[Windows] Fix SearchHandler does not focus when ShowSoftInputAsync is called

[praveenkumarkarunanithi]

Note

Are you waiting for the changes in this PR to be merged?
It would be very helpful if you could test the resulting artifacts from this PR and let us know in a comment if this change resolves your issue.
Thank you!

Root Cause

PR #29600 added ShowSoftInputRequested and HideSoftInputRequested event handling for Android and iOS via their respective SearchHandlerAppearanceTracker implementations.

However, Windows uses ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs, which was not updated to handle these events. As a result, although the events are raised by SearchHandler.ShowSoftInputAsync(), there are no subscribers on Windows, leading to no action.

Description of Change

Extended support for ShowSoftInputAsync() / HideSoftInputAsync() to Windows by wiring the corresponding events in ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs.

Event subscriptions are handled in UpdateSearchHandler when a handler is assigned, and are properly cleaned up when the handler is replaced or during DisconnectHandler.

Since Windows does not use an on-screen keyboard, the implementation focuses on focus management. Focus is applied using autoSuggestBox.Focus(FocusState.Programmatic), aligning with standard WinUI behavior. Unfocus is handled using the existing IsEnabled toggle pattern (consistent with ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl), with proper preservation of IsTabStop.

A safety guard is included to ensure that disabled controls are not unintentionally re-enabled during the unfocus process.

Issues Fixed

Fixes #34930

Tested the behaviour in the following platforms

• Android
• Windows
• iOS
• Mac

Screenshots

Before Issue Fix	After Issue Fix

[github-actions]

🚀 Dogfood this PR with:

⚠️ WARNING: Do not do this without first carefully reviewing the code of this PR to satisfy yourself it is safe.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dotnet/maui/main/eng/scripts/get-maui-pr.sh | bash -s -- 35079

Or

• Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dotnet/maui/main/eng/scripts/get-maui-pr.ps1) } 35079"

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds Windows support for SearchHandler.ShowSoftInputAsync() / HideSoftInputAsync() by wiring the corresponding internal events in the Windows ShellItemHandler, and introduces a UI test + HostApp repro page to validate focus behavior.

Changes:

• Subscribe/unsubscribe to ShowSoftInputRequested / HideSoftInputRequested in ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs and implement focus/unfocus behavior via the AutoSuggestBox.
• Add HostApp issue page Issue34930 with buttons and labels to exercise/observe focus behavior.
• Add Appium/NUnit UI test Issue34930 to validate focus occurs after invoking ShowSoftInputAsync().

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 8 comments.

File	Description
src/Controls/src/Core/Handlers/Shell/ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs	Wires ShowSoftInputRequested/HideSoftInputRequested to focus/unfocus the underlying AutoSuggestBox on Windows.
src/Controls/tests/TestCases.HostApp/Issues/Issue34930.cs	Adds a HostApp repro page that triggers Show/Hide soft-input requests and displays focus state.
src/Controls/tests/TestCases.Shared.Tests/Tests/Issues/Issue34930.cs	Adds a UI test which taps the button and asserts focus state/event indicators.

[kubaflo]

Could you please review the ai's summary and verify the failing tests?

[kubaflo]

Could you please check the ai's summary?

[sheiksyedm]

/azp run maui-pr-uitests , maui-pr-devicetests

[azure-pipelines]

Azure Pipelines successfully started running 2 pipeline(s).

[kubaflo]

Android tests are failing - could you please check?

[kubaflo]

/review -b feature/regression-check -p windows

[kubaflo]

/review -b feature/regression-check -p windows

[MauiBot]

🤖 AI Summary

👋 @praveenkumarkarunanithi — new AI review results are available. Please review the latest session below.

📊 Review Session — 386426c · updated test as per ai concerns. · 2026-05-21 13:05 UTC

🚦 Gate — Test Before & After Fix

Gate Result: ✅ PASSED

Platform: WINDOWS · Base: main · Merge base: 1eb20831

Test	Without Fix (expect FAIL)	With Fix (expect PASS)
🖥️ Issue34930 Issue34930	✅ FAIL — 620s	✅ PASS — 475s

🔴 Without fix — 🖥️ Issue34930: FAIL ✅ · 620s

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Test run for D:\a\1\s\artifacts\bin\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests\Debug\net10.0\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests.dll (.NETCoreApp,Version=v10.0)
VSTest version 18.0.1 (x64)

