Preflight Checklist
What's Wrong?
Claude Desktop on Windows, when running minimized to the system tray, is force-terminated by the MSIX auto-updater when a new version installs, then relaunched with the main window visible and focused — with zero user interaction. To the user it looks like the app "opens by itself."
Because desktop updates ship roughly weekly, the window pops open unprompted once or twice a week. In the most recent incident the app had not been used interactively for 2–3 days; the window appeared at the exact moment the update registered (Event Viewer evidence below).
The update check appears to run on a 6-hour internal timer (background maintenance writes in %USERPROFILE%.claude occur on a precise 6-hour cadence while the app is tray-resident), so whenever a check coincides with a new release, the window appears.
Note: I have verified this is NOT caused by launch-at-startup — there are no Claude entries in Task Manager → Startup apps or Task Scheduler, and the machine was not rebooted at the times the window appeared.
Related (login-time variant of the same window-state problem): #56436, #30393.
What Should Happen?
After an automatic update, the app should be relaunched in its prior window state — minimized to the system tray — without showing or focusing the main window.
Error Messages/Logs
From Event Viewer, Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational, 2026-06-07 (local time). The window appeared unprompted at ~10:47 AM:
10:47:26 Id 603 Started deployment RegisterByPackageFamilyName operation on a package
with main parameter Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc and Options
ForceApplicationShutdownOption and 0.
10:47:27 Id 855 Finished resolving action lists. DeploymentRequest action lists:
updateList: Claude_1.9659.2.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc is updating to
Claude_1.11187.4.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc.
10:47:57 Id 9648 0x0: TerminateSingleService for update successful for service
Claude_1.9659.2.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc in package CoworkVMService,
terminateService: true.
10:47:58 Id 400 Deployment Register operation with target volume C: on Package
Claude_1.11187.4.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc from: (AppxManifest.xml)
finished successfully.
The ForceApplicationShutdownOption flag confirms the running tray instance was terminated by the update registration; the unprompted window appearance coincided with the relaunch.Steps to Reproduce
- On Windows 11, install Claude Desktop (MSIX, package family Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc).
- Launch the app, then close the main window so it remains resident in the system tray only.
- Wait until the auto-updater detects and installs a new release (checks appear to run every 6 hours; releases ship ~weekly). Do not interact with the app.
- When the update registers (observable in Event Viewer → Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational, event Id 603 with ForceApplicationShutdownOption), the app is terminated and relaunched.
- Bug: the relaunched app opens its main window in the foreground instead of returning to the tray.
Claude Model
None
Is this a regression?
I don't know
Last Working Version
Unknown
Claude Code Version
1.11187.4.0 -- This is the Claude Desktop version, where the issue is present. The CLI is 2.1.165.
Platform
Other
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
Other
Additional Information
This is the Claude Desktop app that's having this issue. Not the CLI.
Preflight Checklist
What's Wrong?
Claude Desktop on Windows, when running minimized to the system tray, is force-terminated by the MSIX auto-updater when a new version installs, then relaunched with the main window visible and focused — with zero user interaction. To the user it looks like the app "opens by itself."
Because desktop updates ship roughly weekly, the window pops open unprompted once or twice a week. In the most recent incident the app had not been used interactively for 2–3 days; the window appeared at the exact moment the update registered (Event Viewer evidence below).
The update check appears to run on a 6-hour internal timer (background maintenance writes in %USERPROFILE%.claude occur on a precise 6-hour cadence while the app is tray-resident), so whenever a check coincides with a new release, the window appears.
Note: I have verified this is NOT caused by launch-at-startup — there are no Claude entries in Task Manager → Startup apps or Task Scheduler, and the machine was not rebooted at the times the window appeared.
Related (login-time variant of the same window-state problem): #56436, #30393.
What Should Happen?
After an automatic update, the app should be relaunched in its prior window state — minimized to the system tray — without showing or focusing the main window.
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
Claude Model
None
Is this a regression?
I don't know
Last Working Version
Unknown
Claude Code Version
1.11187.4.0 -- This is the Claude Desktop version, where the issue is present. The CLI is 2.1.165.
Platform
Other
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
Other
Additional Information
This is the Claude Desktop app that's having this issue. Not the CLI.