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Add-in window appears behind the main window in Internet Explorer

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Warning

The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop application has been permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update on certain versions of Windows 10. For more information, see Internet Explorer 11 desktop app retirement FAQ.

This article provides the information to solve the issue that an add-in window appears behind the main window in Internet Explorer 9 and later versions.

Original product version:   Internet Explorer 11, Internet Explorer 10, Internet Explorer 9
Original KB number:   3109244

Symptoms

In Internet Explorer 9 and later versions, when an add-in creates a window, the window might be positioned behind the main browser window. This issue occurs when you navigate to a webpage from the address bar.

Cause

An architectural change in the address bar was introduced in Internet Explorer 9. The change establishes focus and foreground presence when web content loads completely.

More information

Windows that are provided by an Internet Explorer add-in can share the same message input queue as the primary Internet Explorer window. In such scenarios, any component can use the SetWindowsPos API to change the z-index order and request that its window is brought to the foreground.

To make sure that an add-in window is always positioned in front of the primary Internet Explorer window, the add-in window must designate its owner as the IEFrame window.

For more information about programmatic window management, see Window Features.