Shell loses focus and can't be focused again until mouse movement occurs after opening event

[CD-Z]

Description

When interacting with a layer shell (in my case DMS) the cursor loses focus after activating a widget that spawns a new window or opens a popup. This means you can't click again until you move your mouse.

Other Details

I tried this also with waybar, with my hyprland config and with the default hyprland config all with the same result. After that I also tried it on a different system - same result. Finally I tried it on niri and it worked as expected.

Hyprland version

Hyprland 0.53.3 built from branch v0.53.3 at commit dd220efe7b1e292415bd0ea7161f63df9c95bfd3 clean (version: bump to 0.53.3).
Date: Sat Jan 24 20:02:06 2026
Tag: v0.53.3, commits: 6793

Libraries:
Hyprgraphics: built against 0.5.0, system has 0.5.0
Hyprutils: built against 0.11.0, system has 0.11.0
Hyprcursor: built against 0.1.13, system has 0.1.13
Hyprlang: built against 0.6.8, system has 0.6.8
Aquamarine: built against 0.10.0, system has 0.10.0

Version ABI string: dd220efe7b1e292415bd0ea7161f63df9c95bfd3_aq_0.10_hu_0.11_hg_0.5_hc_0.1_hlg_0.6
no flags were set

[bojanpy]

Changing workspaces back forth via keyboard shortcuts will get the focus back for me in the correct window, but that's not a solution.

[skydive420dz]

look in your code for phantom masks taking over the focus.

[DevinTDHa]

Encountering a similar problem with Noctalia shell. In my case, I cannot issue any keypresses to the focused window (before the popup happened).

However, the behavior is even worse when using follow_mouse = 2 (click to focus).

Mouse movement will not refocus in that case (and clicking doesn't help either). Fixes that work:

1. Change workspace and change back
2. (if single window) Spawn new window and focus back using keys
3. (if other windows) Focus back using keys

hyprctl version

Hyprland 0.55.4 built from branch v0.55.4 at commit a0136d8c04687bb36eb8a28eb9d1ff92aea99704 clean ([gha] Nix: update inputs).
Date: Thu Jun 11 17:10:04 2026
Tag: v0.55.4, commits: 7378

Libraries:
Hyprgraphics: built against 0.5.1, system has 0.5.1
Hyprutils: built against 0.13.1, system has 0.13.1
Hyprcursor: built against 0.1.13, system has 0.1.13
Hyprlang: built against 0.6.8, system has 0.6.8
Aquamarine: built against 0.12.0, system has 0.12.1

Version ABI string: a0136d8c04687bb36eb8a28eb9d1ff92aea99704_aq_0.12_hu_0.13_hg_0.5_hc_0.1_hlg_0.6
no flags were set

[philkoch]

I have the same problem with

❯ hyprland --version
Hyprland 0.55.4 built from branch v0.55.4 at commit a0136d8c04687bb36eb8a28eb9d1ff92aea99704 clean ([gha] Nix: update inputs).
Date: Thu Jun 11 17:10:04 2026
Tag: v0.55.4, commits: 7378

Libraries:
Hyprgraphics: built against 0.5.1, system has 0.5.1
Hyprutils: built against 0.13.1, system has 0.13.1
Hyprcursor: built against 0.1.13, system has 0.1.13
Hyprlang: built against 0.6.8, system has 0.6.8
Aquamarine: built against 0.12.0, system has 0.12.1

Version ABI string: a0136d8c04687bb36eb8a28eb9d1ff92aea99704_aq_0.12_hu_0.13_hg_0.5_hc_0.1_hlg_0.6
no flags were set

❯ qs -c noctalia-shell --version
noctalia-qs 0.0.12 (revision dbc319db0a967c6a6fe2710ab780ce7bb9e14ae1, distributed by Arch Linux)
~ ❯ 

The mentioned fixes also work in my case.

[DevinTDHa]

Update: This seems to be fixed with noctalia v5 (non qs).

[dr0bz]

Experiencing the same with ashell: MalpenZibo/ashell#960

[benicd]

Have same issue on Omarchy 4.0.4 even if shell is not involved.

When scroll the webpage and click on URL via double tap and open in new tab (which opens in background by default), my cursor is not reacting to my finger movement on my touchpad. As long as my fingers are moving while cursor is in the same location when I have opened the link, my finger movements will not register my touches. I can lift my fingers and try to move them again but cursor will not move.

To fix this, I need to move my cursor in any direction, any amount and then all works normally again. I need to do that every time when I open link in the new tab.