Question: Q: Keep window on top

Please help me, I want to use something like Alfoat, to keep windows on top, how can I achieve this?

Posted on Feb 16, 2019 11:01 AM

Helpful answers

The contrary, don’t want to be rude but, after having magnet, split screen, Fenêtre, and others, I was asking/being/wondering for 100% the same as Afloat keep the window I want the size I want on top of all the others for the time I want. Thanks for letting me know you don’t know of any like that, every thing else is changing the target

Feb 16, 2019 12:12 PM

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I’m not aware of any replacement for Afloat. Your best bet is to use «Command + Tab» to bring the app you want in focus.

Feb 16, 2019 11:40 AM

The thing is that sometimes I need to have a full desk window and for a brief moment compare, copy, read, interact with a small window, let’s say notes and keeping on top of the full desk app

Feb 16, 2019 11:44 AM

You may not be able to do exactly what you want to do. Split View would allow you to compare and interact with two apps side by side.

Feb 16, 2019 11:53 AM

Really appreciate your time, but again IMHO this would be a super nice implementation or app, split view is kind of usles with big screen and multiple windows that you want in the same desk not in different spaces

Feb 16, 2019 11:56 AM

Actually you keep changing the target and I’m not really into trying to chase it. You can have multiple apps in one screen using an app like Magnet. http://magnet.crowdcafe.com/index.html

Feb 16, 2019 12:03 PM

The contrary, don’t want to be rude but, after having magnet, split screen, Fenêtre, and others, I was asking/being/wondering for 100% the same as Afloat keep the window I want the size I want on top of all the others for the time I want. Thanks for letting me know you don’t know of any like that, every thing else is changing the target

Feb 16, 2019 12:12 PM

The contrary, don’t want to be rude but, after having magnet, split screen, Fenêtre, and others, I was asking/being/wondering for 100% the same as Afloat keep the window I want the size I want on top of all the others for the time I want. Thanks for letting me know you don’t know of any like that, every thing else is changing the target

Yes. That’s what I said in my first post. I was offering alternatives to what you wanted.

How to Keep a Window Always On Top in Windows 10 and MacOS

If you use a single monitor setup for your work then your desktop might be cluttered with a bunch of windows. Sometimes you need to keep one of all those windows always on top but as soon as you click on another window, the previous one buries under others.

This will be really healful in a situation when you want to watch a video while you writing something on Word at the same time. Or you can choose the calculator to be on top while working on something related to numbers. Here we have a perfect solution for that for your Windows or even a Mac OS PC.

For Windows 10 PC

DeskPins is a freeware for Windows PC which lets you do that for free and without hassles. This app is completely free to use and install on PC and also comes in a very small package. All you need to do is just flow the simple steps below to enable the DeskPins on your Windows 10 PC.

1. Download the DeskPins on your Windows 10 PC and install it like any other windows app.
2. Once, installed, you will see a DeskPins icon in the system tray, click on it and the cursor will turn into a pin icon.
   
3. Click on any window you want to keep on top using the cursor and the app will be pinned to be on top.

To unpin the window, just right-click the DeskPins icon in the taskbar and select the Remove all Pins option.

For macOS PC

For macOS PCs, the Afloat app is a completely free app to install and use. The app can be found on the GitHub page so you can go there and download it from there. The installation fo this app is ait different than the usual insulation process, follow the steps below.

1. Downloadthe Afloat zip package from the GitHub page.
2. Now, unzip the package and run the SIMBL app first then drag the Afloat bundle file on the SIMBL.
3. You will now see the Afloatplugin listed there with a greendot with it.
4. Restart your PC.
   
5. After the restart, you will be able to pin the window. Choose the Keep Afloat option under the Windows menu.

Wrapping up

This is how you can keep the windows always on top when you want in your Windows or Mac. For more tips and tricks, keep following the GadgetsToUse on social media pages.

Hover — Always on Top Windows 4+

Make active windows Hover

Lucian Boiangiu

Screenshots

Description

See the contents of active windows in a hovering window, keep it always on top and stay focused with Hover. Send keyboard keys to the window from the hovering window.

See the contents of active windows in a hovering window and keep it always on top with Hover. Send keyboard keys to the window directly from the hovering window.

Improve your productivity by keeping a window Always on Top with Hover.

Hover displays the contents of windows real-time at 60 fps by using a hotkey or by clicking the button in the menu. Keep windows always on top and reduce the time cycling between apps by always seeing the useful windows. Control the windows by sending keyboard keys to the apps directly from the Hovering Window.

• Display contents of windows real-time at 60 fps in a new Hovering Window that stays on screen

• Send keyboard keys to original windows when pressing in hovering windows.

• Set a customisable Hotkey or press the button in the Menu to make a new Hovering Window

• Keep original window image size when resizing Hovering Window

• Fit original window image to the Hovering Window

• Keep aspect ratio when resizing the hovering windows

• Adjust hovering window’s transparency

• Set custom behaviour for each individual hovering window

• Take Screenshot of the Hovering Window

• Take Screenshot of the entire original window

• Zoom in and move freely in the hovering window

How To Keep Windows Always on Top in Mac OSX

It boggles the mind that a simple feature like the Always on Top for windows is still not part of the core Mac OS system. After all, in a way, the Mac OS is the premium version of the open-source Linux platform. And, this feature is not missing from the open-source platform.

