ColorPicker vs Active/Focused program

[nurbles]

Microsoft PowerToys version

0.59.1

Running as admin

• [ ] Yes

Area(s) with issue?

ColorPicker

Steps to reproduce

Try to use the color picker to get the color of the active application's title bar.

✔️ Expected Behavior

I was expecting to get the title bar color I was looking at before activating ColorPicker

❌ Actual Behavior

I was only able to get the color of an inactive title bar.

Other Software

Edition: Windows 10 Pro Version: 21H2 OS Build: 19044.1766 Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4180.0

[Jay-o-Way]

Yep, the UI takes focus. Should not be possible.

[crutkas]

I just tried this and had teams for example in focus and then triggered Color Picker. I was able to get the appropriate color for the search bar. We need a bit more info here as i can't repro this and can get actual in app focus color.

/needinfo

[Jay-o-Way]

@crutkas might depend on 2 things:

• must be a Windows 10 thing, since Windows 11 usually doesn't paint colored title bars any more
• the chosen activation: If I choose to activate the color picker immedately it can work as expected, other methods make the other/targeted window lose focus

[nurbles]

Unfortunately, I cannot afford to purchase the new hardware required for Windows 11, so I cannot speak to that. However... I suspect it is the type of application since there are now many different methods of indicating the active/inactive program with Windows supporting at least two and many programs rolling their own. Regardless, you can see what I mean in this Screen-to-GIF capture of me activating color picker over the program whose active title color I was trying to pick:

Color Picker Steals Focus Example

First, I clicked on my clock program to activate it, then I pressed the ColorPicker hot key (Ctrl+Shift+C) and, as you can see, when the color picker activated, my program lost focus and Windows adjusted the title bar color accordingly. If you want to test with my silly little clock program, you're welcome to grab a copy of Steve's Wacky Clock. You may note that my clock program is a "classic" Windows program that doesn't use any theme or modern app UI stuff. It is also a completely native C program, using no MFC, .NET or any other 3rd party components -- just me and Windows.

This isn't a big deal, but it does make it impossible to capture any colors that change when a program loses focus so I thought I'd mention it.

[nurbles]

FWIW, I just discovered that I can do the following to work-around the fact that ColorPicker "steals" the focus when activated:

• Press Ctrl+Shift+C to activate color picker
• Move the mouse over the element whose active color I want to pick
• Use Alt+Tab to re-activate the appropriate program

After doing that, ColorPicker showed the activate title bar color. So it is possible, but a bit cumbersome. Thanks for at least thinking about this! Have a great day!

[jaimecbernardo]

Couldn't replicate this, as well. I'm on Windows 10 too.

[crutkas]

@Jay-o-Way we need clearer steps. Both Jaime and myself couldn’t repro this

happy to pop on a call for a demo

[Jay-o-Way]

For me it's simple:

• Install Windows 10
• PowerToys is running and Color Picker is on (obviously)
• Some window has focus
• Press hotkey
• Window lost focus

But the weird thing is, this is not consistent. Sometimes it works as extected, sometimes it doesn't.

Video: https://youtu.be/G1ynPDuuHbk

[jaimecbernardo]

I've been able to reproduce this now, but it's inconsistent as you say...