What is the correct way to create a single-instance WPF application?

Question

Using C# and WPF under .NET (rather than Windows Forms or console), what is the correct way to create an application that can only be run as a single instance?

I know it has something to do with some mythical thing called a mutex, rarely can I find someone that bothers to stop and explain what one of these are.

The code needs to also inform the already-running instance that the user tried to start a second one, and maybe also pass any command-line arguments if any existed.

Answer 1

You could use the Mutex class, but you will soon find out that you will need to implement the code to pass the arguments and such yourself. Well, I learned a trick when programming in WinForms when I read Chris Sell's book. This trick uses logic that is already available to us in the framework. I don't know about you, but when I learn about stuff I can reuse in the framework, that is usually the route I take instead of reinventing the wheel. Unless of course it doesn't do everything, I want.

When I got into WPF, I came up with a way to use that same code, but in a WPF application. This solution should meet your needs based off your question.

First, we need to create our application class. In this class we are going override the OnStartup event and create a method called Activate, which will be used later.

public class SingleInstanceApplication : System.Windows.Application
{
    protected override void OnStartup(System.Windows.StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        // Call the OnStartup event on our base class
        base.OnStartup(e);

        // Create our MainWindow and show it
        MainWindow window = new MainWindow();
        window.Show();
    }
    
    public void Activate()
    {
        // Reactivate the main window
        MainWindow.Activate();
    }
}

Second, we will need to create a class that can manage our instances. Before we go through that, we are actually going to reuse some code that is in the Microsoft.VisualBasic assembly. Since, I am using C# in this example, I had to make a reference to the assembly. If you are using VB.NET, you don't have to do anything. The class we are going to use is WindowsFormsApplicationBase and inherit our instance manager off of it and then leverage properties and events to handle the single instancing.

public class SingleInstanceManager : Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsFormsApplicationBase
{
    private SingleInstanceApplication _application;
    private System.Collections.ObjectModel.ReadOnlyCollection<string> _commandLine;

    public SingleInstanceManager()
    {
        IsSingleInstance = true;
    }

    protected override bool OnStartup(Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.StartupEventArgs eventArgs)
    {
        // First time _application is launched
        _commandLine = eventArgs.CommandLine;
        _application = new SingleInstanceApplication();
        _application.Run();
        return false;
    }

    protected override void OnStartupNextInstance(StartupNextInstanceEventArgs eventArgs)
    {
        // Subsequent launches
        base.OnStartupNextInstance(eventArgs);
        _commandLine = eventArgs.CommandLine;
        _application.Activate();
    }
}

Basically, we are using the VB bits to detect single instances and process accordingly. OnStartup will be fired when the first instance loads. OnStartupNextInstance is fired when the application is re-run again. As you can see, I can get to what was passed on the command line through the event arguments. I set the value to an instance field. You could parse the command line here, or you could pass it to your application through the constructor and the call to the Activate method.

Third, it's time to create our EntryPoint. Instead of newing up the application like you would normally do, we are going to take advantage of our SingleInstanceManager.

public class EntryPoint
{
    [STAThread]
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        SingleInstanceManager manager = new SingleInstanceManager();
        manager.Run(args);
    }
}

Well, I hope you are able to follow everything and be able use this implementation and make it your own.

Answer 2

In 2024, for a WinForms app, I use this class and just let the main form inherit from it. That's all. The rest is handled internally.

using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public class Single_Instance_Form : Form {
   private static readonly Mutex SINGLE_INSTANCE_MUTEX = new(true, "{BAF9CDEF-441A-49E6-B953-C47FAF819BDD}");

   public Single_Instance_Form() {
      Assert_Single_Instance();
   }

   protected override void WndProc(ref Message m) {
      if (m.Msg == WM_SHOWME)
         ShowMe(this);

      base.WndProc(ref m);
   }

   #region NativeFunctions

   public const           int HWND_BROADCAST = 0xffff;
   public static readonly int WM_SHOWME      = RegisterWindowMessage("WM_SHOWME");

