how to fix an a floating app (Virtual Desktops) - ?

Good Morning, new user here. (Hi, I'm a Virgo rising, hate cilantro, #TeamDoge, - wait, this isn't that kind of forum, is it?)

I have an issue that drives me just a little batty. I actively use virtual desktops to organize work and play into different zones. But there's one app at work that *won't stay put*. That is, I can launch it on a specific desktop, say #2. If I don't minimize the app and switch to any other desktop, it doesn't STAY on #2 but follows me - which is not what I want or need it to do! It will stay put if minimized, but remembering to do that every time I need to switch desktops is non-intuitive.

Every search I've run on this problem seems to tackle opposite questions: how to make an app do that, or how to pin an app to the taskbar, but not that particular issue. And yes, Forum, I'm including my Windows version: it's Windows 10 Pro, and this is a cloud-based app. I could also add that the app is a POS that looks like it was designed for Win95 and never updated, and runs about as well as you'd expect; but I'm stuck with it on the job. This app is also technically shared with other users, though 99% of the time it's just me.

What I'm hoping is that maybe there's some little trick for this app only, native to Windows not the app, that would stop it from wandering. The app doesn't have any such settings; when I checked with their support staff, they didn't seem aware that virtual desktops exist and basically replied with a shruggie emoticon. I sadly suspect there isn't, but I figured I'd throw this out there and see if the gods see fit to bestow a simple fix upon this lowly user.

Thank you for letting me rant, if nothing else.

Welcome to TenForums!

I have a couple of ideas of items to check, but based upon your description of this happening only if the app is not minimized, I'm not confident that I'm on the right track here, but it still might be worth checking.

1) Go to the desktop on which you want the app to be displayed and make sure it is not minimized.

2) Press the Windows Key + TAB.

3) Right-click on the thumbnail of your app and make sure that the option Show this window on all desktops is NOT checked. Uncheck it if it is checked.



Another item that might affect some apps:

Open Settings > System > Multitasking > On the taskbar, show all the open windows and set that option to Only on the desktop I'm using.

Let me know if either of those helps.

Good Morning -

I had already looked into the system settings option; it's set to Only the Desktop I'm Using - but to no avail. I hadn't tried/known about the Show This on All Desktops option, but sadly it's unchecked and yet the problem persists.

Interestingly, if I leave it up and switch to another desktop, the app is on my screen but does NOT show as being there for the Win + Tab view. This is true even if I click into the app and use it.

Thanks for the response tho. Even if I can't fix it, trying to gives me some small satisfaction.

I have to admit that I'm a bit stumped. I've never encountered that same behavior from an app myself.

Only one other idea comes to mind:

Try right-clicking on the icon that you use to run the program and select properties, go to the Compatibility tab, and run the compatibility troubleshooter. I have no idea whether that would help anything, but if you have not tried it yet it might be worth a shot.

Is this a custom in-house app or is it a commercial app? If it is a commercially available app, would you mind providing the name of the app? Maybe that could allow me to do a little further research.

[

Gave that a try. First thing I notice: the latest version I can test for compatibility with is Windows 8 Neither that nor choosing Windows 7 - which is what we were working with when I first got here - resolved the issue. What it did do was open this little runtime window; but launching from there didn't effect any changes.

Here's the details on the program:

I appreciate you taking the time to be as puzzled by this as I am!

Unfortunately, I'm coming up empty. Since this is a very specialized software that is not going to have as large a user base as some programs, information of the Web seems to be a bit limited.

The only thing that I can really suggest at this point is to contact their support to see if this is an issue that they are aware and if they have any possible workarounds already or if they will commit to resolving the issue.

Apologies - I wish I could have been more helpful!

You have been helpful, in that you helped me eliminate anything at the Windows end of things as causing the issue. I'm not pinning much hope on their support staff - I've already mentioned it to them once and they didn't know what I meant by virtual desktops. And the fact that their most recent build (which this is) isn't optimized beyond Windows 8 confirms what I already suspected: their tech staff either doesn't know what they're doing, or simply can't be bothered. I have hopes of modernizing to something from this century, but in the mean time, it's hardly the worst problem to have.