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Customizing Windows in Wails

Relevant Platforms: Windows macOS


Wails provides an API to control the appearance and functionality of the controls of a window. This functionality is available on Windows and macOS, but not on Linux.

Setting the Window Button States

The button states are defined by the ButtonState enum:

type ButtonState int
const (
ButtonEnabled ButtonState = 0
ButtonDisabled ButtonState = 1
ButtonHidden ButtonState = 2
)
  • ButtonEnabled: The button is enabled and visible.
  • ButtonDisabled: The button is visible but disabled (grayed out).
  • ButtonHidden: The button is hidden from the titlebar.

The button states can be set during window creation or at runtime.

Setting Button States During Window Creation

When creating a new window, you can set the initial state of the buttons using the WebviewWindowOptions struct:

main.go
package main
import (
"github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/pkg/application"
)
func main() {
app := application.New(application.Options{
Name: "My Application",
})
app.NewWebviewWindowWithOptions(application.WebviewWindowOptions{
MinimiseButtonState: application.ButtonHidden,
MaximiseButtonState: application.ButtonDisabled,
CloseButtonState: application.ButtonEnabled,
})
app.Run()
}

In the example above, the minimise button is hidden, the maximise button is inactive (grayed out), and the close button is active.

Setting Button States at Runtime

You can also change the button states at runtime using the following methods on the Window interface:

window.SetMinimiseButtonState(wails.ButtonHidden)
window.SetMaximiseButtonState(wails.ButtonEnabled)
window.SetCloseButtonState(wails.ButtonDisabled)

Platform Differences

The button state functionality behaves slightly differently on Windows and macOS:

WindowsMac
Disable Min/Max/CloseDisables Min/Max/CloseDisables Min/Max/Close
Hide MinDisables MinHides Min button
Hide MaxDisables MaxHides Max button
Hide CloseHides all controlsHides Close

Note: On Windows, it is not possible to hide the Min/Max buttons individually. However, disabling both will hide both of the controls and only show the close button.

Controlling Window Style (Windows)

To control the style of the titlebar on Windows, you can use the ExStyle field in the WebviewWindowOptions struct:

Example:

main.go
package main
import (
"github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/pkg/application"
"github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/pkg/w32"
)
func main() {
app := application.New(application.Options{
Name: "My Application",
})
app.NewWebviewWindowWithOptions(application.WebviewWindowOptions{
Windows: application.WindowsWindow{
ExStyle: w32.WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW | w32.WS_EX_NOREDIRECTIONBITMAP | w32.WS_EX_TOPMOST,
},
})
app.Run()
}

Other options that affect the Extended Style of a window will be overridden by this setting:

  • HiddenOnTaskbar
  • AlwaysOnTop
  • IgnoreMouseEvents
  • BackgroundType