Losing mouse focus in game, full screen minimizing to desktop

EramTheLiar · August 2021

This is weird and I don't know how to begin to troubleshoot it.

I'm playing in full screen borderless windowed mode, and occasionally my mouse stops being able to interact with anything until I click on the game. It's as if the entire game window loses focus to... nothing, and the mouse is just hovering over the deselected game window until I click on it again. But it's JUST THE MOUSE, because I can still issue keyboard commands.

I have tried switching to full screen mode to see if that fixes it... it doesn't, what it does instead is immediately minimizes the game window. When I try to tab back into the game, it flickers up for a second, then minimizes again.

It's as if something invisible in Windows 10 is randomly stealing focus from the game, intermittently when I'm playing in windowed mode, and a lot more frequently when I switch to full screen mode.

Has anyone encountered this? Is there a fix? Is it from a recent Windows patch?

ZOS_Bill · August 2021

@EramTheLiar

There could be another program on your PC causing issues with ESO staying as the main focus when full screen. You can try rebooting the PC into a selective startup. This will disable third party software running on the PC. Test your setup under the selective startup and see if the issue persists.

EramTheLiar · August 2021

Thanks for the suggestion. I rebooted into selective startup, but the issue continued even after the third party software was disabled.

ZOS_Bill · August 2021

@EramTheLiar

Thank you for the update on the selective startup. Are you currently in a dual monitor setup? If so, have you tried switching to one monitor to see if focus still gets lost?

EramTheLiar · August 2021

It's a single monitor, but it is a 35" ultrawide. I don't know if that would make a difference.

ZOS_Bill · August 2021

@EramTheLiar

Here are a few additional things you can try for this mouse issue.

Add exceptions in your anti-virus software
Disable hardware acceleration
Drop your DPI on your mouse to it's native DPI
Update the mouse drivers
Lower graphical settings and the resolution

EramTheLiar · August 2021

Just following up.

It's BitDefender. I don't know what the fix is yet, but I know it's the reason.

ZOS_Bill · August 2021

@EramTheLiar

Linked below we have a FAQ on getting BitDefender setup with ESO.

BitDefender Antivirus and Firewall - The Elder Scrolls Online