Issue:
When AutoCAD publish is running a large plot job, every time a new plot starts, the AutoCAD application interrupts whatever program is running in the foreground with a pop-up window showing the plot progress.
Even after minimizing AutoCAD and opening Outlook, or Teams, etc, AutoCAD will continue interrupting email or a video conference with what Microsoft refers to as 'stealing focus'.
Cause:
Even when choosing the option to publish in the background, that applies to working in AutoCAD only and doesn't apply to working in other Windows programs.
Solution:
There is a Windows registry DWORD value called ForegroundLockTimeout whose Windows 10 default value of 200000 in decimal notation can be set to 100000 that effectively stops the interrupting loss of focus.
Search for and open Regedit, then Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER as shown highlighted above, then locate and expand Control Panel and select Desktop. On the right, locate and double click ForegroundLockTimeout. Select 'Decimal' base and change 200000 to 100000.
Click OK and close Regedit. Then reboot your PC for the changes to take effect.
Warning! Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft provides a wealth of critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support.
Use the Microsoft® Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as well as the system.dat and user.dat files as outlined for your operating system in the Microsoft Knowledge Base and in the related solution, TS66513. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor
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