Explorer navigation shortcut does not open after Windows update KB5094126 / KB5094127

[Mountain-song-Liaoya]

⚠️ Before submitting, please verify the following: ⚠️

• This is a bug, not a question or a configuration issue.
• This issue is not already reported on Github (I have searched for it).
• Nextcloud Server and Desktop Client are up to date. See Server Maintenance and Release Schedule and Desktop Releases for supported versions.
• I agree to follow Nextcloud's Code of Conduct

Bug description

After installing Windows 10 update KB5094127, the Nextcloud desktop client no longer opens correctly from Windows Explorer integration points.

Specifically:

Clicking/double-clicking Nextcloud shortcut from Explorer navigation pane / shell integration → ❌ no response (no window, no process reaction)
No error message is shown
No new visible process or UI appears
However:
Clicking the taskbar icon (when client is already running) → ✅ works normally
The application itself is not broken; only shell-triggered activation fails

Steps to reproduce

Install Windows 10 update KB5094127
Install and run Nextcloud Desktop Client 33.0.5
Open Windows File Explorer
Click/double-click Nextcloud entry in navigation pane / shortcut area
Observe no application window opens
Open client via taskbar icon → works normally

Expected behavior

Explorer shortcut should bring the Nextcloud window to foreground
Or launch the client if not running

Which files are affected by this bug

Explorer shell integration / Windows activation handler / single instance window focus logic

Operating system

Windows

Which version of the operating system you are running.

Windows10

Installation method

Official Windows MSI

Nextcloud Server version

33.0.3

Nextcloud Desktop Client version

33.0.5

Did this occur after an update or on a clean installation?

Minor version update (i.e. 33.0.0 → 33.0.1)

Are you using the Nextcloud Server Encryption module?

No

Are you using an external user-backend?

• Default internal user-backend
• LDAP or Active Directory
• SSO - SAML
• Other

Nextcloud Server logs

Additional info

No response

[Rello]

Hello,

not sure what you are talking about. can you post a screenshot?
if you are talking about the folder, that Nextcloud puts in the Explorer sidebar, this never opened any client. its just a folder navigation.
Please provide more details

[Mountain-song-Liaoya]

你好，

不太明白你在说什么。能发个截图吗？如果你说的是Nextcloud放在资源管理器侧边栏的那个文件夹，那它从未打开过任何客户端。这只是一个文件夹导航。请提供更多细节

Clicking the shortcut in the navigation pane (as indicated by the arrow in the image) does not allow access to Nextcloud, but double-clicking the Nextcloud icon in the taskbar works properly. I have reinstalled Nextcloud 33.0.5, yet the problem remains unresolved. All of these issues started occurring after the Windows 10 KB5094127 update was installed.

[Rello]

What happens if you click the link? Are the folders displayed?

[Mountain-song-Liaoya]

如果你点击链接会发生什么？文件夹会显示吗？

YES,
When right-clicking Nextcloud in the navigation pane and selecting Properties, the window shows nothing. However, the Nextcloud folder can be accessed normally via the file path.

[ehylla93]

I also can confirm this after latest Windows Updates on Win 2k22 21H2 (20348.5256). All .ink files on I've created in the navigation pane are empty. Clicking on Nextcloud in navigation pane results into nothing. Checking options shows the same results as the screenshots above.

Untick and tick "Show sync folder in navigation pane in Explorer" deletes and re-creates "Nextcloud", but does nothing.

Accessing the folder and its files directly from the Nextcloud folder seems to work without any issues.

[interbiznw]

can confirm this too

I also can confirm this after latest Windows Updates on Win 2k22 21H2 (20348.5256). All .ink files on I've created in the navigation pane are empty. Clicking on Nextcloud in navigation pane results into nothing. Checking options shows the same results as the screenshots above.

Untick and tick "Show sync folder in navigation pane in Explorer" deletes and re-creates "Nextcloud", but does nothing.

Accessing the folder and its files directly from the Nextcloud folder seems to work without any issues.

[th0masmcc]

Same problem on Windows 11 - 25H2 - Build 10.0.26200.8655

[nilsding]

It looks like this Windows update also affects other cloud providers (e.g. OneDrive, Dropbox). Someone on Reddit claimed that apparently enabling UAC for their account resolved this issue for them.

@ anyone affected by this: is UAC disabled for your user account? If so, does enabling it make the navigation pane shortcut work again?