an annoying bug affecting File Explorer

Your file explorer on Windows 11 opens without asking you anything? You are not alone. After a long time, Microsoft has finally deigned to correct this bug.

This is a rather intrusive problem that Microsoft has just fixed in the latest Windows 11 update. Along with a whole bunch of other fixes included in an optional update package, Microsoft has patched a bug that caused unexpected openings from File Explorer.

A suspicion of malware

The problem, on which Microsoft did not give any further explanation, simply manifested itself in a file explorer window which opened in the foreground without having been asked for anything. The bug was not widespread, but for several users this problem sometimes appeared once every hour, mechanically disrupting the task in progress.

The most surprising thing, however, is that this bug has been hanging around on Windows 11 since the October 2022 update. Microsoft took around fifteen months to finally correct a relatively annoying problem. Enough to cause some long-term headaches for those who saw their file explorer leading its life independently.

Because, if a window that opens by itself and disrupts the activity in progress is already an annoying behavior in itself, many Internet users believed that the problem was more serious and came from a potential infection of their machines. Such behavior can actually suggest that a malicious actor has taken control of your machine, which isn’t exactly reassuring, especially when it’s been going on for months despite regular anti-malware and anti-virus scans.

How to install the update?

For the moment, the patch is distributed within the update poetically labeled “KB5032288”. The latter is marked as optional and will therefore not be installed automatically straight away. If your machine is affected by this bug, however, forcing the installation of the update is not rocket science.

• Go to the app Settings
• In the left panel, choose “Windows Update»
• Activate the option “Get the latest updates as soon as they become available»
• Restart a search for updates
• Let the update install quietly.

You can also download the update manually from Microsoft’s site if that doesn’t work for you. Let’s hope that such a problem does not recur in the future and that Microsoft will be quicker to fix vulnerabilities and other bugs in Windows 11 from now on.

Source: Microsoft Update