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Level 1

8 points

Windows losing focus.

I am reposting my question of two weeks ago in a little different manner in the hopes someone - from Apple or otherwise - might be able to help.

Since the first time I downloaded and installed OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) I have had multiple issues across both Apple and 3rd party applications with the windows losing focus. I have reset the SMC, zapped the PRAM, reinstalled Mavericks, deleted old, unused applications, checked others for compatibility (some are compatible, some are being updated by their vendors, and some are questionable but ones I use almost daily). A couple of times the problem seems to have self-corrected but in the past 3 weeks the norm has been every open window losing focus within 10 seconds of being opened. To regain the focus for the window I have to tap my Magic Trackpad. This can be very annoying and frustrating when trying to type an email, enter a URL in Safari's , Firefox's, or Chrome's address bar, or simply type something in one of my Microsoft Office 2011 applications or any other application, for that matter.

I have read other people's postings about this on other forums, followed their advice - short of a full, clean install - and still the issue persists. If anyone at Apple is aware of this issue, I hope they are working on a fix. If they have an interim fix, I would appreciate knowing what it is.

Thanks to all for any assistance you can provide!

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 12, 2013 1:43 PM

22 replies

Jul 7, 2014 8:16 PM in response to notes386

In my case it was a Safari extension causing focus to be lost. The Handoff 1.0.4 extension, as part of Handoffapp.com, was causing the behavior. Turning that off resolved the problem. It will be a moot issue once iOS 8 is out, but Handoff app allowed the sharing of links from a laptop/desktop machine to any individual or all iOS devices with one click. Very nifty widget, ahead of its time.

-Sofa

Marianco1

Level 2

243 points

Jul 19, 2014 12:08 PM in response to Trekker56

Use the following Python code for finding the app which is causing the loss of focus

• Enter the following in a text file called findfocusapp.py

#!/usr/bin/python

from AppKit import NSWorkspace

import time

t = range(1,100)

for i in t:

time.sleep(3)

activeAppName = NSWorkspace.sharedWorkspace().activeApplication()['NSApplicationName']

print activeAppName

• Place this file on your desktop.

• Open Terminal.

• In Terminal, change directory to your Desktop by typing: cd ~/Desktop

• In Terminal, run the python code by typing: python findfocusapp.py

• This python code will repeatedly print out the app that has focus.

• Go to the app where windows lose focus and do thing as usual.

• When the window loses focus, stop what you are doing then watch what is printed in Terminal to find which app or plug-in is causing the problem.

wrrn

Level 1

9 points

Jul 19, 2014 6:15 PM in response to Trekker56

I have suddenly had this problem with mail.app only. I do have Little Snitch installed and after deleting five "invalid rules" within Little Snitch's database, the problem went away. By the way, I also have a beta version of Indev Mailtags (4.0) installed and it is possible the latest beta update caused this.

Hope this helps anyone else with this frustrating issue.

Jul 20, 2014 3:18 PM in response to wrrn

I had this same problem, and like wrrn, it was the MailTags upgrade which occurred (for me) this morning. Per the instructions to others at OnDev's site, I force quit MailTagHelp, downloaded the b3190.dmg, and reinstalled MailTags. Problem instantly solved. No rebooting. Huzzah!

wrrn

Level 1

9 points

Jul 21, 2014 7:21 AM in response to Keith Dvorak

Keith, would you mind sharing the URL for the post at indev that shows how to force quit mailtaghelp and reinstall? Oddly I already have b3190 installed, so hope a reinstall will help, as the focus problem has returned with a vengeance.

Jul 22, 2014 9:48 PM in response to wrrn

I am SO sorry I'm only responding now! My apologies!

If you check for updates, though, you'll should get the latest and greatest, and hopefully that will do the trick! If not, all I did was go to their support page and the links were right there at the bottom of the page on the left.

wrrn

Level 1

9 points

Jul 23, 2014 4:52 PM in response to Keith Dvorak

Thanks Keith. Yeah, the update seemed to fix it.

Windows losing focus.