   [DllImport("user32")]
   public static extern bool PostMessage(IntPtr hwnd, int msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam);

   [DllImport("user32")]
   public static extern int RegisterWindowMessage(string message);

   #endregion

   private static void Assert_Single_Instance() {
      if (SINGLE_INSTANCE_MUTEX.WaitOne(TimeSpan.Zero, true)) {
         Application.ApplicationExit += (_, _) => { SINGLE_INSTANCE_MUTEX.ReleaseMutex(); };
      }
      else {
         // send our Win32 message to make the currently running instance
         // jump on top of all the other windows
         PostMessage(
            HWND_BROADCAST,
            WM_SHOWME,
            IntPtr.Zero,
            IntPtr.Zero);

         Environment.Exit(0);
      }
   }

   private static void ShowMe(Form form) {
      if (form.WindowState == FormWindowState.Minimized)
         form.WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal;

      // get our current "TopMost" value (ours will always be false though)
      bool top = form.TopMost;
      // make our form jump to the top of everything
      form.TopMost = true;
      // set it back to whatever it was
      form.TopMost = top;

      MessageBox.Show("There can be only one.", "Highlander Mode");
   }
}

Answer 3

Here is my entire App.xaml.cs, this code also brings the launched program instance to the foreground:

public partial class App : Application
{
    private static Mutex _mutex = null;

    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);

    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    static extern bool ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, int nCmdShow);

    protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        _mutex = new Mutex(true, "YourMutexName", out var createdNew);

        if (!createdNew)
        {
            using (var currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess())
            {
                foreach (var process in Process.GetProcessesByName(currentProcess.ProcessName))
                {
                    if (process.Id != currentProcess.Id)
                    {
                        ShowWindow(process.MainWindowHandle, 9);
                        SetForegroundWindow(process.MainWindowHandle);
                    }
                    process.Dispose();
                }
            }
            // app is already running! Exiting the application  
            Shutdown();
        }

        base.OnStartup(e);
    }

    protected override void OnExit(ExitEventArgs e)
    {
        _mutex.Dispose();
        base.OnExit(e);
    }
}

Answer 4

Based Matt Davis' answer, wrapped into a class for convenience.

public static class SingleAppInstanceChecker
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Arbitrary unique string
    /// </summary>
    private static Mutex _mutex = new Mutex(true, "0d12ad74-026f-40c3-bdae-e178ddee8602");

    public static bool IsNotRunning()
    {
        return _mutex.WaitOne(TimeSpan.Zero, true);
    }
}

Example usage:

private void Application_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
{
    if (!SingleAppInstanceChecker.IsNotRunning())
    {
        MessageBox.Show("Application is already running.");

        // Exit application using:
        // Environment.Exit(1);
        // Application.Current.Shutdown();
        // Etc...

        return;
    }
    
    // Allow startup and continue with normal processing
    // ...
}

Answer 5

My favourite solution is from MVP Daniel Vaughan: Enforcing Single Instance Wpf Applications

It use MemoryMappedFile to send command line arguments to the first instance:

/// <summary>
/// This class allows restricting the number of executables in execution, to one.
/// </summary>
public sealed class SingletonApplicationEnforcer
{
    readonly Action<IEnumerable<string>> processArgsFunc;
    readonly string applicationId;
    Thread thread;
    string argDelimiter = "_;;_";

