How to Enable or Disable Windows 11 Last Active Click

Method 1Using the Registry Editor

The Registry Editor is a Windows tool for changing settings that don’t appear in the normal Settings menus. It is the most direct way to make this change, and it is included in both Windows 11 Home and Pro.

The setting lives under your own user account (🗝️HKEY_CURRENT_USERcopy). It affects only you, not other people who use the PC.

Open the Registry Editor

1. Click the Start button.
2. Type Registry Editor in the search 🔍 bar.
3. Click Registry Editor when it appears in the search 🔍 results.
4. If a User Account Control prompt appears, click Yes.

The Registry Editor window should now open, with a folder tree on the left and values on the right. If you are signed in as a standard user and Windows asks for an administrator password, enter it. Be aware that the editor will then work on the administrator’s account settings, not yours.

Go to the Correct Folder

1. Click the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor window, just under the menu bar.
2. Type or paste this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
3. Press Enter.

The tree on the left should jump to the Advanced key, and its values should appear on the right. This key holds many settings that control how Explorer and the taskbar look and behave. Don't change anything here other than the value described below.

If the address bar isn't visible, you can instead expand the folders one by one in the left pane, following the same path.

Find or Create the 'LastActiveClick' Setting

LastActiveClick is the registry value that controls this behavior. Look for it in the list on the right side of the Registry Editor. It often isn't there on a fresh install, which is normal.

• If you find it: Double-click LastActiveClick to open its settings.
• If you don't find it: You need to create it.
  1. Right-click an empty spot on the right side.
  2. Choose New › DWORD (32-bit) Value. A new item appears with its name highlighted for editing.
  3. Type LastActiveClick and press Enter.
  4. Double-click the new LastActiveClick value you just made.

Either way, a small Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window should now open. The name is case-sensitive in spirit, so check you typed it exactly as shown.

Set the Value to Turn the Feature On or Off

The Value data box decides how the taskbar reacts when you click an app icon. A value of 1 makes the click open the last active window. A value of 0 (or no value at all) shows the thumbnails of all open windows.

• To turn the feature ON (clicking an app opens the last window you used): set Value data to 1.
• To turn the feature OFF (clicking an app shows all open windows again): set Value data to 0.

1. Click in the Value data box and replace the number with 1 or 0.
2. Leave Base on Hexadecimal or Decimal. For 0 and 1, both are identical.
3. Click OK.

The window should close, and the LastActiveClick row should now show 0x00000001 (1) or 0x00000000 (0) in the Data column.

Apply the Changes

Close the Registry Editor. The change won't take effect until Explorer reloads. The simplest way is to restart your computer. If you don't want to restart, you can do one of these instead:

• Sign out of Windows and sign back in.
• Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager, find Windows Explorer under Processes, right-click it, and choose Restart. The taskbar will vanish for a moment and then come back.

To test it, open two or more windows of the same app, such as two File Explorer windows. Click that app's taskbar icon. With the feature on, the most recent window comes forward right away, with no thumbnail strip. With it off, you get the thumbnails again.

To undo the change later, set the value back to 0, or right-click LastActiveClick and choose Delete.

Method 2Using the Command Prompt

If you are comfortable with the Command Prompt, this method is quicker than clicking through the registry. It is also useful for managing several computers or building the change into a script.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator

1. Click the Start button.
2. Type Command Prompt.
3. Right-click Command Prompt in the search results.
4. Select Run as administrator.
5. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission.

A black Command Prompt window should open, with "Administrator: Command Prompt" in the title bar. This setting is stored under your own account, so a normal (non-elevated) window also works. If you elevate with a different administrator account, though, the command changes that account's settings, not yours.

Enter the Command to Turn the Feature On or Off

Command Prompt lets you change this setting without opening the Registry Editor. Type or paste one of the commands below and press Enter.

• To turn ON the "Last Active Click" feature:
  🗝️Registry

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  reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v LastActiveClick /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

• To turn OFF the "Last Active Click" feature:
  🗝️Registry

  Copy

  reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v LastActiveClick /f

You should see "The operation completed successfully." If you run the delete command when the value doesn't exist, you will see an error saying it was unable to find the key or value. That is harmless; it just means the feature is already off. If you'd rather keep the value and set it to 0, run the add command with /d 0 instead of /d 1.

What these commands mean:

• reg add or reg delete: These are commands to change the Windows Registry. One adds or updates a value, the other removes it.
• "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced": This is the exact location (registry path) where the setting is saved.
• /v LastActiveClick: This tells the command which value to change, named "LastActiveClick."
• /t REG_DWORD: This means we are setting a number (a DWORD value).
• /d 1 (to turn on) or /d 0 (to turn off): This is the number we are setting. Use 1 to turn it on and 0 to turn it off.
• /f: This makes the command run without asking for confirmation, which is helpful for automation.

Restart Your Computer

After running the command, close the Command Prompt window. Restart your computer, or restart Windows Explorer from Task Manager, for the change to take effect.

A small mistake in the path could write the value to the wrong place. Double-check everything before pressing Enter.

Method 3Using Windows PowerShell

Like the Command Prompt, PowerShell is a text-based tool built into Windows. This method is especially useful for IT professionals managing many computers, because the same line can go into a script.

Open PowerShell as Administrator

1. Click the Start button.
2. Type PowerShell.
3. Right-click Windows PowerShell in the search results.
4. Select Run as administrator.
5. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission.

A blue PowerShell window should open, with "Administrator: Windows PowerShell" in the title bar. As with Command Prompt, this setting belongs to your own account, so an elevated window is not strictly required. Just use the same account you normally sign in with.

Run the PowerShell Command

PowerShell gives you a short command to set this value. Type or paste one of the lines below and press Enter.

• To turn ON the "Last Active Click" feature:
  ⬛PowerShell

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  Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "LastActiveClick" -Value 1 -Type DWord

• To turn OFF the "Last Active Click" feature:
  ⬛PowerShell

  Copy

  Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "LastActiveClick" -Value 0 -Type DWord

If the command works, PowerShell returns to the prompt without printing anything. No message means success. A red error usually means a typo in the path.

Understanding the command:

• Set-ItemProperty: This is a PowerShell command used to change a property, in this case a registry value.
• -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced": This shows the exact registry location. The colon after HKCU: is how PowerShell indicates a drive or registry hive.
• -Name "LastActiveClick": This tells PowerShell which specific value in that location to change.
• -Value 1 or -Value 0: This sets the value. Use 1 to turn it on and 0 to turn it off.
• -Type DWord: This confirms we are working with a number (DWORD) data type.

Restart Your Computer

Close the PowerShell window and restart your computer. You can also sign out and back in, or restart Windows Explorer from Task Manager. Your taskbar should then behave the way you set it.

If you want to automate computer tasks, it's worth learning. Test any new command on your own PC before running it on others.

Summary

Windows 11 Last Active Click is a taskbar feature that lets you choose whether clicking an open app icon opens its most recent window or shows a preview of all open windows. You can turn it on or off using the Registry Editor, Command Prompt, or PowerShell. All three methods change the same LastActiveClick value, so use whichever you prefer. To go back to the default, set the value to 0 or delete it, then restart Explorer or sign out and back in.