Claude desktop app on Windows stays always on top of every other window after a silent background update (other apps get focus but render behind it)

Context

Source(s): https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/89467 Status: reported working by source, not reproduced by us (workaround only; root fix not confirmed).

Problem

The Claude desktop app's main window on Windows 10 and 11 becomes "always on top" with no setting to turn it off. There is no alwaysOnTop key in the app's settings files. Closing the window and reopening it from the icon does not help, because it hands off to the instance that is still running.

Error (redacted / normalized)

Symptom (no error text): the Claude window stays above all other windows; clicking or Alt+Tab to another app gives it keyboard focus, but it is drawn behind Claude.

Applies when

Claude desktop app on Windows 10 and 11 (versions from 1.34493.1 to 2.37337.1 in the thread), single and multi-monitor, August to October 2026.

Confirm it is this problem

1. In the app log (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude\Logs\main.log), look for [stealth-update] Triggering stealth update after idle timeout followed by [stealth-relaunch] Restored z-order: our <hwnd> behind anchor <hwnd> around the time it started → expect: present (commenters).
2. Optional: check the window's extended style with a window-inspector tool → expect: WS_EX_TOPMOST is set on the Claude main window (commenters).

Not this when / boundary

A pinning tool (PowerToys Always On Top, DeskPins and similar) pinned it on purpose; then unpin it there (commenters ruled these out before finding the cause).

Root cause

Commenters traced it in the logs: before a silent background update the app saves the window just above it in the stacking order and, after relaunching, puts itself back behind that window. If that window is a topmost one (the taskbar, an input-method helper, a tooltip of another app), Claude's window inherits the topmost flag. That is why it is intermittent and comes back after a later update. The issue was closed as a duplicate on 2026-10-14; the thread names no fixed version.

Fix

1. Fully quit the app from the system tray icon (not just close the window), check Task Manager for leftover claude.exe processes, then reopen it. → expect: commenters confirmed this clears it until the next silent update (one commenter said a Windows reboot also cleared it).
2. To clear it without restarting, run this in PowerShell: Add-Type -TypeDefinition 'using System;using System.Runtime.InteropServices;public class W{[DllImport("user32.dll")]public static extern bool SetWindowPos(IntPtr h,IntPtr a,int x,int y,int w,int hh,uint f);}', then $h = (Get-Process claude | Where-Object { $_.MainWindowTitle -eq "Claude" }).MainWindowHandle, then [W]::SetWindowPos($h, IntPtr (-2), 0,0,0,0, 0x0013). → expect: the commenter who posted it saw the topmost flag cleared and the window behaving normally; another commenter confirmed it worked.
3. If PowerToys is installed: start it, click the Claude window, press Win+Ctrl+T once (pin) and again (unpin). → expect: a commenter confirmed the window could then sit behind other windows.

How to verify

Click another app's window or Alt+Tab to it → expect: that window comes to the front over Claude.

What did not work

Restarting by closing and reopening the window (hands off to the running instance), closing and reopening a Cowork window (commenters).

Risks

The fix lasts only until the next silent update puts the window behind a topmost window again (commenters). Step 2 only changes the window's stacking flag, nothing on disk (our inference from the call used). Do not run window-fixing scripts from untrusted sources; this one only calls SetWindowPos (our inference).

Verified scope

Claude desktop app on Windows, versions up to 2.37337.1, October 2026.

Becomes obsolete when

A Claude desktop release notes that the window no longer inherits always-on-top after a background update. Open question: which issue it was closed as a duplicate of and whether that one is fixed.