[BUG] Windows: After closing main window, relaunching only opens non-functional quick entry — must kill process every time

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

On Windows, when you close the Claude Desktop main window and try to relaunch it from the Start menu, the main window does not appear. Instead, a Claude icon silently shows up in the system tray. Clicking it only opens the quick entry bar (one-line input), which is non-functional — typing text and pressing Enter does nothing.

Killing Claude.exe in Task Manager and relaunching does recover the main window, but this must be done every single time the window is closed. There is no way to reopen the main window without killing the process first.

What Should Happen?

• Closing the main window and relaunching from Start menu should reopen the main window
• If the app remains running in the tray after closing, clicking the tray icon should bring back the main window — not just quick entry
• Quick entry, when opened, should at minimum be functional (currently typing + Enter does nothing)

Error Messages/Logs

No error messages are displayed. The app appears to start normally — a white Claude icon appears in the system tray — but only the quick entry one-line bar is accessible. The main window is simply missing.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Launch Claude Desktop on Windows from Start menu → main window opens normally
2. Close the main window (click X)
3. Launch Claude Desktop again from Start menu → nothing visible happens
4. Check the system tray → Claude icon is present
5. Click the Claude tray icon → only the quick entry bar appears (not the main window)
6. Type in the quick entry bar and press Enter → nothing happens
7. Alt+Tab, Win+Arrow keys, right-click taskbar icon (and choose show App shows only the qick bar) → no way to recover the main window

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.1.8629 (befdfc) 2026-03-24T22:13:01.000Z

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

Environment

• OS: Windows 11
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X
• RAM: 128 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5090 32GB
• Claude plan: Max
• Claude Desktop version: Claude 1.1.8629 (befdfc) 2026-03-24T22:13:01.000Z
• Display: (dual monitor, different scaling modes)

#### Related Issues

#22420 — Feature request: add toggle to disable quick entry on Windows taskbar click
#28900 — Claude Desktop on Windows crashes, quick entry replaces main window