How to make an outlook reminder popup and stay on top of other windows

Question

How do you make an outlook reminder popup and stay on top of other windows?

After looking online for a long while; I wasn't able to find a satisfactory answer to this question.

Using Windows 7 and Microsoft Outlook 2007+; when a reminder flashes up, it no longer gives a modal box to grab your attention. At work where additional plugins can be problematic to install (admin rights) and when using a quiet system, meeting requests are often overlooked.

Is there an easier way to implement this without using third party plugins/apps?

Sep 2021: Updated question title to indicate modal popup

Answer 1

For the latest macro please see update 4 (Office 365 inclusion)

After searching for a while I found a partial answer on a website that seemed to give me the majority of the solution; https://superuser.com/questions/251963/how-to-make-outlook-calendar-reminders-stay-on-top-in-windows-7

However as noted in the comments, the first reminder failed to popup; while further reminders then did. based on the code I assumed this was because the window wasn't detected until it had instantiated once

To get around this, I looked to employ a timer to periodically test if the window was present and if it was, then bring it to the front. Taking the code from the following website; Outlook VBA - Run a code every half an hour

Then melding the two solutions together gave a working solution to this problem.

From the trust centre, I enabled the use of macros then opening the visual basic editor from Outlook (alt+F11) I added the following code to the 'ThisOutlookSession' module

CODE REMOVED

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UPDATE 1 (Feb 12, 2015)

After using this for a while I found a real annoyance with the fact that triggering the timer removes the focus from the current window. It's a massive hassle as you're writing an e-mail.

As such I upgraded the code so that the timer only runs every 60 seconds then upon finding the first active reminder, the timer is stopped and the secondary event function is then used forthwith to activate the window focus change.

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UPDATE 2 (Sep 4, 2015)

Having transitioned to Outlook 2013 - this code stopped working for me. I have now updated it with a further function (FindReminderWindow) that looks for a range of popup reminder captions. This now works for me in 2013 and should work for versions below 2013.

The FindReminderWindow function takes a value which is the number of iterations to step through to find the window. If you routinely have a larger number of reminders than 10 popup then you could increase this number in the EventMacro sub...

CODE REMOVED

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UPDATE 3 (Aug 8, 2016)

Having rethought my approach and based on observation - I redesigned the code to try and have a minimal impact on working while Outlook was open; I would find the timer still took focus away from e-mails I was writing and possibly other issues with windows losing focus might have been related.

Instead - I assumed the reminders window once instantiated was merely hidden and not destroyed when reminders were shown; as such I now keep a global handle to the window so I should only need to look once at the window titles and subsequently check if the reminders window is visible before making it modal.

Also - the timer is now only employed when the reminders window is triggered, then turned off once the function has run; hopefully stopping any intrusive macro's running during the working day.

See which one works for you I guess...

Updated code below: Add the following code to the 'ThisOutlookSession' module

Private WithEvents MyReminders As Outlook.Reminders

Private Sub Application_Startup()
    On Error Resume Next
    Set MyReminders = Outlook.Application.Reminders
End Sub

Private Sub MyReminders_ReminderFire(ByVal ReminderObject As Reminder)
    On Error Resume Next
    Call ActivateTimer(1)
End Sub

Then the updated module code...

Option Explicit

Private Declare Function SetTimer Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nIDEvent As Long, _
    ByVal uElapse As Long, ByVal lpTimerfunc As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function KillTimer Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nIDEvent As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function IsWindowVisible Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function FindWindow Lib "User32" Alias "FindWindowA" (ByVal lpClassName _
    As String, ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Long
Private Declare Function ShowWindow Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nCmdSHow As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function SetWindowPos Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal hWndInsertAfter As Long, _
    ByVal X As Long, ByVal Y As Long, ByVal cx As Long, ByVal cy As Long, ByVal wFlags As Long) As Long

Private Const SWP_NOSIZE = &H1
Private Const SWP_NOMOVE = &H2
Private Const FLAGS As Long = SWP_NOMOVE Or SWP_NOSIZE
Private Const HWND_TOPMOST = -1

Public TimerID As Long 'Need a timer ID to turn off the timer. If the timer ID <> 0 then the timer is running
Public hRemWnd As Long 'Store the handle of the reminder window

Public Sub ActivateTimer(ByVal Seconds As Long) 'The SetTimer call accepts milliseconds
    On Error Resume Next
    If TimerID <> 0 Then Call DeactivateTimer   'Check to see if timer is running before call to SetTimer
    If TimerID = 0 Then TimerID = SetTimer(0, 0, Seconds * 1000, AddressOf TriggerEvent)
End Sub

Public Sub DeactivateTimer()
    On Error Resume Next
    Dim Success As Long: Success = KillTimer(0, TimerID)
    If Success <> 0 Then TimerID = 0
End Sub

Public Sub TriggerEvent(ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal uMsg As Long, ByVal idevent As Long, ByVal Systime As Long)
    Call EventFunction
End Sub

