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I have found several news sites that say that Windows 10 Anniversary update could bring PIP mode for Windows 10. Here is one article from http://windowsreport.com/picture-in-picture-windows-10-anniversary-update/ which says the following (Published April 13, 2016)

Microsoft could add a new feature called “Picture in Picture” for Windows 10. The update will most likely land with Windows 10 Anniversary Update and the tech company hinted at it in its official roadmap for Windows 10.

This is an image that shows what PIP mode looks like PIP Mode

Is this feature available yet and if so how can I use it?

With Windows 10 built in features or using third party software, is there a way that I can get PIP mode in Windows 10?

My overall goal is to watch instructional videos in a mini view while I do programming tasks or even play games on the same screen (I use a 55" TV).

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    May be useful for future Googlers: OnTopReplica has existed for a while and does exactly this. If you're a developer looking to implement something similar, it uses the Aero API's DwmRegisterThumbnail function, which is the same API used to show alt-tab window previews, and hovering over applications in the taskbar.
    – Scott
    Aug 12, 2017 at 17:34

7 Answers 7

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With the release of Windows 10 version 1703 (a.k.a. the Creators Update) in April 2017, native Picture-in-Picture capability was made available with the Mini View feature in the Movies & TV app:

Windows 10 Mini View

Here’s how it works:

Launch the Movies & TV app and click a movie, trailer, or TV show to start playing it. Click the “Play in mini view” button in the bottom right-hand corner...

Play in mini view

...and the “Leave mini view” button when you want to exit.

Leave mini view

The mini view will stay on top of any other windows you have open. You can click and drag to move it around your screen, or click a corner and drag to resize the window.

(Source: Windows 10 Tip: Watch a video while using another app with mini view)

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Opera Browser has the ability to pop out most HTML5 players. It pops out over the top over everything also not just Opera.

enter image description here

Edit* Also if it's netflix, the netflix app on the windows store has the ability to use the built in picture in picture mode.

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As stated by Scott in his comment, you can use OnTopReplica.

It puts a little always-on-top window on your screen where you can watch any window you want.
It's FLOSS and has plenty of options.

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WindowTop v5.2.0+ now supports PIP + Mouse Interact mode

https://github.com/gileli121/WindowTop/discussions/83

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lph5___lCaw

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The difference with having Compact Overlay is that is becomes accessible to other programs. Streaming ESPN or Fox Sports or Netflix, for example. Modern apps all hook in to proper hardware decoding, something that VLC does relatively poorly. A modern video playing app will only use 3% cpu while playing high-res video, whereas VLC will routinely use 15% or more. This is HUGE for battery consumption.

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You could also use TurboTop to play a video in one window and keep it on top of everything else

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There is no such feature. Not even sure why one would need that feature, since Windows has... well... windows.

Just get a video player like VLC and set the option to always be on top.

Games would be harder, as full screen games will take over the screen. However, you can run them in windowed mode and fill the screen manually. Then the player will stay on top.

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    I could go through the trouble of downloading the videos but I would prefer streaming them in the browser. One problem with always on top windows is that they are interactive where as the way I would have hoped PIP worked is that the window on top does not interact with the mouse unless you do the keypress to switch to that window. Thanks for the info though.
    – Uberswe
    Aug 14, 2016 at 18:40
  • It also works fine with games or any app in fullscreen. And like Markus said, PIP does not take focus unless you tabbed to it, while VLC will take it when the mouse goes over the window. I now watch Netflix and YT always on Safari to have PIP and it's pretty dope. I'm glad Windows is getting it too. Jun 2, 2017 at 12:05

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