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the string that is used to join 
    /// the string array of arguments in memory.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>The arg delimeter.</value>
    public string ArgDelimeter
    {
        get
        {
            return argDelimiter;
        }
        set
        {
            argDelimiter = value;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="SingletonApplicationEnforcer"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="processArgsFunc">A handler for processing command line args 
    /// when they are received from another application instance.</param>
    /// <param name="applicationId">The application id used 
    /// for naming the <seealso cref="EventWaitHandle"/>.</param>
    public SingletonApplicationEnforcer(Action<IEnumerable<string>> processArgsFunc, 
        string applicationId = "DisciplesRock")
    {
        if (processArgsFunc == null)
        {
            throw new ArgumentNullException("processArgsFunc");
        }
        this.processArgsFunc = processArgsFunc;
        this.applicationId = applicationId;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if this application instance is not the singleton instance.
    /// If this application is not the singleton, then it should exit.
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns><c>true</c> if the application should shutdown, 
    /// otherwise <c>false</c>.</returns>
    public bool ShouldApplicationExit()
    {
        bool createdNew;
        string argsWaitHandleName = "ArgsWaitHandle_" + applicationId;
        string memoryFileName = "ArgFile_" + applicationId;

        EventWaitHandle argsWaitHandle = new EventWaitHandle(
            false, EventResetMode.AutoReset, argsWaitHandleName, out createdNew);

        GC.KeepAlive(argsWaitHandle);

        if (createdNew)
        {
            /* This is the main, or singleton application. 
                * A thread is created to service the MemoryMappedFile. 
                * We repeatedly examine this file each time the argsWaitHandle 
                * is Set by a non-singleton application instance. */
            thread = new Thread(() =>
                {
                    try
                    {
                        using (MemoryMappedFile file = MemoryMappedFile.CreateOrOpen(memoryFileName, 10000))
                        {
                            while (true)
                            {
                                argsWaitHandle.WaitOne();
                                using (MemoryMappedViewStream stream = file.CreateViewStream())
                                {
                                    var reader = new BinaryReader(stream);
                                    string args;
                                    try
                                    {
                                        args = reader.ReadString();
                                    }
                                    catch (Exception ex)
                                    {
                                        Debug.WriteLine("Unable to retrieve string. " + ex);
                                        continue;
                                    }
                                    string[] argsSplit = args.Split(new string[] { argDelimiter }, 
                                                                    StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
                                    processArgsFunc(argsSplit);
                                }

                            }
                        }
                    }
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        Debug.WriteLine("Unable to monitor memory file. " + ex);
                    }
                });

            thread.IsBackground = true;
            thread.Start();
        }
        else
        {
            /* Non singleton application instance. 
                * Should exit, after passing command line args to singleton process, 
                * via the MemoryMappedFile. */
            using (MemoryMappedFile mmf = MemoryMappedFile.OpenExisting(memoryFileName))
            {
                using (MemoryMappedViewStream stream = mmf.CreateViewStream())
                {
                    var writer = new BinaryWriter(stream);
                    string[] args = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
                    string joined = string.Join(argDelimiter, args);
                    writer.Write(joined);
                }
            }
            argsWaitHandle.Set();
        }

        return !createdNew;
    }
}

Answer 6

I can't find a short solution here so I hope someone will like this:

UPDATED 2018-09-20

Put this code in your Program.cs:

using System.Diagnostics;

static void Main()
{
    Process thisProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
    Process[] allProcesses = Process.GetProcessesByName(thisProcess.ProcessName);
    if (allProcesses.Length > 1)
    {
        // Don't put a MessageBox in here because the user could spam this MessageBox.
        return;
    }

    // Optional code. If you don't want that someone runs your ".exe" with a different name:

    string exeName = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FriendlyName;
    // in debug mode, don't forget that you don't use your normal .exe name.
    // Debug uses the .vshost.exe.
    if (exeName != "the name of your executable.exe") 
    {
        // You can add a MessageBox here if you want.
        // To point out to users that the name got changed and maybe what the name should be or something like that^^ 
        MessageBox.Show("The executable name should be \"the name of your executable.exe\"", 
            "Wrong executable name", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
        return;
    }

    // Following code is default code:
    Application.EnableVisualStyles();
    Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
    Application.Run(new MainForm());
}

Answer 7

Please check the proposed solution from here that uses a semaphore to determine if an existing instance is already running, works for a WPF application and can pass arguments from second instance to the first already running instance by using a TcpListener and a TcpClient:

It works also for .NET Core, not only for .NET Framework.