Public Function EventFunction()
    On Error Resume Next
    If TimerID <> 0 Then Call DeactivateTimer
    If hRemWnd = 0 Then hRemWnd = FindReminderWindow(100)
    If IsWindowVisible(hRemWnd) Then
        ShowWindow hRemWnd, 1                                   ' Activate Window
        SetWindowPos hRemWnd, HWND_TOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, FLAGS   ' Set Modal
    End If
End Function

Public Function FindReminderWindow(iUB As Integer) As Long
    On Error Resume Next
    Dim i As Integer: i = 1
    FindReminderWindow = FindWindow(vbNullString, "1 Reminder")
    Do While i < iUB And FindReminderWindow = 0
        FindReminderWindow = FindWindow(vbNullString, i & " Reminder(s)")
        i = i + 1
    Loop
    If FindReminderWindow <> 0 Then ShowWindow FindReminderWindow, 1
End Function

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UPDATE 4 (Sep 9, 2021)

Transition to Office 365: This comes with an option in the settings now to show reminders on top of windows (picture below), so why would you want to run a macro to place it on top now? The reason is that you can set it as a modal reminder box (using SWP_DRAWFRAME) so if you swap between programs, it will stay visible which doesn't happen with the vanilla option

Code should be compatible with all Outlook versions and allow transition between them easily (however I can no longer error check the non-VBA7 code)

In ThisOutlookSession

Private WithEvents MyReminders As Outlook.Reminders

Private Sub Application_Startup()
    On Error Resume Next
    With Outlook.Application
        Set MyReminders = .Reminders
    End With
End Sub

Private Sub MyReminders_ReminderFire(ByVal ReminderObject As Reminder)
    On Error Resume Next
    Call ReminderStartTimer
End Sub

In a module

Option Explicit
' https://jkp-ads.com/articles/apideclarations.asp; useful resource for Declare functions

Private Const SWP_NOSIZE = &H1, SWP_NOMOVE = &H2, SWP_NOACTIVATE = &H10, SWP_DRAWFRAME = &H20, HWND_TOPMOST = -1, GW_HWNDNEXT = 2
Private Const FLAGS As Long = SWP_NOMOVE Or SWP_NOSIZE Or SWP_DRAWFRAME

#If VBA7 Then
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function GetWindowText Lib "user32" Alias "GetWindowTextA" (ByVal hWnd As LongPtr, ByVal lpString As String, ByVal cch As LongPtr) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function GetWindowTextLength Lib "user32" Alias "GetWindowTextLengthA" (ByVal hWnd As LongPtr) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function GetWindow Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As LongPtr, ByVal wCmd As Long) As LongPtr
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function IsWindowVisible Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As LongPtr) As Boolean
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function FindWindow Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowA" (ByVal lpClassName As String, ByVal lpWindowName As String) As LongPtr
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function ShowWindow Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As LongPtr, ByVal nCmdShow As Long) As Boolean
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function SetWindowPos Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As LongPtr, ByVal hWndInsertAfter As LongPtr, _
        ByVal X As Long, ByVal Y As Long, ByVal cx As Long, ByVal cy As Long, ByVal wFlags As Long) As Long
#Else
    Private Declare Function GetWindowText Lib "User32" Alias "GetWindowTextA" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal lpString As String, ByVal cch As Long) As Long
    Private Declare Function GetWindowTextLength Lib "User32" Alias "GetWindowTextLengthA" (ByVal hWnd As Long) As Long
    Private Declare Function GetWindow Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal wCmd As Long) As Long
    Private Declare Function IsWindowVisible Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long) As Long
    Private Declare Function FindWindow Lib "User32" Alias "FindWindowA" (ByVal lpClassName As String, ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Long
    Private Declare Function ShowWindow Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nCmdSHow As Long) As Long
    Private Declare Function SetWindowPos Lib "User32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal hWndInsertAfter As Long, _
        ByVal X As Long, ByVal Y As Long, ByVal cx As Long, ByVal cy As Long, ByVal wFlags As Long) As Long
#End If

#If VBA7 Then
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function SetTimer Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As LongPtr, ByVal nIDEvent As LongPtr, _
        ByVal uElapse As Long, ByVal lpTimerFunc As LongPtr) As LongPtr
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function KillTimer Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As LongPtr, ByVal nIDEvent As LongPtr) As Long
#Else
    Private Declare Function SetTimer Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nIDEvent As Long, _
        ByVal uElapse As Long, ByVal lpTimerFunc As Long) As Long
    Private Declare Function KillTimer Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal nIDEvent As Long) As Long
#End If

#If VBA7 Then
    'TimerIDs to turn off timers. If a TimerID <> 0 then the timer is running
    Public ReminderTimerID As LongPtr
    
    Public Function ReminderStartTimer()
        On Error Resume Next
        Call ActivateTimer(1, AddressOf ReminderEvent, ReminderTimerID)
    End Function
    
    Public Sub ReminderEvent(ByVal hWnd As LongPtr, ByVal uMsg As LongPtr, ByVal idevent As LongPtr, ByVal Systime As LongPtr)
        On Error Resume Next
        Call EventFunction
    End Sub
    
