Microsoft Addresses Windows 10 Update Right-Clicking Issue in New Icons

Towards the end of April, Microsoft released the KB5036979 preview update for Windows 10 22H2. As with most updates, there were known issues with this one too. However, aside from those listed, Microsoft has also confirmed a new problem related to the New Teams and New Outlook for Windows right-clicking. The same bug also affects Windows 10 21H2 since the May 2024 Patch Tuesday.

Post installation of the update, when a user right-clicks on the New Teams or New Outlook icon on the Start menu or Taskbar, the “Open with” dialogue box opens instead of the proper context menu.

Microsoft's Response

Microsoft, on its Windows health dashboard, writes:

Following installation of the Windows update released April 23, 2024 (KB5036979) / May 14, 2024 (KB5037768) and updates released after that, certain apps might display an “Open With” dialog box asking, “How do you want to open this file?”. You might experience this issue when you place your mouse on an app icon shown in your Taskbar or Start menu and right-click on the app to execute a task in that app. Resulting from this, you might see the “Open With” dialog box instead of the execution of the selected task.

This issue was reported by Teams, new Outlook for Windows, and Snip & Sketch users. This issue can also affect other applications attempting to right-click on its icon to find a context menu with a list of tasks.

Workaround and Next Steps

The company has also provided a workaround for the issue and says that a fix is in the works for an upcoming update:

• Workaround: Although the “Open With” dialog prevents the use of the tasks available from the right-click context menu, it’s likely that those same operations can be performed by making the application interface visible, and navigating the application interface and menus.
• Next steps: We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

Insights from Tech Community

In a separate Tech Community blog post, Corbin Meek, a Senior Supportability Program Manager for Teams and Skype for Business at Microsoft, has discussed the issue in more detail and has provided a workaround specifically for Teams.