Pinning windows is one of the most useful ways to keep the things you’re working on front and center so you never lose focus. Luckily, you can easily pin windows in Windows 11 in two different ways.
Pin Windows with a Keyboard Shortcut
While it’s not the most efficient, the easiest way to pin a window in Windows 11 is to select the app you want to pin and then press Ctrl + F11 on your keyboard.
This activates the built-in “always on top” feature for that app. You can unpin the window at any time by pressing Ctrl + F12. It’s handy, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always work as intended.
Some apps won’t pin at all. Others, like File Explorer, get bogged down with parts of the window displaying off-screen. This makes it nearly impossible to use the app, requiring you to unpin and repin it.
I’ve also noticed that using this method sometimes puts the window into fullscreen mode. While this can be handy, it doesn’t always help your workflow. Thankfully, there’s another way.
Use PowerToys Always On Top for more precise pinning
The best way to take advantage of window pinning in Windows 11 is to download PowerToys. This suite of handy Windows tools is provided free of charge by Microsoft, and it’s one of the best ways to be more productive in Windows.
The tool you want to take advantage of here is called Always On Top. When enabled, all you have to do is press Ctrl + Win + T to pin any window to the front of your desktop. This activates a glowing outline around the window, showing you that it’s pinned.
With a window pinned, you can quickly move other windows around without worrying about losing the window you need to focus on. This keeps your work focused while also giving you the freedom to move through other apps.
There are many reasons why you might want to take advantage of Windows 11 window pinning. Students will find it useful for writing research papers or working on homework. You can pin important documents that contain data you need to refer to often so you never lose them.
Others might find it useful for pinning applications like a calculator, to-do list, or even sticky notes that you don’t want to lose track of. PowerToys also comes with other useful tools, like Peek, which lets you quickly preview files in File Explorer. You can combine several of these tools together which can help you improve your workflow.