How to Keep Any Window Always on Top in Windows (5 Ways)

You're comparing two spreadsheets. Or watching a video while you work. Or keeping a chat window visible while you code. Whatever the reason, you want one window to stay visible on top of everything else — and Windows makes this weirdly hard.

Unlike macOS, Windows doesn't ship with a built-in "pin this window on top" option you can apply to any app. A handful of individual apps (Calculator, some media players, Sticky Notes) have their own always-on-top toggle buried in a right-click menu, but there's no universal, system-wide way to do it — until you bring in outside help.

Here are five ways to actually get it done, from built-in tricks to dedicated tools.

1. Check if the app already has it built in

Before installing anything, right-click the title bar of the window you want to pin, or check its settings menu. Some apps — media players, calculators, note-taking tools, some chat clients — include their own "always on top" or "pin window" option natively. It's inconsistent and app-by-app, but worth a 10-second check before reaching for a third-party fix.

2. PowerToys — Always on Top module

Microsoft's own PowerToys utility suite includes a module literally called "Always on Top." Once installed and enabled, a customizable hotkey (Win+Ctrl+Tby default) pins whatever window is currently focused, with a thin colored border to remind you it's pinned.

• Pros: Free, official, no separate installer to trust.
• Cons:You have to re-pin every window each time you reopen it — there's no way to say "always keep this specific app on top by default." It's also just one of dozens of modules bundled into PowerToys, so you're installing a fairly large utility suite for one feature.

3. Lightweight third-party pin utilities

Small, single-purpose tools (DeskPins is a well-known example, and there are several similar freeware options) let you click a pin icon in a window's title bar to toggle always-on-top for that window. They're minimal by design — install, click, done.

• Pros: Extremely lightweight, does exactly one thing.
• Cons:Same re-pinning-every-time limitation as PowerToys, and most of these tools haven't been meaningfully updated in years — worth checking compatibility with your current Windows version before relying on one.

4. AutoHotkey script

If you're comfortable with a little scripting, AutoHotkey can toggle a window's always-on-top state with a custom hotkey and a few lines of script targeting the WS_EX_TOPMOST window style. This gives you full control — custom keybinds, conditional logic, whatever you want to build around it.

• Pros: Completely customizable, free, powerful if you already use AutoHotkey for other things.
• Cons: Requires writing and maintaining your own script, which is real friction if you just want something that works out of the box.

5. Swyvo — instant, persistent, and keyboard-driven

All four methods above share the same core limitation: you have to remember to re-apply the pin every single time. None of them are aware of what you're working on, and none unify this with anything else — they solve always-on-top in isolation.

Swyvo approaches it differently. It's a Windows workspace that stays one hotkey away (Alt+Q) at all times, brings your chosen apps and websites up instantly over whatever you're currently doing, and — since it's fully keyboard-driven — never requires you to touch a mouse to summon, dismiss, or switch between them. Add a workspace rule with Adaptive Loadouts, and the right tools show up automatically based on what you're working on, instead of needing to be manually re-pinned session after session.

It's free to try, with no email required.

Which should you actually use?

If you just need to pin one window once in a while, PowerToys or a small pin utility will do the job. If you're doing this constantly — comparing, referencing, checking something without breaking your flow, multiple times a day — a dedicated tool built around that exact workflow will save you far more time than remembering to re-pin a window every time you reopen it.

Try Swyvo free →