Keep any window always on top on Windows 11 & 10 — instantly, with a global hotkey.

Press Win+Ctrl+T and the focused window stays on top of everything else. Slide its opacity down to see through it. Restart your PC and PinIt re-pins it automatically. A single-purpose alternative to installing a whole utility suite — written in native C++ with Qt, talking directly to the Windows API.

Pin a window, fade it, and keep working — all from one hotkey

Download

⬇ Download the latest release — Windows 10 & 11, free.

File	What it is
PinIt_x.y.z_x64-setup.exe	Installer (recommended) — Start Menu shortcut + uninstaller
PinIt-portable-x64.zip	Portable — unzip and run, no installation

Note: The installers are not yet code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC". Click More info → Run anyway. PinIt is fully open source (Apache 2.0) — audit the code or build it yourself from this repository.

Features

• Global hotkey pinning — Win+Ctrl+T pins/unpins the focused window. No clicking through menus.
• Per-window transparency — make any pinned window see-through with Win+Ctrl+= / Win+Ctrl+- or a slider. Great for reference docs, video calls, or notes over your work.
• Pins survive restarts — PinIt remembers what you pinned (and its opacity) and re-pins it when you log back in.
• Windows 11 topmost re-enforcement — Win11's compositor sometimes strips the always-on-top flag; PinIt re-applies it automatically.
• System tray app — closes to the tray and stays out of your way. Optional start-with-Windows.
• Tiny and fast — native C++/Qt talking directly to the Windows API. Minimal RAM, instant response.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Default shortcut
Pin / unpin focused window	Win + Ctrl + T
Increase opacity	Win + Ctrl + =
Decrease opacity	Win + Ctrl + -
Show / hide PinIt	Win + Ctrl + P

How PinIt compares

PowerToys is great when you want twenty utilities. PinIt is for when you want exactly one, done properly:

Feature	PinIt	PowerToys Always On Top module	DeskPins classic freeware
Price	✅ Free	✅ Free	✅ Free
Single-purpose, lightweight	✅ Yes	❌ Full utility suite	✅ Yes
Global hotkey to pin	✅ Win+Ctrl+T	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
True per-window transparency	✅ 20 to 100%	❌ No ¹	❌ No
Pins persist across restarts	✅ Automatic	❌ Forgets on reboot	❌ No
Actively maintained	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ Last release 2018

The short version: if pinning is all you need, PinIt is the smallest tool that does all of it, and the only one that remembers your pins after a reboot.

¹ PowerToys' "Opacity" setting changes the highlight border around pinned windows, not the window content itself. True window transparency is a long-standing open feature request (#26049).

FAQ

How do I keep a window always on top in Windows 11?

Windows has no built-in always-on-top button. Install PinIt, click the window you want to keep visible, and press Win+Ctrl+T — it stays on top of every other window until you unpin it.

What is the keyboard shortcut to pin a window on top?

PinIt's default is Win+Ctrl+T to toggle pinning.

Can I make a window transparent / see-through on Windows?

Yes — pin a window with PinIt, then press Win+Ctrl+- to fade it (down to 20% opacity) or Win+Ctrl+= to make it solid again. Each pinned window keeps its own opacity level.

Do my pinned windows stay on top after I restart?

Yes. PinIt saves your pins (per app, with their opacity) to %LOCALAPPDATA%\PinIt and re-pins matching windows on the next launch — something neither PowerToys nor DeskPins does.

Does it work with apps running as administrator?

Windows security (UIPI) prevents normal apps from modifying elevated windows. To pin a window that's running as administrator, run PinIt as administrator too.

Is PinIt free and open source?

Yes — PinIt is completely free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license. Use it, modify it, and redistribute it, including commercially.

Building from source

Prerequisites

• Qt 6 (Widgets) with a C++17 compiler (MinGW or MSVC)
• CMake 3.21+

Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Razee4315/Pin-It.git
cd Pin-It

# Configure and build (point CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH at your Qt install)
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=<path-to-Qt>
cmake --build build

The executable is build/PinIt.exe. To run it standalone, bundle the Qt runtime with windeployqt. To produce the installer, run the Inno Setup script at installer/PinIt.iss.

Every push is built automatically by GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/build.yml), which produces the installer and a portable ZIP. Pushing a v* tag publishes them to a GitHub Release.

Why PinIt?

As a developer moving between Linux and Windows, I always missed the native ability to keep any window on top. While Linux desktop environments often have this built-in, Windows options were limited.

The most common solution, Microsoft PowerToys, comes bundled with dozens of other utilities I didn't need. I wanted a lightweight, singular-purpose tool that does one thing and does it well — without the bloat. PinIt was born from the desire for a clean, simple, and resource-efficient alternative that feels like a native part of the system.

Tech Stack

• Language: C++17
• UI: Qt 6 (Widgets), direct Windows API
• Build: CMake + Inno Setup

Originally built with Rust + Tauri (v1.x). The previous implementation is preserved on the legacy-tauri branch.

License

PinIt is open source under the Apache License 2.0 — free to use, modify, and redistribute, including for commercial purposes.

Author

Saqlain Abbas Email: [email protected]

GitHub: @Razee4315