Answer 8

I use Mutex in my solution for preventing multiple instances.

static Mutex mutex = null;
//A string that is the name of the mutex
string mutexName = @"Global\test";
//Prevent Multiple Instances of Application
bool onlyInstance = false;
mutex = new Mutex(true, mutexName, out onlyInstance);

if (!onlyInstance)
{
  MessageBox.Show("You are already running this application in your system.", "Already Running..", MessageBoxButton.OK);
  Application.Current.Shutdown();
}

Answer 9

Here is a very good article regarding the Mutex solution. The approach described by the article is advantageous for two reasons.

First, it does not require a dependency on the Microsoft.VisualBasic assembly. If my project already had a dependency on that assembly, I would probably advocate using the approach shown in another answer. But as it is, I do not use the Microsoft.VisualBasic assembly, and I'd rather not add an unnecessary dependency to my project.

Second, the article shows how to bring the existing instance of the application to the foreground when the user tries to start another instance. That's a very nice touch that the other Mutex solutions described here do not address.

---

UPDATE

As of 8/1/2014, the article I linked to above is still active, but the blog hasn't been updated in a while. That makes me worry that eventually it might disappear, and with it, the advocated solution. I'm reproducing the content of the article here for posterity. The words belong solely to the blog owner at Sanity Free Coding.

Today I wanted to refactor some code that prohibited my application from running multiple instances of itself.

Previously I had use System.Diagnostics.Process to search for an instance of my myapp.exe in the process list. While this works, it brings on a lot of overhead, and I wanted something cleaner.

Knowing that I could use a mutex for this (but never having done it before) I set out to cut down my code and simplify my life.

In the class of my application main I created a static named Mutex:

static class Program
{
    static Mutex mutex = new Mutex(true, "{8F6F0AC4-B9A1-45fd-A8CF-72F04E6BDE8F}");
    [STAThread]
    ...
}

Having a named mutex allows us to stack synchronization across multiple threads and processes which is just the magic I'm looking for.

Mutex.WaitOne has an overload that specifies an amount of time for us to wait. Since we're not actually wanting to synchronizing our code (more just check if it is currently in use) we use the overload with two parameters: Mutex.WaitOne(Timespan timeout, bool exitContext). Wait one returns true if it is able to enter, and false if it wasn't. In this case, we don't want to wait at all; If our mutex is being used, skip it, and move on, so we pass in TimeSpan.Zero (wait 0 milliseconds), and set the exitContext to true so we can exit the synchronization context before we try to aquire a lock on it. Using this, we wrap our Application.Run code inside something like this:

static class Program
{
    static Mutex mutex = new Mutex(true, "{8F6F0AC4-B9A1-45fd-A8CF-72F04E6BDE8F}");
    [STAThread]
    static void Main() {
        if(mutex.WaitOne(TimeSpan.Zero, true)) {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
            Application.Run(new Form1());
            mutex.ReleaseMutex();
        } else {
            MessageBox.Show("only one instance at a time");
        }
    }
}

So, if our app is running, WaitOne will return false, and we'll get a message box.

Instead of showing a message box, I opted to utilize a little Win32 to notify my running instance that someone forgot that it was already running (by bringing itself to the top of all the other windows). To achieve this I used PostMessage to broadcast a custom message to every window (the custom message was registered with RegisterWindowMessage by my running application, which means only my application knows what it is) then my second instance exits. The running application instance would receive that notification and process it. In order to do that, I overrode WndProc in my main form and listened for my custom notification. When I received that notification I set the form's TopMost property to true to bring it up on top.