Starting test execution, please wait...
A total of 1 test files matched the specified pattern.
D:\a\1\s\artifacts\bin\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests\Debug\net10.0\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests.dll
NUnit Adapter 4.5.0.0: Test execution started
Running selected tests in D:\a\1\s\artifacts\bin\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests\Debug\net10.0\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests.dll
   NUnit3TestExecutor discovered 2 of 2 NUnit test cases using Current Discovery mode, Non-Explicit run
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:10:57 AM FixtureSetup for Issue34930(Windows)
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:11:07 AM SearchHandlerHideSoftInputShouldUnfocusSearchHandlerOnWindows Start
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:11:25 AM SearchHandlerHideSoftInputShouldUnfocusSearchHandlerOnWindows Stop
  Passed SearchHandlerHideSoftInputShouldUnfocusSearchHandlerOnWindows [18 s]
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:11:25 AM SearchHandlerShowSoftInputShouldFocusSearchHandlerOnWindows Start
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:11:42 AM SearchHandlerShowSoftInputShouldFocusSearchHandlerOnWindows Stop
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:11:43 AM Log types: 
  Failed SearchHandlerShowSoftInputShouldFocusSearchHandlerOnWindows [18 s]
  Error Message:
     Assert.That(isFocused, Is.EqualTo("IsFocused: True"))
  Expected string length 15 but was 16. Strings differ at index 11.
  Expected: "IsFocused: True"
  But was:  "IsFocused: False"
  ----------------------^

  Stack Trace:
     at Microsoft.Maui.TestCases.Tests.Issues.Issue34930.SearchHandlerShowSoftInputShouldFocusSearchHandlerOnWindows() in /_/src/Controls/tests/TestCases.Shared.Tests/Tests/Issues/Issue34930.cs:line 24

1)    at Microsoft.Maui.TestCases.Tests.Issues.Issue34930.SearchHandlerShowSoftInputShouldFocusSearchHandlerOnWindows() in /_/src/Controls/tests/TestCases.Shared.Tests/Tests/Issues/Issue34930.cs:line 24


NUnit Adapter 4.5.0.0: Test execution complete
[xUnit.net 00:00:00.00] xUnit.net VSTest Adapter v2.8.2+699d445a1a (64-bit .NET 10.0.0)
[xUnit.net 00:00:00.11]   Discovering: Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests
[xUnit.net 00:00:00.33]   Discovered:  Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests

Total tests: 2
     Passed: 1
     Failed: 1
Test Run Failed.
 Total time: 1.3320 Minutes

🟢 With fix — 🖥️ Issue34930: PASS ✅ · 475s

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D:\a\1\s\artifacts\bin\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests\Debug\net10.0\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests.dll
NUnit Adapter 4.5.0.0: Test execution started
Running selected tests in D:\a\1\s\artifacts\bin\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests\Debug\net10.0\Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests.dll
   NUnit3TestExecutor discovered 2 of 2 NUnit test cases using Current Discovery mode, Non-Explicit run
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:19:25 AM FixtureSetup for Issue34930(Windows)
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:19:34 AM SearchHandlerHideSoftInputShouldUnfocusSearchHandlerOnWindows Start
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:19:37 AM SearchHandlerHideSoftInputShouldUnfocusSearchHandlerOnWindows Stop
  Passed SearchHandlerHideSoftInputShouldUnfocusSearchHandlerOnWindows [3 s]
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:19:37 AM SearchHandlerShowSoftInputShouldFocusSearchHandlerOnWindows Start
>>>>> 5/21/2026 11:19:40 AM SearchHandlerShowSoftInputShouldFocusSearchHandlerOnWindows Stop
  Passed SearchHandlerShowSoftInputShouldFocusSearchHandlerOnWindows [2 s]
NUnit Adapter 4.5.0.0: Test execution complete
[xUnit.net 00:00:00.00] xUnit.net VSTest Adapter v2.8.2+699d445a1a (64-bit .NET 10.0.0)
[xUnit.net 00:00:00.11]   Discovering: Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests
[xUnit.net 00:00:00.35]   Discovered:  Controls.TestCases.WinUI.Tests

Test Run Successful.
Total tests: 2
     Passed: 2
 Total time: 29.5017 Seconds

📁 Fix files reverted (1 files)

• src/Controls/src/Core/Handlers/Shell/ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs

---

🧪 UI Tests — Shell,SoftInput

Detected UI test categories: Shell,SoftInput

🧪 UI Test Execution Results

⏭️ SKIPPED — 0 passed, 0 failed, 2 skipped (platform: windows)

Category	Result	Tests	Duration	Notes
Shell	⏭️ SKIPPED	—	0s	Runner threw an exception
SoftInput	⏭️ SKIPPED	—	0s	Runner threw an exception

Failures here are informational only — they do not block the gate or affect try-fix candidate scoring.

