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In Ubuntu when you right click on a window, you get the option to keep it 'Always on Top'. This is incredibly useful sometimes when I want a window to take up the whole desktop (e.g. Internet Browser) but still want to see the information from another smaller window (e.g. A video/film). Using the Windows 7 snap to edge feature is very useful and I use it a lot but its not always what you want.

I find it annoying how some programs in Windows such as Media Player and Task Manager for example have Always on Top options and everything else doesnt. There must be some software to fix this.

An example of the feature in Ubuntu:

enter image description here

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This is a feature of GNOME, not Ubuntu –  MDMarra Feb 6 '10 at 23:27
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marked as duplicate by techie007, Mokubai, Tog, Moses, Jens Erat Dec 11 '13 at 0:42


4 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Some windows programs have it added as a 'feature' but the default windows framework does not support it.

It is sometimes called 'pin'.

Third party apps can add this functionality if you wish.

For example, PowerMenu or DeskPins (As pointed out by John)

Disclaimer: I have not tried the linked application.

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That looks like exactly what I want. If I dont get any better answers soonish ill accept yours, Thanks. –  Connor W Feb 6 '10 at 23:31
Despite its name, Windows provides far less functionality and options in its window managers than the plethora of *nix WMs... sigh. –  Kazark Dec 27 '12 at 4:16
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This is a GNOME-specific feature. Windows doesn't implement anything similar by default, but you can get this functionality via software such as DeskPins:

alt text

My favorite method for most things is to use hotkeys. With Autohotkey installed, you can use this script to toggle windows as "always on top":

^!o::WinSet, AlwaysOnTop, Toggle,A

This will allow you to use Ctrl + Alt + o to set and unset the current active window as "always on top". See the WinSet function for more info.

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Thanks for that answer. As you cant set two answers as accepted, ill accept Dan McG's answer as this one has more up votes so you both get rep. –  Connor W Feb 7 '10 at 0:20
There's an Autohotkey script for everything! Wish I was better at it! +1 –  William Hilsum Feb 7 '10 at 23:43
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This functionality is not available in Windows, see this excellent Microsoft blog for an explanation.

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The post you're linking to does not answer the question. It talks about a different subject, though relatively similar. –  Bruce Connor Feb 7 '10 at 4:49
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The direct download link is here:


I simply add the always-on-top.exe file to the startup folder, and then you just press "ctrl + space" for the selected window to stay on top. Deactivation is just pressing ctrl + space again.

The program is written in Autohotkey with a single line of code:

^SPACE::  Winset, Alwaysontop, , A
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This will not work on Linux –  Simon Sheehan Nov 1 '11 at 10:26
@SimonSheehan The whole point of the question is to do it in Windows :P –  slhck Nov 1 '11 at 10:49
@slhck oops... Seeing the Ubuntu screenshot confused me :p –  Simon Sheehan Nov 1 '11 at 11:37
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