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Asked: 2026-06-11T23:59:32+00:00

I tried to implement a switch-to-fullscreen mode for an ActiveX control. This currently works

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I tried to implement a switch-to-fullscreen mode for an ActiveX control. This currently works by removing and hiding the parent window and changing my control’s placement and position.

However, I have a problem with switching between applications while the control is in fullscreen mode. If I switch to another application and then click on my window area (not in the taskbar), it seems to not be activated. You can see in the taskbar, that another application still has the highlight and on the main screen, my window is partly hidden behind the taskbar unless it has the focus.

I process the WM_LBUTTONDOWN window message to detect if my window is clicked. And I already tried to call the following WINAPI functions:

::ShowWindow(m_hWnd, SW_RESTORE);
::SwitchToThisWindow(m_hWnd, FALSE);
::SetForegroundWindow(m_hWnd);
::SetActiveWindow(m_hWnd);
::SetFocus(m_hWnd);
::BringWindowToTop(m_hWnd);
::SetWindowPos(m_hWnd, HWND_TOP, m_monitorInfo.rcMonitor.left, m_monitorInfo.rcMonitor.top, m_monitorInfo.rcMonitor.right, m_monitorInfo.rcMonitor.bottom, SWP_NOSIZE | SWP_NOMOVE | SWP_SHOWWINDOW); // SWP_NOACTIVATE, SWP_NOOWNERZORDER

I also tried to use ::SetWindowLongW(m_hWnd, GWL_STYLE, WS_VISIBLE); which surprisingly gave my window the focus back. But it then suddenly disappeared when trying to switch back from fullscreen mode again.

I have no idea why there are so many different functions that for me seem all to do roughly the same. But it doesn’t matter as none of them worked anyway.

What is the/one correct way to behave my control correctly?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Windows might be getting a bit confused because you’re filling the screen with a child window, but you want it to behave like a top-level (overlapped) window. The host application is probably not getting activated because you’ve hidden its window.

    You might do better to create a new top-level full-screen window for full-screen mode. If this is owned by the top-level window that (ultimately) hosts your control then your new window will always be above it, so you don’t need to hide the existing window. Activation should just work. In short, you want your window to behave like a pop-up modal dialog.

    Adobe’s flash player seems to do something similar. Full-screen playback is in a window of class ShockwaveFlashFullScreen.

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