How to put a Tkinter window on top of the others?

When creating GUI applications with Tkinter, the window typically appears behind other programs by default. To make a Tkinter window stay on top of all other windows, we use the attributes('-topmost', True) method.

Basic Example

Here's how to create a window that stays on top of all others ?

# Importing the library
from tkinter import *

# Create an instance of tkinter window
win = Tk()

# Setting the geometry of window
win.geometry("600x350")

# Create a Label
Label(win, text="Hello World!", font=('Helvetica bold', 15)).pack(pady=20)

# Make the window jump above all others
win.attributes('-topmost', True)

win.mainloop()

Toggle Topmost State

You can also toggle the topmost state dynamically using a button ?

from tkinter import *

def toggle_topmost():
    current_state = win.attributes('-topmost')
    win.attributes('-topmost', not current_state)
    status_label.config(text=f"Topmost: {not current_state}")

# Create window
win = Tk()
win.geometry("400x200")
win.title("Toggle Topmost Example")

# Status label
status_label = Label(win, text="Topmost: False", font=('Arial', 12))
status_label.pack(pady=10)

# Toggle button
toggle_btn = Button(win, text="Toggle Topmost", command=toggle_topmost)
toggle_btn.pack(pady=10)

win.mainloop()

Conditional Topmost

You can set topmost conditionally based on certain criteria ?

from tkinter import *

def set_topmost_if_needed():
    user_input = entry.get().strip()
    if user_input.lower() == "urgent":
        win.attributes('-topmost', True)
        result_label.config(text="Window set to topmost!", fg="green")
    else:
        win.attributes('-topmost', False)
        result_label.config(text="Window normal mode", fg="blue")

# Create window
win = Tk()
win.geometry("350x200")
win.title("Conditional Topmost")

# Instructions
Label(win, text='Type "urgent" to make window topmost:', font=('Arial', 10)).pack(pady=5)

# Entry widget
entry = Entry(win, width=20)
entry.pack(pady=5)

# Button to check input
Button(win, text="Check", command=set_topmost_if_needed).pack(pady=5)

# Result label
result_label = Label(win, text="Enter text above", font=('Arial', 10))
result_label.pack(pady=10)

win.mainloop()

Key Points

• Use win.attributes('-topmost', True) to make window stay on top
• Set to False to return to normal behavior
• The topmost state can be toggled dynamically during runtime
• This works on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems

Conclusion

The attributes('-topmost', True) method is the standard way to keep Tkinter windows above all other applications. You can set it initially or toggle it dynamically based on your application's needs.