Float just the part that matters
Press Ctrl Alt P and drag over a progress bar, a log tail or one cell of a spreadsheet. The rest of the app stays where it was.
Renders, exports and uploads
Stop babysitting your terminal.
Pipto floats a live mini view of any window, or just the part that matters, and pings you the moment it changes or goes quiet. Leave your coding agent, build, render or upload running and get on with your day. For Windows 10 and 11.
Every feature free for 14 days, then one live preview free forever. No account needed. Pro is $5.99 once.
Drag me
Your agent finished ten minutes ago. You were on YouTube.
Pipto watches the part of the screen you care about. When the log stops moving you get one quiet ping, and a double-click takes you straight back.
Built around the things you wait for
Know the moment it's done
Turn on alerts and Pipto tells you when the watched area changes, or when it goes quiet, like a build that has stopped printing. A blinking cursor doesn't count.
Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, builds and test runs
Gets out of your way
With hide-when-hovered on, a preview fades the instant your pointer reaches it, so you can click whatever sits underneath. Hold Ctrl to grab it instead.
Try it: move your pointer onto the preview.
Every window, one shortcut away
Press Ctrl Alt G for a live wall of everything that's open, minimized windows included. Click one and it's floating.
Dashboards, chats and reference
And the small things done right
Previews are drawn by the same Windows compositor that renders taskbar thumbnails. With a couple open, Pipto uses well under 1% of one CPU core.
- Zoom into small text
- Scroll over a preview to zoom in where you point. Middle-drag to pan.
- Back in one double-click
- Double-click a preview to jump to the real window, even if it's minimized.
- Magnetic layouts
- Previews snap to screen edges and to each other. Save a set as a workspace.
- Survives restarts
- Close the source app and the preview waits, then reconnects when it reopens.
- Never steals focus
- Dragging or clicking a preview leaves your cursor where you were typing.
- Private by design
- Nothing you watch leaves your PC. No account, and no screenshots are ever uploaded.
CtrlAltPPick a window or region on screen
CtrlAltGChoose from every open window
CtrlAltHHide or show all previews
CtrlAltATidy previews into the corner
Other tools float a window. Pipto also tells you when to look.
| Feature | Pipto | PowerToys Crop and Lock | WindowTop | OnTopReplica |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live view of a window or region | Yes | Yes | Yes (Pro) | Yes |
| Ping when the view changes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Ping when it goes quiet | Yes | No | No | No |
| Still maintained | Yes | Yes | Yes | Last release 2018 |
| Price | Free, or $5.99 once | Free | Free, Pro paid | Free |
Based on each tool's public documentation in November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Pay once. Keep it.
Try everything for 14 days. After that, keep using one preview for free, or unlock the rest with a single payment. No subscription.
Free
$0
- One live preview of a whole window
- Zoom, snapping and double-click to return
- Every Pro feature for the first 14 days
Pro Launch price
$5.99 $7.99
- As many previews as you like
- Float any region of a window
- Change and quiet alerts
- Hide-when-hovered and saved workspaces
- Use it on 3 PCs, with every future update
Secure checkout by Dodo Payments, priced in your local currency. Your licence key arrives by email.
Questions
Does Pipto slow my PC down?
Barely. Previews are drawn by the Windows compositor itself, the same way taskbar thumbnails are. With a couple of previews open, Pipto uses well under 1% of one CPU core. Alerts sample the watched area every 1.5 seconds, which adds a little more.
Can I click inside the preview to control the app?
The preview is for watching. Double-click it to jump to the real window, or turn on hide-when-hovered to reach whatever sits underneath it.
What happens to minimized windows?
Many apps stop drawing when minimized, so the preview shows their last frame. When you float a minimized window from the window list, Pipto restores it behind your other windows so it keeps updating live.
Does it work with games, video and browsers?
It works with most apps, including browsers, video players, terminals, editors and creative tools. Some apps deliberately block screen capture, such as DRM-protected video, and those show up blank.
How do I move my licence to a new PC?
Open Pipto on the old PC, choose Get Pro, then Deactivate this PC. Paste your key on the new one. Each key works on 3 PCs at a time.
Why not just use PowerToys Crop and Lock?
Crop and Lock is great for pinning a cropped window, and it's free. Pipto is for the moment after that: it notices when the view changes or stops changing and pings you. It also gives you a live wall of every open window, zooms into small text, fades out of the way when you hover, and reconnects when the app restarts.
Does Pipto collect any data?
Previews never leave your computer, and nothing about your windows is sent anywhere. Pipto checks your licence key with our payment provider and sends a few anonymous pings (first launch, an alert firing, Pro activated) with no names, window titles or device IDs. Read the privacy note.
Windows says the app is from an unknown publisher
Pipto is new, so Windows SmartScreen hasn't seen many downloads of it yet. Choose More info, then Run anyway. The installer only installs for your user and never asks for admin rights.
Start the build. Look away. Pipto will keep watch.
Free for 14 days, then free forever with one preview. Windows 10 and 11.