---

🔍 Pre-Flight — Context & Validation

Issue: #34930 - [Windows] SearchHandler.ShowSoftInputAsync() does not focus the SearchHandler
PR: #35079 - [Windows] Fix SearchHandler does not focus when ShowSoftInputAsync is called
Platforms Affected: Windows
Files Changed: 1 implementation, 2 test (HostApp + Shared.Tests UI test)

Key Findings

• The SearchHandler.ShowSoftInputAsync() / HideSoftInputAsync() APIs raise the internal events ShowSoftInputRequested / HideSoftInputRequested (see src/Controls/src/Core/Shell/SearchHandler.cs). On Android and iOS these events are wired in the respective SearchHandlerAppearanceTracker. On Windows, ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs owns the AutoSuggestBox lifecycle but never subscribed — so the calls were no-ops, the AutoSuggestBox never got focus, and IsFocused never flipped to true.
• The PR subscribes to both events in UpdateSearchHandler whenever a new SearchHandler is assigned, mirrors the unsubscription in DisconnectHandler, and adds inline platform code:
  • Show: autoSuggestBox.Focus(FocusState.Programmatic) — programmatic focus on the WinUI AutoSuggestBox. This drives OnSearchBoxGotFocus, which calls _currentSearchHandler.SetIsFocused(true) and raises the Focused event.
  • Hide: inline duplicate of the IsTabStop/IsEnabled toggle pattern (matching Microsoft.Maui.Platform.ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl) with a guard if (!autoSuggestBox.IsEnabled) return;.
• The fix delivers correct functional behavior (gate verified — without fix FAILS, with fix PASSES). However, the UnfocusControl helper in ViewExtensions.cs already implements the exact IsTabStop/IsEnabled toggle that the PR inlines — re-implementing it inline is duplication that could drift from the canonical helper.
• Windows has no on-screen software keyboard for desktop typing input — the soft input pane only appears in tablet mode. Therefore "focus the search box" is the correct semantic, matching how Android/iOS implementations achieve "show the keyboard."
• Subscription is keyed off the _currentSearchHandler identity (handler-replacement path). PropertyChanged subscriptions and the new soft-input subscriptions follow the same lifecycle, which is consistent.

Code Review Summary

Verdict: NEEDS_DISCUSSION (advisory)
Confidence: medium
Errors: 0 | Warnings: 1 | Suggestions: 1

Key code review findings:

• ⚠️ ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs:409-413 — Hide path inlines the IsTabStop/IsEnabled toggle instead of calling the existing Microsoft.Maui.Platform.ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl(control) helper (src/Core/src/Platform/Windows/ViewExtensions.cs:394). Risk of drift if the unfocus pattern is later changed centrally.
• 💡 ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs:393-398 — The Show path uses raw Focus(FocusState.Programmatic) rather than delegating to existing patterns. There is no centralized "focus a Windows control" helper (ViewExtensions.Focus is async on IView request), so duplicating Focus(FocusState.Programmatic) here is acceptable, but a small helper could be considered if more handlers adopt the pattern.
• 💡 Consider also calling FrameworkElementExtensions.ShowSoftInput(autoSuggestBox) for parity with Entry/Editor on tablet-mode Windows where an actual InputPane exists.

Fix Candidates

#	Source	Approach	Test Result	Files Changed	Notes
PR	PR #35079	Subscribe to Show/Hide events; Focus(FocusState.Programmatic) on show; inline IsTabStop/IsEnabled toggle on hide	✅ PASSED (Gate)	ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs	Original PR — duplicates UnfocusControl logic

---

🔧 Fix — Analysis & Comparison

Try-Fix Summary — PR #35079

Both candidates were generated with maui-expert-reviewer guidance (via the try-fix skill's inline Step 6 self-review against .github/agents/maui-expert-reviewer.md) and tested empirically on Windows with BuildAndRunHostApp.ps1 -Platform windows -TestFilter "FullyQualifiedName~Issue34930".

