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So this is an issue I have from time to time and it had me dumbfounded. I would lose a handful of windows of programs I had open and running. The usual trick to retrieving lost windows, or windows that have gone ‘off’ screen is to try one of these:
- hit alt + tab, click the program thumbnail to select it, then use a keyboard shortcut to move it back on screen
- hit windows + left arrow key or windows + right arrow key will move a window from left to right. Pressing this repeatedly will move this across screens in a multi-monitor setup
- hit windows + d to show all windows, or windows + shift + m to restore windows
- right click the windows taskbar and choose one of the windows display options from the menu
This wasn’t working for me because the application windows in question weren’t being recognized. If you check the task manager (navigate to it with control + alt + del) and you see the program in question running in the processes tab, your program is in fact still running. Then you can try this:
Solution:
- Install process explorer (a free tool hosted by Microsoft)
- Run it
- Select the relevant program and right click to open up a menu, select “window”, click “bring to front”
Applies when:
- When you have lost an application window while the application is still running (verify it is running with task manager)
- When the application is not visible as an active program in the windows task bar and can’t be navigated to with alt + tab
- When you can’t restore the window by interfacing with its system tray interface (if applicable)