Repository navigation
Using search bar to type program name sometimes launches wrong program #456
Description
Describe the bug
I remember seeing a similar report somewhere on the Classic Shell forums but I can no longer find it. Essentially the bug is, if you hit the Start button and type a program name, such as CMD (for Command Prompt) or Calc (for Calculator) and hit enter, Open-Shell sometimes launches a completely different program. For me this is almost always Remote Desktop Connection. I should add that Remote Desktop Connection is my "most frequently used" application and this may play a role.
It appears to me that the list doesn't quite filter in real time. If you type slower or give it a second, it will display the correct entry.
I should add that in many years of using Windows 7 (and Vista before that) did I ever encounter similar behavior from the native Start menu.
To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
- Click the Start button or hit the Windows key on your keyboard
- Type CMD and hit enter quickly
- Randomly Remote Desktop will launch instead of Command Prompt.
Expected behavior
Command Prompt should have launched
Screenshots
Not applicable.
Version:
- Open-Shell: 4.4.152
- OS: Windows 8.1 Pro x64
Additional context
There may be a connection to the frequently used applications tracking here, I am not sure.
Activity
bonzibudd commentedon Sep 21, 2020
I've never had this happen but I have some ideas. For whatever reason, it could be triggering a hotkey for the most used program. Under the "Main Menu" tab, change "Shortcuts for the recent programs" to "No shortcuts." If that doesn't work it may be worth disabling recent programs altogether.
billroland commentedon Sep 21, 2020
I changed that setting to no effect. I've also tried a number of different variations of settings regarding search. It is as if the search filter is just too slow sometimes, by the time I've typed CMD and hit enter, it is only starting to show partial matched programs. On Windows 7 with the native start menu this was never once a problem. It is frustrating because I frequently open programs by just hitting the start button and typing in cmd or calc or whatever and hit enter. On Windows 7 with the native start menu this always worked perfectly but on Open-Shell it is about 75% fine and 25% of the time will open some other random program.
By the way I found the old thread where another user was complaining of the same thing. Doesn't look like there was ever any resolution unfortunately:
http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2301
XenHat commentedon Sep 21, 2020
Make sure you do not have the mouse hovering over the menu, as micro-movements or mouse sensor jitter can move the cursor, which would in turn select the menu entry under the mouse. As you press enter, that entry is launched.
Another commonly confusing behaviour is the fact that what is selected "first" (at the top of the list) will change based on what you ran last. It appears to be a weighted list and requires a few launches to update itself. See attached video.
billroland commentedon Sep 21, 2020
I can rule out the mouse being an issue because all I am doing is using keyboard commands; Windows key, type cmd and hit enter without touching the mouse.
All I can really say for certain is about 25% of the time when I type cmd and hit enter, it opens Remote Desktop Client instead. There is really no reason that I can discern why "Remote Desktop Connection" (file name mstsc.exe) should be at the top of a search list where the term searched was CMD. I'm not sure how it could realistically believe that's even a partial match.
XenHat commentedon Sep 22, 2020
Could you provide a video evidence to make reproducing this easier?
ajuanjojjj commentedon May 25, 2025
I think i might have the cause for the issue;
When you type the program (or more likely, the first letters for the program) too quickly, without giving time for the search to complete, whatever the first result is is launched instead.
In my case, for example, if i just press "win" "s" "t" "e" to open steam, Snipping tool is launched instead
ajuanjojjj commentedon May 25, 2025
Slowed down 50% for easier visualization
ge0rdi commentedon May 26, 2025
What exactly do you do after typing
ste?It is not quite clear from the animation. I also cannot see snipping tool started in it.
You can try to untick
Enable acceleratorssetting and check whether that helps.ajuanjojjj commentedon May 26, 2025
I didn’t do it in the GIF, but to reproduce the issue you just also press Enter after typing "e" (should’ve probably mentioned that 😅 — I just wanted to show that Steam is eventually found and highlighted; it’s just a timing issue).
Pressing Enter at that point would launch Snipping Tool instead, since it’s the highlighted item (see frames 16 and 17).
Disabling accelerators does seem to speed up the search, making the issue way harder to reproduce. It's still technically possible if you type fast enough though.
ge0rdi commentedon May 26, 2025
Oki, thank you for the explanation, this is helpful.
So the problem is that the search contains old results at the time when
Enteris pressed, so different item is executed instead the one that would be when current search ended.I guess it is now clear what the issue is (in case somebody would like to pursue it).
We should probably wait with item invoking until search finishes.
fix: defer auto-select until programs loaded to prevent wrong search …
Fix search auto-selecting wrong item before programs finish loading (O…
Fix search auto-selecting wrong item before programs finish loading (O…