Fix Candidates

#	Source	Approach	Test Result	Files Changed	Notes
PR	PR #35079	Subscribe to Show/Hide events; Focus(FocusState.Programmatic) on show; inline IsTabStop/IsEnabled toggle on hide.	✅ PASSED (Gate)	1 impl + 2 test	Works; duplicates UnfocusControl logic inline.
1	try-fix-1	Same wiring; same show. Hide replaced by Microsoft.Maui.Platform.ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl(autoSuggestBox) — reuse existing helper.	✅ PASS	1 impl (ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs)	Cleanest; ~12 fewer lines than PR; clean self-review; single source of truth for the unfocus pattern.
2	try-fix-2	Candidate 1 + also call FrameworkElementExtensions.ShowSoftInput / HideSoftInput to surface the WinUI InputPane, matching Android/iOS semantics.	✅ PASS	1 impl (ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs)	+6 lines vs #1; clean self-review; broader behavioral parity with Entry.ShowSoftInputAsync() on Windows.

Cross-Pollination

Round	New Idea Explored?	Outcome
1	✅ Reuse UnfocusControl helper (#1)	PASS — clearly better than PR
2	✅ Add OS InputPane parity (#2)	PASS — meaningfully different semantic; somewhat broader scope
3	—	Further variations would be trivial (e.g., extracting OnShowSoftInputRequested/OnHideSoftInputRequested into a separate SearchHandlerAppearanceTracker.Windows.cs to mirror Android/iOS architecture). Architectural refactor → larger blast radius and not demonstrably better for fixing only this bug. Skipped.

Exhausted

Yes — two meaningfully different approaches explored. Remaining options (full architectural refactor into a SearchHandlerAppearanceTracker.Windows tracker) exceed the bug's scope and would introduce a parallel subscription path that duplicates ShellItemHandler ownership of AutoSuggestBox — not net-better for this fix.

Selected Fix

Candidate 1 — Reuse Microsoft.Maui.Platform.ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl(autoSuggestBox).

Why over the PR's fix:

• Removes ~12 lines of duplicated platform code (the inline IsTabStop/IsEnabled toggle is exactly what UnfocusControl already does, including the if (!control.IsEnabled) return guard).
• Single source of truth for the "unfocus a WinUI Control" pattern — future changes to that helper propagate.
• Same external behavior (gate test still passes), clean self-review.
• Scope strictly limited to fixing the bug — no behavioral additions.

Why over candidate 2:

• Candidate 2 is also viable and arguably more user-aligned (it matches the literal API name on tablet-mode Windows). However:
  • The bug being fixed ([Windows] SearchHandler.ShowSoftInputAsync() does not focus the SearchHandler #34930) is specifically about IsFocused / focus state — candidate 1 fully solves that.
  • Candidate 2 adds InputPane behavior that has no existing test coverage on Windows; expanding scope without a regression test for the new behavior risks silent breakage later.
  • The InputPane addition is a follow-up enhancement that could land in a separate PR with its own test (touch/tablet harness).

Recommendation for PR Author

Apply the candidate 1 diff to the PR (the only functional change is in OnHideSoftInputRequested):

void OnHideSoftInputRequested(object? sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (PlatformView is not NavigationView mauiNavView || mauiNavView.AutoSuggestBox is not { } autoSuggestBox)
        return;

    Microsoft.Maui.Platform.ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl(autoSuggestBox);
}

The rest of the PR (event subscriptions, OnShowSoftInputRequested, lifecycle cleanup, host app + UI test) is correct and should be kept as-is.

Artifacts

• Per-candidate narrative:
  • try-fix-1/content.md
  • try-fix-2/content.md
• Per-attempt evidence (baseline, diff, test logs, self-review):
  • try-fix/attempt-1/
  • try-fix/attempt-2/

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📋 Report — Final Recommendation

Comparative Report — PR #35079 candidates

Issue: #34930 — Windows SearchHandler.ShowSoftInputAsync() does not focus.
Platform: Windows.
Gate (test fails without fix, passes with fix): ✅ PASSED — not re-run.

