Windows always on top

pauloaguia

First of all, I'll admit this is probably something more on Windows side than on Vivaldi's side. The behavior I'm going to describe has happened to me also on Opera and on Outlook. But Vivaldi is, by far, the one where it happens more frequently and where it's more annoying (probably because that's the application I use the most).

Sometimes, without any apparent reason, one of Vivaldi's windows decides that it wants to be on top of all others. I can still switch to another window and that window will gain focus (what I write appears in the other window), but the Vivaldi window will always be the visible one. It's not that the Vivaldi application becomes always on top - it's just one of its windows - I have the same problem even between Vivaldi's different windows, in that none of the other Windows will not appear above this particular one when they gain focus.

Closing Vivaldi and opening it again (thank goodness for restoring the previous session) seems to fix the problem. And then I'll browse happily for a few more days until it happens again...

Is anybody else experiencing this behavior? And knows what triggers it? Or knows of a way to get rid of it without actually having to restart the application?

MOD EDIT: Topic moved from the Vivaldi browser for Windows category, as it doesn't seem to be a Vivaldi issue. Changed title from "Vivaldi window always on top" to a more broad "Windows always on top"

pafflick

That is a rather odd behaviour and it apparently has something to do with your OS, not Vivaldi. I haven't ever experienced such issues and I don't even recall anyone reporting this type of problems with Vivaldi.

Could you please provide more details as to what is the device you're using and which Windows version are you running? Are you able to get focus on different windows using [ALT]+[TAB] or [WIN]+[TAB] key combination, or minimize other windows? Are you using any software that could influence windows default behaviour in any way?

pauloaguia

I'm using Windows10 on a Lenovo laptop (sorry for forgetting to give such basic information :P). I'm also using an external screen, connected by USB-c.
No particular software installed that I could associate with this behavior. Sometimes I miss Linux's window manager's capability of setting a window as "always on top" but never actually went the extra mile to install software to do such a thing on Windows (I did many years ago, but it never actually worked perfectly and have changed hardware a couple of times since).

I can focus on other windows using Alt+Tab or Win+Tab just fine. The focus is on whatever application comes next, and if I write some text it goes on that application. It's just that the other window doesn't raise above the window with the "always on top behavior". The "always on top window" does grey out, because of loosing focus, but won't go behind the rest.
If the always on top window is not maximized, I can see the other windows switching focus around the always on top window. But they never raise above it.
If I minimize the always on top window, I wouldn't even say there's a problem. But as soon as I restore or maximize it again, it becomes on top of all the others, blocking my view of them.

It's not a frequent bug (often weeks go by before it happening) and there's a quick workaround (restarting the app). But it happened twice this week and I got annoyed enough to finally ask if somebody could help me shed some light on it. At the very least I'd like to find out what triggers it, to avoid causing it.

I agree with you that's it's not a vivaldi issue per se, as I've seen it happening with other applications too. But it's because I use Vivaldi so much, that it's the one where it happens more often or where it is most annoying.

pafflick

@pauloaguia said in Vivaldi window always on top:

No particular software installed that I could associate with this behavior.

Well, there must be something, since you're experiencing this quite unusual issue. I was just thinking - maybe you could try opening the Task Manager ([CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[ESC]) once the bug occurs, and kill any unnecessary processes that are currently running - one by one - to check if it would solve the problem? And then go with stopping other apps processes.

If the Task Manager appears on the bottom and you're not able to drag its window on to another screen, you can minimize all apps by pressing [WIN]+[D] or [WIN]+[M].

pauloaguia

@pafflick said in Vivaldi window always on top:

I was just thinking - maybe you could try opening the Task Manager ([CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[ESC]) once the bug occurs, and kill any unnecessary processes that are currently running - one by one - to check if it would solve the problem? And then go with stopping other apps processes.

That's a good idea. It might not necessarily work (if the always on top is not being constantly enforced by another process but simply set once and forgotten) but it is worth a try.
Thank you for the suggestion.

pafflick

@pauloaguia You're welcome. Make sure to let us know if you find anything more about this issue. I have moved your topic here since it doesn't seem to be a Vivaldi issue, but I'll keep an eye out on this one.