Some windows randomly goes "Always on top"?

zerowalker · 23 Aug 2019

Hi,

i have had this issue for a very long time, and searching around tells me that it seems to be somewhat of a thing, but not sure if it's the same issue i have cause the solutions don't work.

Basically what happens is that at some point a window can go "Always on top".
So i just notice that i can't put anything on top of it, and i have to minimize it in order to see anything (or move it).
And the only solution i have found to work is to just close that window and reopen it.
This is quite a nasty solution though, as closing is not always that viable depending on the case.

Has anyone else had this issue or know about it?
I can't find any kind of link between my cases, sometimes it's an explorer window, sometimes it's an editor etc.
So i can't see that i do something similar on them that causes it:S

Thanks!

dalchina · 23 Aug 2019

It's possible you're running a program that causes this to happen.
Example (albeit from Win 7 days):
https://www.dell.com/community/Lapto.../td-p/3834952#
I suspect the comment 'It comes from the soft "premiercolor".' refers to some program (software) 'premiercolor'.

Windows has long had the ability to set windows 'on top' but only a few programs present this on their GUI. (MS will make it available in 1 instance - Calculator I think- in a coming build).

Otherwise, you need a 3rd party program to control it conveniently, or a small Autohotkey script.
That would enable you to 'unset' the 'on top' state, for example.

Finding what's causing it is probably a matter of detective work.
If you have a 3rd party program installed that makes the state visible (as I have):

Some windows randomly goes "Always on top"?-1.jpg

- note the two different states of the pin icon- you can immediately see whether it is on top or not.

If this problem occurs frequently enough you can try a clean boot, and see if it happens then. If not, progressively enable programs until it starts happening again.

Some discussion on 'on top' tools:
windows 10 - Make any windowed application 'Always On Top' without keyboard shortcut? - Super User
Note- you can find some old ones that no longer work..

zerowalker · 24 Aug 2019

I don't think i have any applications that should do that, but it's a good idea to try get some indicator,
that way i might be able to track is easier.

Does windows perhaps have an event log for these things?

I know Always On Top is just a windows style if i recall, so i doubt it's tracked in any decent way.

It's sadly happened for a very long time, not super often, but it happens, and if it's the wrong window it can be annoying.
I just reinstalled the OS cause of a hardware change,
so if we are lucky it might sole something, but as i usually just install the same softwares and one of them is the cause, i will probably see it again xd

dalchina · 24 Aug 2019

Remember to make a base disk image e.g. Macrium Reflect, then progressively install programs (anything well-known should be fine, look for the less known ones). As you do so. periodically update your disk image. Hopefully you can identify when you start seeing things placed 'on top' and have limited possible reasons. Keep a simple text log of changes and images.

Having a disk image means you can recover to a previous good state by restoring the relevant partitions.