Form.ShowWithoutActivation Property

Definition

Gets a value indicating whether the window will be activated when it is shown.

C#
[System.ComponentModel.Browsable(false)]
protected virtual bool ShowWithoutActivation { get; }

Property Value

true if the window will not be activated when it is shown; otherwise, false. The default is false.

Attributes

Remarks

Use this property if you want to show a top-level window, but don't want to interrupt a user's work by taking the input focus away from the current window. This can be an informational pop-up window or a floating window, such as a Tools palette in the Paint application.

Because this property is read-only, you can only change its value by overriding ShowWithoutActivation in your own form, and programming it to return true.

If your non-activated window needs to use UI controls, you should consider using the ToolStrip controls, such as ToolStripDropDown. These controls are windowless, and will not cause a window to activate when they are selected.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

See also