29

How can I hide a winform, so that it t will not show in the Windows taskbar , user do not see it , or when the user presses Alt + Tab ?

2 Answers 2

38

In code do the following:

this.ShowInTaskbar = false;

Or in Design mode:

alt text

EDIT:

You must also set the FormBorderStyle

Code:

this.FormBorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.FormBorderStyle.SizableToolWindow;

Design:

alt text

This definitely does work - these are some screen prints using Windows Vista.

App running:

alt text

Not appearing in ALT + TAB

alt text

4
  • this way do not hide winform from Alt + Tab
    – Ata
    Commented Oct 10, 2010 at 16:38
  • Or set FormBorderStyle to FixedToolWindow if you don't want the form to be sizable. Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 21:20
  • How can I do this in VS2012? I don't know if it makes a difference. I'm using a User Control and wrapping it in the form. I don't see the option for FormBorderStyle. I see BorderStyle with three options: None, FixedSingle, and Fixed3D.
    – Chris
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 16:29
  • When I try anything except None it throws an error when trying to add a child panel to the form. The error says that the Value cannot be Null. The debugger shows me that this.panel1 is null...
    – Chris
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 16:32
8

To hide your form from the Alt+Tab dialog, add this code into your form's class:

// Remove from Alt+Tab dialog
protected override CreateParams CreateParams
{
    get
    {
        var Params = base.CreateParams;
        Params.ExStyle |= 0x80;
        return Params;
    }
}
2
  • Good solution, just note this will also hide it in the task manager applications list.
    – clamchoda
    Commented Jun 25, 2019 at 15:43
  • I vote positive because it hiddes in the task manager
    – oware
    Commented Mar 30, 2023 at 19:15

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