The editor window doesn't want to let go of focus

I just started with Unreal Engine, and I started having a strange issue. Every once in a while (I haven’t pinned down the exact steps to reproduce yet) the editor window will not release focus. If I am in the editor window, then click another window (i.e. Safari, Mail, etc.), that window will gain focus for a half second but then the Unreal Editor window will regain focus.

Even if I minimize the editor window it somehow pulls focus away from other windows. It does let me retain focus on Xcode. But even when Xcode is in focus, and then I click another window, the Unreal Editor will gain focus again instead. The only solution I found is to either to quit the application (and start it up again in hopes that the issue won’t happen again) or open the Editor Preferences window. If I open preferences the issue will stop; at least for a while.

The issue occurred yesterday while I was messing around on version 4.18, and again today when I started up 4.19 Preview. I’m running macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 (if that might help).

Could it be something specific that I’m clicking on within the editor that makes it not want to release focus? Or is this a bug?

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I’m having this exact same problem on Mac with the 4.21.1 release of the editor. I can’t quite pin it down either. Maybe something to do with executing the undo command too many times, or opening various other windows like the Material editor. Anyone have any insight on this?

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I’ve got the same problem with version 4.22.1. Has anyone found a solution yet? I’m having to close the editor each time I want to make a code change.

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Same problem on MacOS Mojave with Unreal Engine 4.22.3 . It is infuriating when it happens (and it always happens eventually, sooner rather than later) since you can’t switch to any other program and the only recourse I’ve found is to exit UE.

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This issue is driving me crazy; I literally couldn’t write this without having to close the engine.

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Still happening in 4.25 :frowning:

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And nobody fix this? Is there a support in Unreal Engine? I’m making the migration from Unity to Unreal and I’m very sad about this type of problems. Unreal 4 is dead?

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Issue still occurs sometimes in Unreal Engine 4.26 on macOS Big Sur 11.2.3

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Same. 11.3.1.

WTF.

TM and UE became unusable on my (fairly decent) PC because of apparently unsolvable glittering glitches.

Now, I guess I can’t use it on my Mac either.

W.T.F.

Side note: I break ALL software. I guess it should be expected.

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I’m having the same issue in Unreal 5 on a Mac 2019 Mac pro with the latest OS Monterrey installed. Anyone found a solution to this problem? It’s preventing me from learning how to use the program if I can’t access YouTube and forums.

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Same here, M1 max MBP, Monterey 12.3.1, UE5 5.0.0

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Same problem here - Unreal 5.01 Big Sur 11.6.4. Really disrupting to work and learning.

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Still the same problem in UE 5 v5.0.3 on my MacBook Pro (2020) macOS Monterey 12.3.1…this problem is so annoying. can’t make any notes because as soon as I click any other window the focus goes back to the UE Editor-.-

I am having the same problem of at random times not being able to set focus to another application away from UE5.0.3 Editor on MacBook M1 Pro Monterey 12.6 (21G115).

If I select another application window, focus immediately pops back to UE. If I select a window behind UE, the UE window immediately pops back in front. Once this starts happening, it stays in this mode. As others have said, stopping and starting UE solves it temporarily.

Very annoying and causes loss of focus (Hahaha) / productivity. We seriously need a fix for this issue because it is frustrating and time consuming to keep having to stop and start the UE just to select another window (Browser, Rider, etc).

Are only some of us having this issue on the Mac or is it a widespread issue? It would help to know if it is just some of us having an issue due to a Mac configuration issue or something, so we can try to find out what we have in common leading to a fix.

Seems like it could possibly have something to do with “Auto Save” making it seem random because when I do a “Save All” in the editor it sometimes happens immediately after the “Save All” finishes.

Found that it sometimes fixes itself without restarting the UE if I left mouse click quickly and repeatedly in a text entry field in another application window (for example the URL field in a Browser window). Not sure it this works all the time or not, but it has been working for me the last few days at least. Hope this helps some of you.

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This is still happening on an M2 Max with 5.3 … and yes, it is annoying :frowning:

Just started learning UE, happens to me too. On UE 5.3.1, macOS 14.0 M2 chip. Annoying like everyone says

+1 this is beyond ridiculous, I was fuming at this issue but now I’m just laughing at how amateur such a bug is and how the hell is still a problem… unbelievable, or should I say, unreal

I’ve got the same issue, and it happens each time after I try to create a new C++ class. Beyond frustrating for progress

I’m still having this issue with 5.3 on an M1 Max Macbook pro.