C# MessageBox To Front When App is Minimized To Tray

Question

I have some code that popups a message box:

MessageBox.Show(this,
                 "You have not inputted a username or password. Would you like to configure your settings now?",
                 "Settings Needed",
                 MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,
                 MessageBoxIcon.Question);

My problem is when this pops up my app is usually minimized to the tray. As a result the messagebox doesn't come to the front and it also doesnt appear along the start bar. The only way of seeing it is by alt-tabbing.

Here is the code that minimizes my app (the parent) to the tray:

if (FormWindowState.Minimized == WindowState)
{                
      Hide();                
}

Answer 1

you can try like this

MessageBox.Show(new Form() { TopMost = true }, "You have not inputted a username or password. Would you like to configure your settings now?",
                 "Settings Needed",
                 MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,
                 MessageBoxIcon.Question);

Answer 2

There's an additional flag you can specify as an option to the standard Windows MessageBox function that isn't exposed in the WinForms wrapper.

What you're looking for is called MB_TOPMOST, which ensures that the message box is displayed as the top-most window over everything else on your desktop. Simply amend your code as shown below:

MessageBox.Show(this,
                "You have not inputted a username or password. Would you like to configure your settings now?",
                "Settings Needed",
                MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,
                MessageBoxIcon.Question,
                MessageBoxDefaultButton.Button1,  // specify "Yes" as the default
                (MessageBoxOptions)0x40000);      // specify MB_TOPMOST

Answer 3

I only needed this for testing, so if you don't mind being extra cheesy, MessageBoxOptions.ServiceNotification will do the trick...

        MessageBox.Show(message,
            "Error",
            MessageBoxButton.YesNo,
            MessageBoxImage.Exclamation,
            MessageBoxResult.OK,
            MessageBoxOptions.ServiceNotification);

Answer 4

The more correct way to do this is to set the owner of the MessageBox

Answer 5

MessageBox on top of all windows (no tray icon):

MessageBox.Show(new Form() { TopMost = true }, boxText, "Box Title",
                MessageBoxButtons.OK, boxIcon);

MessageBox and your app on top of all windows (no tray icon):

TopMost = true;
MessageBox.Show(boxText, "Box Title", MessageBoxButtons.OK, boxIcon);
TopMost = false;

MessageBox on top of all windows, plus tray icon (app loses focus):

MessageBox.Show(boxText, "Box Title", MessageBoxButtons.OK, boxIcon, 0,
                MessageBoxOptions.DefaultDesktopOnly);
// (The "0" can also be "MessageBoxDefaultButton.Button1".)

MessageBoxButtons.OK and boxIcon are optional arguments in the first two.

Setting TopLevel doesn't do anthing; it is already true.

There is no direct way to center a MessageBox on its parent form. (Except maybe centering the parent form.)