Now, just because Always on Top is not an option when you right-click your application window on your Mac, it doesn’t mean there aren’t some workarounds. Here’s how you can implement the Always on Top for windows on Mac OS.

To start things off, you need to download the latest mySIMBL version. Extract the master.zip file and access the mySIMBL app.

This process may seem a bit straightforward, but some users report that it doesn’t always work this easily. If you encounter issues with the installation, there is something you can do.

You can disable the System Integrity Protection before attempting to install SIMBL again. To do this, you have to restart your machine and then press and hold Command-R during startup. This action will help you enter Recovery Mode.

–Don’t worry. You’ll enable the System Integrity Protection once SIMBL is installed.–

From the recovery screen, access the Terminal through the keyboard shortcut or from Utilities. In the Terminal, type “csrutil disable.” This command will disable System Integrity Protection.

Restart your machine again and log in normally.

Now you’ll want to move SIMBL to the applications folder. You can do this when prompted by a message which should read:

Once SIMBL is on your system, you get the Afloat collection from the Github page. Use Finder to navigate to the Bundle folder. You’ll notice two files: ‘SIMBLE-0.9.9.pkg’ and ‘Afloat.bundle.’

You want to pull the ‘Afloat.bundle’ file into your mySIMBL window. Just drag and drop the file.

Once you complete the above step, make sure that you receive a notification that Afloat is listed among the plugins, which is represented by a green dot next to it.

Restart your machine. When you log back in, open the Afloat app. From there, go to the window options and click “Keep Afloat” within the list. This process should give you the Keep Afloat option for some of your applications.

Don’t expect it to work on all your apps. The Keep Afloat option will only work with apps that are compatible with SIMBL. For apps that recognize Keep Afloat , it should appear like this:

Depending on how you installed SIMBL, you may need to do one more thing. Yes, you’ve guessed it, re-enabling System Integrity Protocol. Go back to the Recovery Mode’s terminal, and type “csrutil enable.”

Restart your machine, and you’re good to go.

Final Word

Although it seems like Afloat solves the Always on Top problem on Mac OS, do remember that it only works with SIMBL-compatible applications. For example, you won’t be able to keep your Firefox browser always on top.

Even Google Chrome showed mixed results depending on the version of the OS and the version of the SIMBL package. For the best results, always keep both up to date.

How to Keep Your Application Window “Always on Top” in Mac

This post was first published in July 2008 and was updated in January 2017.

Most, if not all, Linux distro come with the “Always on top” feature that allows you to pin an application window on top of others. For macOS, this insanely useful feature was not available by default but can be added with the help of the Afloat application.

Afloat is a simple application that adds the “Always on top” solution to macOS. It makes use of SIMBL (short for SIMple Bundle Loader) which is an application enhancement loader for Mac OS X that allows third-party developers to modify and add functionality to applications developed with the Cocoa environment without access to the source code.

In this article we will show you how to install and use Afloat in macOS Sierra.

Installation

Installing SIMBL

Afloat requires SIMBL to work. There are various sources for SIMBL out there, and the one that I found to work in macOS Sierra is mySIMBL.

2. Extract the “mySIMBL_master.zip” file. You should now see a mySIMBL app.

3. Double-click on it to run it. A window will pop up to ask if you want to move it to Applications. Click “Move to Applications folder.”

4. Next, it might show another popup prompting you to update/install SIMBL. Click “Install.”

In some instances the installation might not be able to be carried out due to Mac’s System Integrity Protection. You will have to disable System Integrity Protection before you can run the installation.

To disable System Integrity Protection:

• Reboot your Mac. When the startup screen shows up, press and hold the “Command + R” keys until the Apple logo appears on your screen.
• Once it finishes loading and brings you to Recovery Mode, click “Utilities -> Terminal.”
• In the Terminal window type in csrutil disable and press Enter.
• Restart your Mac.

Note: to re-enable System Integrity Protection, repeat the above steps but change the command to csrutil enable . It is recommended to re-enable System Integrity Protection after installing mySIMBL.

Installing Afloat

1. Now that you have installed mySIMBL, go to this Github page and download the whole Afloat repository.

2. Extract the zip file and open the folder in Finder. Navigate to the “bundle” folder. You should see two files: “Afloat.bundle” and “SIMBL-0.9.9.pkg.”

3. With the mySIMBL application still running, drag and drop the “Afloat.bundle” file to the mySIMBL app window. Ensure that Afloat appears in the mySIMBL Plugins window and that there is a green dot next to it.

4. Restart your Mac. Afloat should be working now.

Using Afloat to make the application window “Always on Top”

To make your app window “Always on Top,” click on the “Window” option in the menu and select “Keep Afloat.”

Do note that Afloat doesn’t work on all applications (for example, Firefox). It only works for applications with support for SIMBL, so don’t be surprised when you don’t see the “Keep Afloat” function.

Other than keeping afloat, you can also set the transparency of your application window. Set it via the “Window -> Transparency -> Translucent” menu.

Conclusion

The “Always on Top” feature has helped me to improve my productivity by keeping the necessary information always available so that I don’t have to switch the application window every time. Thanks to Afloat, you can now add the “Always on Top” feature to Mac and have better productivity.

Damien Oh started writing tech articles since 2007 and has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry. He is proficient in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS, and worked as a part time WordPress Developer. He is currently the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Make Tech Easier.