Cannot close viewer or tabs using the Esc key [Solved]

[Lycolia]

Expected behavior: Pressing Esc should close the current tab (excluding the Browser tab) or Viewer as it worked in Version 1.5.0. Not exit application.

Expected behavior: XnView MP Windows Version 1.5.0 32bits (Jul 10 2023)

• When opening an image via file association, pressing Esc closes the viewer and shows the browser.

• When opening an image from the browser, pressing Esc closes the tab.

• Pressing Esc does NOT close the "Browser" tab.

• Pressing Esc repeatedly does NOT quit the application.

Actual behavior: XnView MP Windows Version 1.11.2 [10051] 64-bit (Apr 30 2026)

• When opening an image via file association, pressing Esc closes the viewer and shows the browser.

• When opening an image from the browser, pressing Esc does NOT close the tab.

• Pressing Esc does NOT close the "Browser" tab.

• Pressing Esc repeatedly does NOT quit the application.

After enabling Settings → Interface → Keyboard → "Pressing ESC closes" → Viewers:

• When opening an image via file association, pressing Esc quits the application.

• When opening an image from the browser, pressing Esc closes the tab.

• Pressing Esc does NOT close the "Browser" tab.

• Pressing Esc repeatedly does NOT quit the application.

After additionally assigning Esc to Settings → Interface → Shortcuts → Viewer → Close:

• When opening an image via file association, pressing Esc repeatedly closes the viewer and shows the browser. (This is frustrating.)

• When opening an image from the browser, pressing Esc does NOT close the tab.

• Pressing Esc does NOT close the "Browser" tab.

• Pressing Esc repeatedly does NOT quit the application.

It appears there is no way to make Version 1.11.2 behave the same as Version 1.5.0. If my memory serves me correctly, Version 1.5.0 was the last version that exhibited the expected behavior.

Why this is a problem for me:

My typical workflow is to open an image from Explorer in a certain folder, then press Esc to close the viewer so I can browse other images in the Browser. This change makes my workflow significantly harder.

I also want to unify the "close image" key to Esc (pressing Ctrl+W is cumbersome). Therefore, when pressing Esc on a Browser tab, I would like only the tab to close, without quitting the application too.

For these reasons, I would like to request an option to restore the behavior of Version 1.5.0.

[user0]

reset settings to default (rename xnview.ini) in both versions and retest
make sure to mention if you changed anything in Settings>Startup - Start with file

when pressing Esc on a Browser tab, I would like only the tab to close, without quitting the application too.

Esc only closes tabs, app closes because there is no tabs.
- uncheck 'Closing last tab exits application' in Settings>Tabs

[Lycolia]

Thank you. Recreating the configuration file and reconfiguring it solved the problem.