Notifications inturrupting keyboard input

User Support General
1

Hello,

Apologies in advanced if already reported, I am hesitant to post but did not find any issues describing what I am experiencing exactly.

I am having difficulty with notifications for some apps taking over control of my PS/2 Keyboard input when they window is collapsed. This can sometimes happen automatically, and others only when I click the notifications’ interaction button.

For example, Discord will send chat notifications with a simple “View” button, which users can click to launch the app/view the message.
When I have the Discord window collapsed (not closed or minimized, collapsed), notifications will inturrupt my keyboard input, leaving me to locate which of the many collapsed windows is currently holding my keyboard input hostage.

Notably, interacting with my original/main window does not reassign the cursor back to original window – I must instead manually locate the app currently in control of input, click the text input field, and then go back to my original window before my keyboard will work again.

This is especially frustrating when I have multiple apps open as it is not always obvious which app currently has control.
This is also posing some security risks, as my keyboard input is being passed without my knowledge to another qube & is sometimes causing me to start plaintext typing my usernames & passwords.

As is it likely relevant, I am also using a Security key which registers as a HID input device.

Please let me know if this is intended behavior, if I am misunderstanding something about procedure, or where to appropriately post this if necessary.

Thank you very much.

2

You can test the various focus steal prevention settings of the window manager (XFCE?) you use and/or replace the notification daemon you use.

3

This has been helpful, thank you.

Activating focus stealing prevention does seem to mostly solve the problem… AFAIK the issue only still exists if I click “view” while the app is collapsed (but thats on me).

It appears to be somewhat related to my security key registering as a USB keyboard attached to the same VM, as it appears only to occur with the key is attached. I’m not entirely familiar, but I know my key operates slightly different than traditional security keys & might be causing some issues.

At the same time, I’m leaning more toward user error than anything else.
Doubtful that the issue is between notifications/multiple keyboards, but honestly I’m not sure. I am still troubleshooting + researching but if you or any others have other ideas to try please let me know :slight_smile:

Otherwise I’ll probably just mark this solved and close out soon, as the focus prevention was the primary fix.

Thanks again!