Here is what I ended up with:

• Program.cs

static class Program
{
    static Mutex mutex = new Mutex(true, "{8F6F0AC4-B9A1-45fd-A8CF-72F04E6BDE8F}");
    [STAThread]
    static void Main() {
        if(mutex.WaitOne(TimeSpan.Zero, true)) {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
            Application.Run(new Form1());
            mutex.ReleaseMutex();
        } else {
            // send our Win32 message to make the currently running instance
            // jump on top of all the other windows
            NativeMethods.PostMessage(
                (IntPtr)NativeMethods.HWND_BROADCAST,
                NativeMethods.WM_SHOWME,
                IntPtr.Zero,
                IntPtr.Zero);
        }
    }
}

• NativeMethods.cs

// this class just wraps some Win32 stuff that we're going to use
internal class NativeMethods
{
    public const int HWND_BROADCAST = 0xffff;
    public static readonly int WM_SHOWME = RegisterWindowMessage("WM_SHOWME");
    [DllImport("user32")]
    public static extern bool PostMessage(IntPtr hwnd, int msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam);
    [DllImport("user32")]
    public static extern int RegisterWindowMessage(string message);
}

• Form1.cs (front side partial)

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }
    protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
    {
        if(m.Msg == NativeMethods.WM_SHOWME) {
            ShowMe();
        }
        base.WndProc(ref m);
    }
    private void ShowMe()
    {
        if(WindowState == FormWindowState.Minimized) {
            WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal;
        }
        // get our current "TopMost" value (ours will always be false though)
        bool top = TopMost;
        // make our form jump to the top of everything
        TopMost = true;
        // set it back to whatever it was
        TopMost = top;
    }
}

Answer 10

A time saving solution for C# Winforms...

Program.cs:

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// needs reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic
using Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices;  

namespace YourNamespace
{
    public class SingleInstanceController : WindowsFormsApplicationBase
    {
        public SingleInstanceController()
        {
            this.IsSingleInstance = true;
        }

        protected override void OnStartupNextInstance(StartupNextInstanceEventArgs e)
        {
            e.BringToForeground = true;
            base.OnStartupNextInstance(e);
        }

        protected override void OnCreateMainForm()
        {
            this.MainForm = new Form1();
        }
    }

    static class Program
    {
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
            string[] args = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
            SingleInstanceController controller = new SingleInstanceController();
            controller.Run(args);
        }
    }
}

Answer 11

[I have provided sample code for console and wpf applications below.]

You only have to check the value of the createdNew variable (example below!), after you create the named Mutex instance.

The boolean createdNew will return false:

if the Mutex instance named "YourApplicationNameHere" was already created on the system somewhere

The boolean createdNew will return true:

if this is the first Mutex named "YourApplicationNameHere" on the system.

---

Console application - Example:

static Mutex m = null;

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    const string mutexName = "YourApplicationNameHere";
    bool createdNew = false;

    try
    {
        // Initializes a new instance of the Mutex class with a Boolean value that indicates 
        // whether the calling thread should have initial ownership of the mutex, a string that is the name of the mutex, 
        // and a Boolean value that, when the method returns, indicates whether the calling thread was granted initial ownership of the mutex.

        using (m = new Mutex(true, mutexName, out createdNew))
        {
            if (!createdNew)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("instance is alreday running... shutting down !!!");
                Console.Read();
                return; // Exit the application
            }

            // Run your windows forms app here
            Console.WriteLine("Single instance app is running!");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }


    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {

        Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

WPF-Example:

public partial class App : Application
{
static Mutex m = null;

protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
{

    const string mutexName = "YourApplicationNameHere";
    bool createdNew = false;

    try
    {
        // Initializes a new instance of the Mutex class with a Boolean value that indicates 
        // whether the calling thread should have initial ownership of the mutex, a string that is the name of the mutex, 
        // and a Boolean value that, when the method returns, indicates whether the calling thread was granted initial ownership of the mutex.

        m = new Mutex(true, mutexName, out createdNew);

        if (!createdNew)
        {
            Current.Shutdown(); // Exit the application
        }

    }
    catch (Exception)
    {
        throw;
    }

    base.OnStartup(e);
}


protected override void OnExit(ExitEventArgs e)
{
    if (m != null)
    {
        m.Dispose();
    }
    base.OnExit(e);
}
}

