This is THE MOST ANNOYING MISFEATURE EVER! Just fix it already!
If I am ever in a position to recommend an online meeting app, I will recommend against Zoom simply because of this feature. It is THAT obnoxious. It makes my computer almost totally useless when a meeting is running. I cannot take notes on the meeting in a separate editor window because Zoom keeps stealing focus. Absolutely unacceptable!
One more annoyed person here who decided to sign up to the dev forum purely so I can moan about the fact it keeps telling me to unmute and taking my focus when I’m the only one in the bloody meeting waiting for others to join.
I have no affiliation with but someone recommended Butter as an alternative and it looks nice. When Zoom already lacks basic features but then decides to overtake my computer it’s a simple choice.
Is this still not fixed?
This and… Really? It’s very annoying zoom getting the focus every time the host is sharing the screen.
It just happened in the middle of this message! 
+1
Is there a way to see the status of support ticket ZOOM-269176 that was logged for this issue or is it private?
I visited this thread three years ago… no way I thought this would still be a ‘feature’ today
I can’t believe that this has not yet been fixed. I work in IT support and whenever there is an incoming call, it takes focus away from what I am doing. This could be disastrous when I am working on a server on another screen. How many times do customers have to ask for this to be fixed???
Hello Chris,
I just wanted to remind you that this issue still exists, at least on Windows OS. It’s now October 2023 (3 years after the original post) and this is still a problem. There doesn’t need to be feedback on how users would want this handled. Instead, all that needs to happen is for Zoom to NEVER take priority from an open window… EVER. If a user wishes to interact with a Zoom window, they need to make a conscious choice. This is ridiculous that I’m multi-tasking while in a breakout room using a second monitor, and Zoom takes focus away from that. Please take this seriously. Read the room. There are a lot of people that want this fixed, and I’m seriously questioning if investing in your platform makes sense given the radio silence and disregard toward your customers.
Hello Chris
Is this feedback not enough for you? The app is just messing with users’ work process by stealing focus every couple seconds when joining to a meeting. I want to continue my work while I am joining to a meeting, and you just force me to do nothing. “Wanna work? Noooo, look, the zoom is launching, drop your work, look how the zoom is joining to that meeting! You must not work now!” Let me be the person who decides whether I need to work at the moment or not.
I think the best way to get Zoom to care about listening to us is to get your companies to listen to you and to abandon Zoom altogether. Simplest feature requests are being ignored. My company is thankfully transitioning out from Zoom, can’t wait till I finally remove it from my computer.
I’ve been searching all over the web for a solution to this.
Zoom is constantly stealing focus and interrupting my workflow and my typing (on Windows11).
I can’t believe this issue is still not fixed. Sorry for the harsh words but this is literally the most annoying and disrespectful (!!) UX behavior imaginable! No other app does this!
Please fix this asap!
Can’t speak for Windows, but I’m sure this is the same as MacOs.
This is actually an issue of Zoom starting screen share windows in fullscreen by default.
You can turn this off in settings.
If you’re on MacOs
In Zoom open Preferences and navigate to Screen Sharing
Look for “Window size when screen sharing”
Select “Maximize window” or “Maintain current size”.
As long as it isn’t “Fullscreen” this should stop for you.
Figured I would help because I’ve been following this thread for a bit and finally realized it is because of full screen windows.
The issue started in 2020, today is 2024, Zoom continues to steal focus. Really annoying and terrible thing!
I’m translating Zoom meetings, and when the host wants to read some quotation, I start to search the same quotation in my language. And just in this time the host starts sharing screen with the quotation.
At this time I need to work quickly as possible to find the same quotation in translated language. But Zoom steals the focus to itself, while I’m typing. Even two times! Zoom window itself and then also Zoom notification about starting screen sharing!
It significantly interrupts and delays my translation work. Four years, and Zoom keeps stealing computer’s focus!
Made an account on here just to keep this thread alive. Keeps taking focus, it’s so incredibly frustrating and ridiculous that its been 4 years and nothing.
I am about at my wit’s end with Zoom. We have a shared call queue. Every time the phone rings, it steals my cursor from whatever I am doing. I could be typing an email, phone rings, now I have to go click AGAIN in the email and finish typing. It happens every. single. time. There HAS to be away to stop it from taking focus/stealing the cursor. My entire team is so frustrated. If it were up to us, we would have a different phone system just because of this issue.
I assume the product managers of zoom are just lazy DEI-hired dumbducks who don’t work much, so this is not an issue for them.
Any really hardworking person would’ve added this enraging issue to a backlog long ago.
It’s the waiting room window that’s the main problem. If I’m waiting for someone to join and start the meeting I can’t continue on with other work because the waiting room window keeps taking focus away from the other windows.
Really frustrating and it’s crazy that it’s not been addressed since this issue was raised.
Please fix this Zoom!
Is this still unaddressed? We recently adopted zoom phone system. Works great on desk ip phones, but I can’t be in the call queue while doing work on my desktop. Zoom steals my keyboard and mouse focus every time there is a call. I would like to still see the popups just give me a toggle or something to say “Don’t focus incoming call modal”.
This is SO frustrating. Adding my +1 and submitting a request.
Yeah, extremely frustrating. I’ve already had to make use of devilspie2 to control certain windows behaviors on LInux, but it’s incredibly disappointing that there’s no solution against focus stealing, not even on Linux.
Shame on Zoom.