[Tip] Pin and Set Program Windows Always on Top in Windows 10 and 11

Many times we want to pin program windows so that they always stay on top while switching to other programs. For example, you are typing a document in Word or browser and also want to watch a video on YouTube or cricket match. In such cases, reducing the size of the window and pinning it on your screen will allow you to work on other program and watching stuff together.

Following screenshot shows File Explorer window pinned in our device:

By default Windows operating system doesn’t allow pinning programs or set them always on top. Task Manager is an exception and we can set it to stay always on top using Options menu.

In this article, we’ll learn how to pin programs in Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems. We’ll take help of the official Microsoft PowerToys utility to bring this useful functionality to Windows OS.

PowerToys is a collection of very useful tools for Windows 10 and Windows 11. It was released officially by Microsoft and anyone can download and install it for free in their computer system.

There is a very useful tool called “Always on Top” which comes bundled with PowerToys and we’ll use this tool to pin program windows on our computer screen.

STEP 1: Download and Install PowerToys Tool

First of all download and install PowerToys in your Windows 10 or Windows 11 device. Following article will help you in learning more about PowerToys and downloading its latest version:

Download Microsoft PowerToys for Windows 10 and Windows 11

Download and install the utility in your PC.

STEP 2: Pin or Unpin Program Windows Using WIN+CTRL+T Hotkey

After installation, launch the program from Start Menu and you’ll see “Always on Top” listed in left-side pane. If you can’t see PowerToys window on screen, it was launched as minimized. Click on its icon in Taskbar notification area and it’ll bring PowerToys main window on screen.

Click on Always on Top tab or section in left sidebar and make sure “Enable Always on Top” option is enabled i.e. set to ON.

That’s it. Now you can pin or unpin any program window on screen by pressing Windows+Ctrl+T keys together.

Click any program window which you want to pin on screen and press Windows+Ctrl+T hotkey. It’ll immediately pin the window on screen. You’ll see a border around the window to indicate that the program has been pinned on screen.

Now the pinned program window will always remain on top even if you switch to other programs.

PS: You can pin multiple programs on screen.

To unpin the program, press Windows+Ctrl+T keys again.

Customize or Change WIN+CTRL+T Keyboard Shortcut

PowerToys allows you to change the default Win+Ctrl+T hotkey according to your requirements.

Inside Always on Top tab in PowerToys window, click on Pencil icon given next to the keyboard shortcut mentioned under Activation section.

Now you can change the hotkey to other keyboard shortcuts. Make sure the shortcut starts with Windows, Ctrl, Alt or Shift keys.

Customize Pinned Window Border Appearance

If you find that the border around pinned window is thick or annoying, you can remove the border or reduce its size using Appearance and Behavior section present under Always on Top tab in PowerToys window.

You can completely disable the border by setting the “Show a border around the pinned window” option to OFF.

You can also change border color and thickness using the given options.

If you don’t like the sound clip played when pinning the window, you can turn it off by disabling the “Play a sound when pinning a window” option.

You can also tell the program to never pin a particular program window by entering its EXE name under Excluded Apps section.

Also Check:

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