    Private Function EventFunction()
        On Error Resume Next
        If ReminderTimerID <> 0 Then Call DeactivateTimer(ReminderTimerID)
        Dim hRemWnd As LongPtr: FindWindowFromPartialCaption hRemWnd, "Reminder"
        If IsWindowVisible(hRemWnd) Then
            'ShowWindow hRemWnd, 1                                   ' Activate Window
            SetWindowPos hRemWnd, HWND_TOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, FLAGS   ' Set Modal
        End If
        Debug.Print TimeInMS() & "; " & hRemWnd
    End Function
    
    Private Function FindWindowFromPartialCaption(ByRef hWnd As LongPtr, ByVal PartialCaption As String)
        Dim hWndP As LongPtr: hWndP = FindWindow(vbNullString, vbNullString) 'Parent Window
        Do While hWndP <> 0
            If InStr(GetNameFromHwnd(hWndP), PartialCaption) > 0 Then hWnd = hWndP
            If hWnd = hWndP Then Exit Do
            hWndP = GetWindow(hWndP, GW_HWNDNEXT)
        Loop
    End Function
    
    Private Function GetNameFromHwnd(ByRef hWnd As LongPtr) As String
        Dim Title As String * 255
        GetWindowText hWnd, Title, 255
        GetNameFromHwnd = Left(Title, GetWindowTextLength(hWnd))
    End Function

    Private Function ActivateTimer(ByVal Seconds As Long, FunctionAddress As LongLong, ByRef TimerID As LongPtr) 'The SetTimer call accepts milliseconds
        On Error Resume Next
        If TimerID = 0 Then TimerID = SetTimer(0, 0, Seconds * 1000, FunctionAddress) 'Check to see if timer is running before call to SetTimer
    End Function
    
    Private Function DeactivateTimer(ByRef TimerID As LongLong)
        On Error Resume Next
        If KillTimer(0&, TimerID) <> 0 Then TimerID = 0
    End Function
#Else
    'TimerIDs to turn off timers. If a TimerID <> 0 then the timer is running
    Public ReminderTimerID As Long
    
    Public Function ReminderStartTimer()
        On Error Resume Next
        Call ActivateTimer(1, AddressOf ReminderEvent, ReminderTimerID)
    End Function

    Public Sub ReminderEvent(ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal uMsg As Long, ByVal idevent As Long, ByVal Systime As Long)
        Call EventFunction
    End Sub
    
    Private Function ActivateTimer(ByVal Seconds As Long, FunctionAddress As Long, ByRef TimerID As Long) 'The SetTimer call accepts milliseconds
        On Error Resume Next
        If TimerID = 0 Then TimerID = SetTimer(0, 0, Seconds * 1000, FunctionAddress) 'Check to see if timer is running before call to SetTimer
    End Function
    
    Private Function DeactivateTimer(ByRef TimerID As Long)
        On Error Resume Next
        If KillTimer(0, TimerID) <> 0 Then TimerID = 0
    End Function
    
    Private Function EventFunction()
        On Error Resume Next
        If ReminderTimerID <> 0 Then Call DeactivateTimer(ReminderTimerID)
        Dim hRemWnd As Long: FindWindowFromPartialCaption hRemWnd, "Reminder"
        If IsWindowVisible(hRemWnd) Then
            'ShowWindow hRemWnd, 1                                   ' Activate Window
            SetWindowPos hRemWnd, HWND_TOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, FLAGS   ' Set Modal
        End If
        Debug.Print TimeInMS() & "; " & hRemWnd
    End Function
    
    Private Function FindWindowFromPartialCaption(ByRef hWnd As Long, ByVal PartialCaption As String)
        Dim hWndP As Long: hWndP = FindWindow(vbNullString, vbNullString) 'Parent Window
        Do While hWndP <> 0
            If InStr(GetNameFromHwnd(hWndP), PartialCaption) > 0 Then hWnd = hWndP
            If hWnd = hWndP Then Exit Do
            hWndP = GetWindow(hWndP, GW_HWNDNEXT)
        Loop
    End Function
    
    Private Function GetNameFromHwnd(ByRef hWnd As Long) As String
        Dim Title As String * 255
        GetWindowText hWnd, Title, 255
        GetNameFromHwnd = Left(Title, GetWindowTextLength(hWnd))
    End Function
#End If

Private Function TimeInMS() As String
    Dim TimeNow As Double: TimeNow = Timer
    TimeInMS = Format(Date, "dd/mm/yyyy ") & Format(DateAdd("s", TimeNow, 0), "hh:mm:ss.") & Right(Format(TimeNow, "#0.00"), 2)
End Function

Answer 2

Using AutoHotKey you can set the window to be Always On Top without stealing focus of the current window. (Tested with WIn10 / Outlook 2013)

TrayTip Script, Looking for Reminder window to put on top, , 16
SetTitleMatchMode  2 ; windows contains
loop {
  WinWait, Reminder(s), 
  WinSet, AlwaysOnTop, on, Reminder(s)
  WinRestore, Reminder(s)
  TrayTip Outlook Reminder, You have an outlook reminder open, , 16
  WinWaitClose, Reminder(s), ,30
}