Enable or Disable Last Active Click on the Taskbar in Windows 11

When you click an application in the taskbar that has multiple windows open (e.g., a browser with multiple windows), Windows 11 will, by default, give you a preview of all the windows. This feature allows you to choose which window to open and work on.

However, this function may feel clunky and inefficient for some users. Because of this, Windows 11 has the last active click taskbar feature. When you activate that feature, clicking on an application with multiple windows will automatically open the last active window instead of showing you all available windows.

4 ways to enable or disable the Windows 11 last active click function

To enable or disable the last active click function in Windows 11, you will need to edit the Windows Registry. This can be done using the Registry Editor, Command Prompt, Windows PowerShell, or by creating a .reg file. There is currently no native GPO that can manage this setting.

📌 Prerequisites:

This guide applies to all versions of Windows 11.
You’re going to need administrator privileges to manage this setting. To check if you have the necessary permissions, open the Start Menu > Settings > Accounts. The word “Administrator” should be printed under the username.
Familiarity with the Registry Editor, Command Prompt, and Windows PowerShell is preferable.

📌 Recommended deployment strategies:

Click to Choose a Method	💻 Best for Individual Users	💻💻💻 Best for Enterprises
Method 1: Registry Editor (Per-User)	✓	✓
Method 2: Using Command Prompt		✓
Method 3: Using Windows PowerShell		✓
Method 4: Create a .reg file		✓

Method 1: Using the Registry Editor (per user)

📌 Use Case: This method is applicable to advanced users or IT administrators working with managed devices.

Open the Start Menu and search for Registry Editor to open the program.
Navigate to this address: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Find the LastActiveClick value and double-click it. If you can’t locate it, follow these steps to create it:
1. Right-click Advanced > New > DWORD (32-Bit) Value.
2. Name it LastActiveClick.
Change the value to 1 to enable the feature. To disable it, change the value to 0.
Click OK.
You can now close the Registry Editor. Restart the computer to apply the changes.

Method 2: Using Command Prompt

📌 Use Case: This method can be used in enterprise environments. It’s ideal for script-based deployments.

Open the Start Menu and search for Command Prompt.
Right-click Command Prompt > Run as administrator.
To enable the feature, type this and press Enter:

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v LastActiveClick /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

To disable, type this and press Enter:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v LastActiveClick /f

You can now close Command Prompt. Restart the computer to apply the changes.

Method 3: Using Windows PowerShell

📌 Use Case: This method is ideal for enterprise environments. You can deploy the changes in automated and remote environments using a remote PowerShell tool.

Open the Start Menu and search for Windows PowerShell.
Right-click Windows PowerShell > Run as administrator.
To enable the feature, type this and press Enter:

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "LastActiveClick" -Value 1 -Type DWord

To disable the feature, type this and press Enter:

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "LastActiveClick" -Value 0 -Type DWord

You can now close Windows PowerShell. Restart the computer to apply the changes.

Method 4: Create a .reg file

📌 Use Case: This method can be used in enterprise environments. You can run the .reg file on all your managed devices using your preferred endpoint management tool.

Open the Start Menu and search for Notepad to open the program.
To enable the feature, type this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"LastActiveClick"=dword:00000001

To disable the feature, type this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]

"LastActiveClick"=dword:00000000

Click File > Save as.
Name it LastActiveClick_Manage.reg.
Open the drop-down menu next to Save as type, and select All files.
Click Save.
You can now close Notepad.
Navigate to where you saved the .reg file and double-click it. This will run the file and automatically make changes to the Windows Registry.

⚠️ Things to look out for

Risks	Potential Consequences	Reversals
A user may make an incorrect edit to the Windows Registry.	If incorrect edits are made to the Windows Registry, it may lead to incorrect settings or system instability.	Create a backup of the Windows Registry before editing it. You can use the backup to restore the Windows Registry if any unintended changes are made.

Additional considerations before enabling or disabling the last active click feature in the taskbar

This setting will only affect applications that have multiple open windows.
This change applies per user. Deploy the change by using scripts or an endpoint management tool to apply it to all users in a system.
There is no native GPO that can manage this setting. It’s best to edit the Windows Registry instead.

Streamline user workflows by enabling the last active click feature in the Windows 11 taskbar

When you enable the last active click feature in your Windows 11 taskbar, it will automatically open your last active window in that application instead of showing you a preview of all of that application’s open windows. Some users may find that keeping this feature enabled is more efficient and easier for their workflows. Other people, on the other hand, are more used to the default option of seeing all open windows in that application.

This setting is mainly managed by editing the Windows Registry, and there are multiple ways to do that. Individual users can simply change the value using the Registry Editor. IT administrators working in enterprise environments, on the other hand, can deploy a script through either the command prompt or Windows PowerShell. They can also create a .reg file and run it through their preferred endpoint management tool.

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