1. Candidate matrix

Candidate	Approach (hide path)	Approach (show path)	Lines vs. PR	Regression tests	Self-review
pr	Inline IsTabStop/IsEnabled toggle with if (!IsEnabled) return guard	autoSuggestBox.Focus(FocusState.Programmatic)	baseline	✅ PASS (gate)	1 warning (F1: duplication) + 1 suggestion (F2: InputPane parity)
pr-plus-reviewer	Microsoft.Maui.Platform.ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl(autoSuggestBox)	Same as PR	−12	✅ PASS (via try-fix-1 — diff-identical)	0 findings
try-fix-1	UnfocusControl(autoSuggestBox)	Same as PR	−12	✅ PASS (empirical)	0 findings
try-fix-2	UnfocusControl(autoSuggestBox) + FrameworkElementExtensions.HideSoftInput(autoSuggestBox)	PR's focus + FrameworkElementExtensions.ShowSoftInput(autoSuggestBox)	−6	✅ PASS (empirical)	0 findings; but new behavior (InputPane) with no test coverage

Note: pr-plus-reviewer and try-fix-1 are diff-identical — they arrive at the same code via different routes (expert review of the PR vs. independent re-derivation). For ranking purposes, pr-plus-reviewer carries the additional context of being "PR-baseline + reviewer feedback applied," which is the preferred framing for landing on the existing PR.

2. Ranking

All candidates passed the regression tests, so no candidate is demoted on that basis.

1. 🥇 pr-plus-reviewer — Diff-identical to try-fix-1, framed as the PR plus reviewer-driven cleanup. Strictly better than pr (removes duplication, same behavior, same passing tests). Single source of truth for the Windows "unfocus a Control" pattern via the canonical UnfocusControl helper.
2. 🥈 try-fix-1 — Equivalent in code to [Draft] Readme WIP #1; ranked second only because it's framed as an independent rewrite rather than as feedback layered onto the open PR. Functionally tied with the winner.
3. 🥉 pr — Works correctly and passes the gate. Sole issue is the inlined duplication of the UnfocusControl pattern (drift risk if the canonical helper is later updated, e.g., for future WinUI workarounds).
4. try-fix-2 — Also passes tests and addresses F2 (OS InputPane parity). Ranked lower because it expands behavior beyond the bug's scope (touch/tablet keyboard surfacing) without adding test coverage for the new behavior. The InputPane integration is correct and arguably more user-aligned, but is better landed as a separate, dedicated PR with tablet-mode test coverage.

3. Winner

pr-plus-reviewer

Rationale

• Resolves the only warning-severity reviewer finding (F1) on the PR with a one-line change.
• Behaviorally identical to the merged PR — same gate-passing test results, no risk of new regressions.
• Removes ~12 lines of duplicated platform code; aligns with the canonical Microsoft.Maui.Platform.ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl helper used elsewhere by handlers.
• Strictly conservative — scope remains the bug only, with no behavioral expansion (unlike try-fix-2's untested InputPane work).
• Frames the outcome as "land the PR after applying reviewer feedback," which is the right shape for this workflow.

Disposition of suggestions not applied

• F2 (InputPane parity / try-fix-2 approach): Defer to a follow-up PR with tablet-mode test coverage. Tracked as a recommendation in the PR review comments. Not a blocker for [Windows] Fix SearchHandler does not focus when ShowSoftInputAsync is called #35079.
• F3 (Focus(FocusState.Programmatic) style): Informational only; no change recommended.

4. Recommendation to PR author

Apply this single edit to src/Controls/src/Core/Handlers/Shell/ShellItemHandler.Windows.cs (OnHideSoftInputRequested):

 void OnHideSoftInputRequested(object? sender, EventArgs e)
 {
     if (PlatformView is not NavigationView mauiNavView || mauiNavView.AutoSuggestBox is not { } autoSuggestBox)
         return;

-    if (!autoSuggestBox.IsEnabled)
-        return;
-
-    var isTabStop = autoSuggestBox.IsTabStop;
-    autoSuggestBox.IsTabStop = false;
-    autoSuggestBox.IsEnabled = false;
-    autoSuggestBox.IsEnabled = true;
-    autoSuggestBox.IsTabStop = isTabStop;
+    Microsoft.Maui.Platform.ViewExtensions.UnfocusControl(autoSuggestBox);
 }

Keep everything else from PR #35079 as-is (event subscriptions, OnShowSoftInputRequested, host app entry, and the two new Issue34930 UI tests).

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