I have docked, auto-hide toolbars at the top and bottom of my screen. The problem is, most times after logging into my PC, I have to reset the "always on top" state of the toolbars so that they pop-up over existing windows instead of behind them. This doesn't just happen when I have a program in full screen mode. Is there a way to ensure that the auto-hide toolbars will always be top-level?
Is Preferences / Toolbars / Options / Save state of floating Toolbars automatically on exit turned on?
If it isn't, you may need to use File / Save Floating Toolbars from the Customize window to save changes to the toolbar's location and on-top state.
Yes, it is turned on.
Does the On Top setting get lost, so the menu is showing a different setting selected? Or is it turned on but not having the desired effect?
Is the other program also On Top?
I shows a check mark next to "Top-level" in the "Keep On Top" submenu, while still scrolling-out under existing windows.
Is the other program also On Top?
No. I'm not sure if it happens with all programs, but for sure with Firefox and Thunderbird it does. Next time the toolbar is not on top, I'll try a bunch of programs to see if it shows up in front of or behind them.
Do you have any sort of third-party window management software installed?
No window management software installed. I'm working on an almost clean-install of Windows 10 (I did a reset, keeping my files, just a few days ago): I don't have much software installed at all--all very common stuff, like OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc.
Major fail: I told you wrong... I installed WindowManager to do some testing with Windows Explorer!! So sorry. I'll uninstall that and let you know the result as soon as I know.
The auto-hide, docked toolbar is working now. I note if it stops working.
Just now, I had Windows Event Viewer maximized and the auto-hide DO toolbars docked at the top and bottom of the screen would not display over that program. I had Adobe Acrobat reader maximized (not full screen mode) and the top DO toolbar would appear but the bottom toolbar would not, so I unset the "Top Level" status on the bottom toolbar and then reapplied it and now the toolbars appear over both programs, even if Acrobat is in full screen mode.
Is that with or without WindowManager installed?
When it happens, is Event Viewer on-top as well, or are other windows able to appear on top of it when you activate them?
WindowManager is history. I've rejected it after seeing all the havoc it creates.
Event Viewer "on-top"? When Event Viewer is maximized, the Windows Start menu, which I also have set to auto-hide, appears on top of Event Viewer as usual. I can Alt-Tab to other programs, or select them from the Windows taskbar, and they appear on top of maximized Event Viewer.
I am at a loss in that case, I'm afraid.
(Unless you're using Windows 10 with multiple monitors and a mixture of DPIs, which introduces various OS-level bugs to do with docked toolbars, including the Taskbar itself in some situations.)
I have 3 (sometimes 4) monitors, but all at the same DPI. I know it's hard to get "top level" to work (at the source code level)--it's a Windows API design issue. The toolbars work as expected most of the time, so I'm not worried about it. I just wanted to let you know what occurs sometimes.
Update. After a week of using the DO toolbar (auto-hide, top-level), I have to say: it doesn't work. Most of the times the toolbar scrolls out behind other windows, no matter what program the other windows belong to. Whereas I previously said the behavior was tolerable, after a week of evaluation, it's not a workable feature and I'm going back to setting up toolbars on the Windows start menu. I hope this feature will work sometime in the future, because I like it (when it works). If I can provide any more info, let me know.