Answer 12

Named-mutex-based approaches are not cross-platform because named mutexes are not global in Mono. Process-enumeration-based approaches don't have any synchronization and may result in incorrect behavior (e.g. multiple processes started at the same time may all self-terminate depending on timing). Windowing-system-based approaches are not desirable in a console application. This solution, built on top of Divin's answer, addresses all these issues:

using System;
using System.IO;

namespace TestCs
{
    public class Program
    {
        // The app id must be unique. Generate a new guid for your application. 
        public static string AppId = "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef";

        // The stream is stored globally to ensure that it won't be disposed before the application terminates.
        public static FileStream UniqueInstanceStream;

        public static int Main(string[] args)
        {
            EnsureUniqueInstance();

            // Your code here.

            return 0;
        }

        private static void EnsureUniqueInstance()
        {
            // Note: If you want the check to be per-user, use Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData instead.
            string lockDir = Path.Combine(
                Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData),
                "UniqueInstanceApps");
            string lockPath = Path.Combine(lockDir, $"{AppId}.unique");

            Directory.CreateDirectory(lockDir);

            try
            {
                // Create the file with exclusive write access. If this fails, then another process is executing.
                UniqueInstanceStream = File.Open(lockPath, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.None);

                // Although only the line above should be sufficient, when debugging with a vshost on Visual Studio
                // (that acts as a proxy), the IO exception isn't passed to the application before a Write is executed.
                UniqueInstanceStream.Write(new byte[] { 0 }, 0, 1);
                UniqueInstanceStream.Flush();
            }
            catch
            {
                throw new Exception("Another instance of the application is already running.");
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 13

Well, I have a disposable Class for this that works easily for most use cases:

Use it like this:

static void Main()
{
    using (SingleInstanceMutex sim = new SingleInstanceMutex())
    {
        if (sim.IsOtherInstanceRunning)
        {
            Application.Exit();
        }

        // Initialize program here.
    }
}

Here it is:

/// <summary>
/// Represents a <see cref="SingleInstanceMutex"/> class.
/// </summary>
public partial class SingleInstanceMutex : IDisposable
{
    #region Fields

    /// <summary>
    /// Indicator whether another instance of this application is running or not.
    /// </summary>
    private bool isNoOtherInstanceRunning;

    /// <summary>
    /// The <see cref="Mutex"/> used to ask for other instances of this application.
    /// </summary>
    private Mutex singleInstanceMutex = null;

    /// <summary>
    /// An indicator whether this object is beeing actively disposed or not.
    /// </summary>
    private bool disposed;

    #endregion

    #region Constructor

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="SingleInstanceMutex"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    public SingleInstanceMutex()
    {
        this.singleInstanceMutex = new Mutex(true, Assembly.GetCallingAssembly().FullName, out this.isNoOtherInstanceRunning);
    }

    #endregion

    #region Properties

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets an indicator whether another instance of the application is running or not.
    /// </summary>
    public bool IsOtherInstanceRunning
    {
        get
        {
            return !this.isNoOtherInstanceRunning;
        }
    }

    #endregion

    #region Methods

    /// <summary>
    /// Closes the <see cref="SingleInstanceMutex"/>.
    /// </summary>
    public void Close()
    {
        this.ThrowIfDisposed();
        this.singleInstanceMutex.Close();
    }

    public void Dispose()
    {
        this.Dispose(true);
        GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
    }

    private void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        if (!this.disposed)
        {
            /* Release unmanaged ressources */

            if (disposing)
            {
                /* Release managed ressources */
                this.Close();
            }

            this.disposed = true;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Throws an exception if something is tried to be done with an already disposed object.
    /// </summary>
    /// <remarks>
    /// All public methods of the class must first call this.
    /// </remarks>
    public void ThrowIfDisposed()
    {
        if (this.disposed)
        {
            throw new ObjectDisposedException(this.GetType().Name);
        }
    }

    #endregion
}

Answer 14

Update 2017-01-25. After trying few things, I decided to go with VisualBasic.dll it is easier and works better (at least for me). I let my previous answer just as reference...

