Menu bar items trigger click action on hover (mouse only) when using custom title bar
- Dominant language
- TypeScript
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Description
Type: Bug
### Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?
Not yet tested — please verify with `code --disable-extensions` before filing, and update this line with the result.
### Steps to Reproduce
1. Ensure `window.titleBarStyle` is set to `"custom"` (the default) in `settings.json`.
2. Open VS Code with the custom title bar / integrated menu bar visible.
3. Using only the mouse (no clicking), hover over any top-level menu item (e.g. **File**, **Edit**, **View**).
4. Observe that the menu item's click action fires just from hovering, without an actual mouse click.
### Expected behavior
Hovering over a top-level menu item should only highlight/preview it. The menu should only open, or an action should only fire, on an actual mouse click (or via keyboard mnemonics/Alt navigation, where hover-switching between already-open menus is expected).
### Actual behavior
Menu items respond to hover alone as if clicked, without any mouse button being pressed.
### Workaround found
Switching `window.titleBarStyle` to `"native"` resolves the issue completely — the native Windows-rendered menu does not exhibit this hover-click behavior. This points to the bug being specific to VS Code's custom Electron-rendered menu bar rather than Windows or the mouse hardware.
### Environment
- **VS Code Version:** 1.132.0 (system setup)
- **Commit:** df53daabb18cd157bdb08c7f01c34df936cf1... *(paste the full commit hash from Help → About if needed)*
- **Date:** 2026-08-04T15:30:20Z
- **Electron:** 42.7.1
- **Chromium:** 148.0.7778.280
- **Node.js:** 24.18.0
- **V8:** 14.8.178.38-electron.0
- **OS:** Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200
- **window.titleBarStyle:** custom (bug present) / native (bug absent)
### Additional context
This only occurs in VS Code — other Windows applications' menu bars behave normally (hover highlights, click activates). This suggests the issue lies in VS Code's custom title bar/menu rendering rather than an OS-level accessibility setting (e.g. dwell click) or mouse driver.
VS Code version: Code 1.132.0 (df53daabb18cd157bdb08c7f01c34df936cf12f4, 2026-08-04T15:30:20Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200
Modes:
System Info
|Item|Value|
|---|---|
|CPUs|AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics (16 x 3194)|
|GPU Status|2d_canvas: enabled
GPU0: VENDOR= 0x1002, DEVICE=0x1638 [AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics], DRIVER_VENDOR=AMD, DRIVER_VERSION=31.0.12044.37003 *ACTIVE*
GPU1: VENDOR= 0x10de, DEVICE=0x25a2 [NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU], DRIVER_VERSION=32.0.15.6607
GPU2: VENDOR= 0x1414, DEVICE=0x008c [Microsoft Basic Render Driver], DRIVER_VERSION=10.0.26100.8972
Machine model name:
Machine model version:
direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok
gpu_compositing: enabled
multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on
opengl: enabled_on
rasterization: enabled
raw_draw: disabled_off_ok
skia_graphite: disabled_off
trees_in_viz: disabled_off
video_decode: enabled
video_encode: enabled
webgl: enabled
webgpu: enabled
webnn: disabled_off|
|Load (avg)|undefined|
|Memory (System)|15.41GB (7.25GB free)|
|Process Argv|--crash-reporter-id 6f112c88-36c3-498d-9659-5aa293597eb4|
|Screen Reader|yes|
|VM|0%|
Extensions: none
A/B Experiments
```
vsliv368cf:30146710
binariesv615:30325510
nativeloc1:31344060
dwcopilot:31170013
dwoutputs:31242946
copilot_t_ci:31333650
e5gg6876:31282496
pythonrdcb7:31342333
6518g693:31463988
aj953862:31281341
envsactivate1:31551504
cloudbuttont:31379625
3efgi100_wstrepl:31403338
55ia6109:31457054
ddidt:31399633
ec5jj548:31422691
cp_cls_t_966_ss:31526232
4je02754:31466945
c3h7c220:31478652
cp_cls_c_1081:31454833
conptydll_true:31498968
e9c30283:31461165
test_treatment2:31471001
46204921:31447328
idci7584:31464702
e3e4d672:31494082
ei9d7968:31496641
chat:31457767
7e187181:31503455
ghj88844:31499326
ec1eg703:31520046
ddid_c:31478207
hmra_i5g22:31518061
7df3h592:31512476
cp_cls_t_1082:31535311
logging_enabled_new:31498466
j0d79568:31499440
jb_cp_cls_t_632:31543129
748c7209:31512887
32d76977:31512328
ha629193:31508444
cdk-lw-on:31524445
f9bf7985:31543584
a1ije391_t:31540920
hgf2d445:31529595
jbcp_cls_pctr_t:31531130
61138546:31518536
cp_intellij_t_nes:31548657
gf14b233:31526830
ahp-both-windows:31556933
h561g132:31533256
sessions_5:31532894
ihg5j128:31534457
f412h606:31551416
9gg7f176:31542112
5fe6f778:31554331
allow-none:31555437
fd5dc207:31551400
c7c27ce7:31554789
8hc4g144:31558143
1532g621_copy:31554320
treatment-23-1:31555779
unuse_dynamic_mcp:31555281
a1hcc538:31559322
vrbsty_fls:31561059
session-mark-done:31558131
```
Contributor guide
Assessment
This issue has not been assessed yet.