Form.TopMost Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Gets or sets a value indicating whether the form should be displayed as a topmost form.

public:
 property bool TopMost { bool get(); void set(bool value); };

public bool TopMost { get; set; }

member this.TopMost : bool with get, set

Public Property TopMost As Boolean

Property Value

Boolean

true to display the form as a topmost form; otherwise, false. The default is false.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to create a topmost form. The example creates two forms, one that is maximized and one that will be displayed as a topmost form. The first form, named bottomForm, is displayed maximized, using the WindowState property, to better demonstrate the abilities of the topmost form. The second form, named topMostForm, sets the TopMost property to true to display the form as a topmost form. When this code is run, clicking on the maximized form will not cause the topmost form to be displayed below the maximized form. The example requires that the method defined in the example is called from another form.

private:
   void CreateMyTopMostForm()
   {
      // Create lower form to display.
      Form^ bottomForm = gcnew Form;

      // Display the lower form Maximized to demonstrate effect of TopMost property.
      bottomForm->WindowState = FormWindowState::Maximized;

      // Display the bottom form.
      bottomForm->Show();

      // Create the top most form.
      Form^ topMostForm = gcnew Form;

      // Set the size of the form larger than the default size.
      topMostForm->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 300, 300 );

      // Set the position of the top most form to center of screen.
      topMostForm->StartPosition = FormStartPosition::CenterScreen;

      // Display the form as top most form.
      topMostForm->TopMost = true;
      topMostForm->Show();
   }

private void CreateMyTopMostForm()
{
   // Create lower form to display.
   Form bottomForm = new Form();
   // Display the lower form Maximized to demonstrate effect of TopMost property.
   bottomForm.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;
   // Display the bottom form.
   bottomForm.Show();
   // Create the top most form.
   Form topMostForm = new Form();
   // Set the size of the form larger than the default size.
   topMostForm.Size = new Size(300,300);
   // Set the position of the top most form to center of screen.
   topMostForm.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen;
   // Display the form as top most form.
   topMostForm.TopMost = true;
   topMostForm.Show();
}

Private Sub CreateMyTopMostForm()
   ' Create lower form to display.
   Dim bottomForm As New Form()
   ' Display the lower form Maximized to demonstrate effect of TopMost property.
   bottomForm.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized
   ' Display the bottom form.
   bottomForm.Show()
   ' Create the top most form.
   Dim topMostForm As New Form()
   ' Set the size of the form larger than the default size.
   topMostForm.Size = New Size(300, 300)
   ' Set the position of the top most form to center of screen.
   topMostForm.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen
   ' Display the form as top most form.
   topMostForm.TopMost = True
   topMostForm.Show()
End Sub

Remarks

A topmost form is a form that overlaps all the other (non-topmost) forms even if it is not the active or foreground form. Topmost forms are always displayed at the highest point in the z-order of the windows on the desktop. You can use this property to create a form that is always displayed in your application, such as a Find and Replace tool window.

See also

• TopLevel