How to make a window always stay on top in .Net?

Form.TopMost will work unless the other program is creating topmost windows.

There is no way to create a window that is not covered by new topmost windows of another process. Raymond Chen explained why.

I was searching to make my WinForms application "Always on Top" but setting "TopMost" did not do anything for me. I knew it was possible because WinAmp does this (along with a host of other applications).

What I did was make a call to "user32.dll." I had no qualms about doing so and it works great. It's an option, anyway.

First, import the following namespace:

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

Add a few variables to your class declaration:

private static readonly IntPtr HWND_TOPMOST = new IntPtr(-1);
private const UInt32 SWP_NOSIZE = 0x0001;
private const UInt32 SWP_NOMOVE = 0x0002;
private const UInt32 TOPMOST_FLAGS = SWP_NOMOVE | SWP_NOSIZE;

Add prototype for user32.dll function:

[DllImport("user32.dll")] 
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
public static extern bool SetWindowPos(IntPtr hWnd, IntPtr hWndInsertAfter, int X, int Y, int cx, int cy, uint uFlags);

Then in your code (I added the call in Form_Load()), add the call:

SetWindowPos(this.Handle, HWND_TOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, TOPMOST_FLAGS);

Hope that helps. Reference

If by "going crazy" you mean that each window keeps stealing focus from the other, TopMost will not solve the problem.

Instead, try:

CalledForm.Owner = CallerForm;
CalledForm.Show();

This will show the 'child' form without it stealing focus. The child form will also stay on top of its parent even if the parent is activated or focused. This code only works easily if you've created an instance of the child form from within the owner form. Otherwise, you might have to set the owner using the API.

Set Form.TopMost