Modified:
Apr 12, 2017
Created:
Apr 12, 2017
Views:
2926
Author:
PH

Open/Save/Select Folder Dialogs behind Mirror screen on Windows

Windows 10 (and possibly earlier versions as well) remembers that last location that you moved its Open, Save or Select Folder dialog windows to so that the next time that you use these, they will appear again in the same position as last time. This also happens if you move them to your second screen. It also seems to keep this information even if you close and re-open ProSelect.

When using ProSelect's Mirror Display Area feature your second screen is filled by ProSelect as a "global floating window" which means that it sits on top of all other windows. This is done to prevent other applications from suddenly appearing on the screen that your clients are watching.

Possible Problem

When using Proselect, if you have previously moved your Select Folder dialog to your second screen then turn on Mirror Display Area, when you do something like "Add Folder of Images" the Select folder window will open behind the Mirror display area on the second screen. It will appear that ProSelect has locked up when it is really waiting for you to select a folder in that window.

If you close ProSelect with the Mirror Display window turned on, by default, it will turn this on the next time you start it up. In this case, you may have the same problem if you last used the dialog window on the other screen.

How to Recover from this

If you realize what has happened and don't do anything else, you can immediately press the Escape key to close the Dialog and return control back to ProSelect's main window. After doing this you should turn off the Mirror Display mode, open the dialog again and move it back to your main screen the select the folder to add. Note: Moving and canceling will not prompt Windows to save the new dialog location. You can then turn Mirror Display Area back on.

If you have clicked anywhere else, the Dialog window will have lost focus and the Escape key fix won't work. In this case:

To Close the Dialog:

  1. Alt + Tab until ProSelect is selected 
  2. Press the escape key to close the dialog 

Alternatively, you can move a hidden window by

  1. Alt + Tab until ProSelect is selected - this ensures focus is on the dialog
  2. Alt + Spacebar to open menu
  3. Press m to select move
  4. Press and drag mouse somewhere visible and the dialog will jump to your mouse position.

Recommend Action

We are looking into ways to avoid this but, so far, have been unable to find a solution as this is an action that is controlled by Windows itself. To avoid this problem, we recommend that you don't move your Open/Save/Select Folder Dialogs to the second screen at any time.


KnowledgeBase Article: Open/Save/Select Folder Dialogs behind Mirror screen on Windows