FindWindowA function (winuser.h)

Retrieves a handle to the top-level window whose class name and window name match the specified strings. This function does not search child windows. This function does not perform a case-sensitive search.

To search child windows, beginning with a specified child window, use the FindWindowEx function.

Syntax

HWND FindWindowA(
  [in, optional] LPCSTR lpClassName,
  [in, optional] LPCSTR lpWindowName
);

Parameters

[in, optional] lpClassName

Type: LPCTSTR

The class name or a class atom created by a previous call to the RegisterClass or RegisterClassEx function. The atom must be in the low-order word of lpClassName; the high-order word must be zero.

If lpClassName points to a string, it specifies the window class name. The class name can be any name registered with RegisterClass or RegisterClassEx, or any of the predefined control-class names.

If lpClassName is NULL, it finds any window whose title matches the lpWindowName parameter.

[in, optional] lpWindowName

Type: LPCTSTR

The window name (the window's title). If this parameter is NULL, all window names match.

Return value

Type: HWND

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the window that has the specified class name and window name.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL. This function does not modify the last error value.

Remarks

If the lpWindowName parameter is not NULL, FindWindow calls the GetWindowText function to retrieve the window name for comparison. For a description of a potential problem that can arise, see the Remarks for GetWindowText.

Examples

For an example, see Retrieving the Number of Mouse Wheel Scroll Lines.

Requirements

See also

Conceptual

EnumWindows

FindWindowEx

GetClassName

GetWindowText

Reference

RegisterClass

RegisterClassEx

Windows