Above the Start menu

Look up words in Start and Search, with the card on top of them.

Windows keeps Start and Search above every ordinary window, so by default WinDict closes them before showing a definition. To have the card appear on top of them instead, WinDict needs “UI access”, which Windows only grants to signed apps installed in a protected folder.

Turning it on

1. Install WinDict with the setup. Only the copy the setup installs can have UI access, so the downloaded WinDict-<version>.exe doesn't show the switch.
2. Use the Show above Start switch: on the introduction's Show the card above Start step, or in the settings under General.
3. Windows asks for permission, then WinDict restarts with UI access.

Turn the switch off to go back.

How it works

The setup installs a second build of WinDict that asks for UI access, but leaves it unsigned. The switch runs uiaccess.ps1, which creates a certificate that's trusted on this machine only, signs that build with it and restarts WinDict.

The certificate's private key is deleted right after signing, so it can't be used to sign anything else. Updates sign the new version the same way. Turning UI access off removes the certificate, and uninstalling WinDict does that too.

The script can also be run by hand, from an administrator PowerShell:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Program Files\WinDict\uiaccess.ps1" -Enable -Restart

Use -Disable -Restart instead to turn UI access off.

Print Screen

With UI access, Windows doesn't hear Print Screen pressed over WinDict's windows, so WinDict opens Snipping Tool itself, as Windows would have, if Print Screen is set to open it.