How to keep a window always on top in Windows

By Rui Almeida · June 28, 2026

Windows doesn't have a single built-in toggle for pinning any window on top. What it does have are a few different options depending on what you're actually trying to do — and they work quite differently from each other.

This covers the main approaches, where each one makes sense, and where each one falls short.

PowerToys: Always on Top

The most practical option for most people is Microsoft PowerToys, which ships with an "Always on Top" feature. Once PowerToys is installed and the feature is enabled, you press Win + Ctrl + T while a window is focused and it gets pinned. Press the same shortcut again to unpin it. A thin blue border appears around the window so you know it's active.

It works on almost any app window — browsers, terminals, calculators, file explorers, whatever. The pinned window stays above everything else regardless of which app you click into.

The main limitation is that it pins the live window. The window needs to stay open for the pin to mean anything. If you're referencing something in a browser tab and you close that tab, the reference is gone. Same if the app crashes or you accidentally close it.

Per-app always-on-top options

Some applications include their own always-on-top toggle, separate from anything Windows provides. VLC has one under View → Always on Top. Many calculator apps, clocks, and small utility windows have it somewhere in their settings or right-click menu.

These are app-specific — there's no consistent place to find them, and most apps don't have the option at all. Worth checking the menu bar or right-clicking the title bar if you use a specific app and want it to stay on top.

When neither option is what you need

Both approaches above keep a live application window on top. That covers a lot of situations, but not all of them.

The situation they don't cover: you want to keep a captured image visible while you work somewhere else. An error message you need to reference while filling out a bug report. A design you're comparing against. A form you're copying details from into another app. A set of instructions you're following step by step.

In those cases, pinning the source window works, but it's awkward. You're keeping an entire browser tab or application open just to see a small piece of content. It takes up space in your taskbar, you might accidentally interact with it, and if anything updates or navigates away, your reference disappears.

What actually helps here is capturing a screenshot of the content and pinning that on top — a static image that stays exactly as it was when you took it, takes up only as much screen space as the content itself, and closes cleanly when you're done with it.

Pinning a screenshot always on top

That's what PinPane does. You take a capture of a region, a window, or all your displays, and then pin the screenshot as a floating image that sits above every other window. It doesn't keep an app open in the background — it's just the image, floating where you put it.

From the capture preview you can annotate before pinning, copy to clipboard, save to disk, or drag the screenshot directly into another app. The pin itself can be resized and repositioned like any other window, and closes with a click or Escape.

It's useful for things PowerToys doesn't quite cover: when the content you need is inside a window you want to close, when you need to annotate the reference before using it, or when you want a lightweight floating image rather than a whole application taking up space.