Just as reference, this is how I did without passing arguments (which I can't find any reason to do so... I mean a single app with arguments that as to be passed out from one instance to another one). If file association is required, then an app should (per users standard expectation) be instanciated for each doc. If you have to pass args to existing app, I think I would used vb dll.

Not passing args (just single instance app), I prefer not registering a new Window message and not override the message loop as defined in Matt Davis Solution. Although it's not a big deal to add a VisualBasic dll, but I prefer not add a new reference just to do single instance app. Also, I do prefer instanciate a new class with Main instead of calling Shutdown from App.Startup override to ensure to exit as soon as possible.

In hope that anybody will like it... or will inspire a little bit :-)

Project startup class should be set as 'SingleInstanceApp'.

public class SingleInstanceApp
{
    [STAThread]
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Mutex _mutexSingleInstance = new Mutex(true, "MonitorMeSingleInstance");

        if (_mutexSingleInstance.WaitOne(TimeSpan.Zero, true))
        {
            try
            {
                var app = new App();
                app.InitializeComponent();
                app.Run();

            }
            finally
            {
                _mutexSingleInstance.ReleaseMutex();
                _mutexSingleInstance.Close();
            }
        }
        else
        {
            MessageBox.Show("One instance is already running.");

            var processes = Process.GetProcessesByName(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetName().Name);
            {
                if (processes.Length > 1)
                {
                    foreach (var process in processes)
                    {
                        if (process.Id != Process.GetCurrentProcess().Id)
                        {
                            WindowHelper.SetForegroundWindow(process.MainWindowHandle);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

WindowHelper:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Interop;
using System.Windows.Threading;

namespace HQ.Util.Unmanaged
{
    public class WindowHelper
    {
        [DllImport("user32.dll")]
        [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
        public static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);

Answer 15

Simply using a StreamWriter, how about this?

System.IO.File.StreamWriter OpenFlag = null;   //globally

and

try
{
    OpenFlag = new StreamWriter(Path.GetTempPath() + "OpenedIfRunning");
}
catch (System.IO.IOException) //file in use
{
    Environment.Exit(0);
}

Answer 16

Not using Mutex though, simple answer:

System.Diagnostics;    
...
string thisprocessname = Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName;

if (Process.GetProcesses().Count(p => p.ProcessName == thisprocessname) > 1)
                return;

Put it inside the Program.Main().
Example:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Diagnostics;

namespace Sample
{
    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            //simple add Diagnostics namespace, and these 3 lines below 
            string thisprocessname = Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName;
            if (Process.GetProcesses().Count(p => p.ProcessName == thisprocessname) > 1)
                return;

            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
            Application.Run(new Sample());
        }
    }
}

You can add MessageBox.Show to the if-statement and put "Application already running".
This might be helpful to someone.

Answer 17

I like a solution to allow multiple Instances, if the exe is called from an other path. I modified CharithJ solution Method 1:

   static class Program {
    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    private static extern bool ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 nCmdShow);
    [DllImport("User32.dll")]
    public static extern Int32 SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
    [STAThread]
    static void Main() {
        Process currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
        foreach (var process in Process.GetProcesses()) {
            try {
                if ((process.Id != currentProcess.Id) && 
                    (process.ProcessName == currentProcess.ProcessName) &&
                    (process.MainModule.FileName == currentProcess.MainModule.FileName)) {
                    ShowWindow(process.MainWindowHandle, 5); // const int SW_SHOW = 5; //Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 
                    SetForegroundWindow(process.MainWindowHandle);
                    return;
                }
            } catch (Exception ex) {
                //ignore Exception "Access denied "
            }
        }

        Application.EnableVisualStyles();
        Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }
}

Answer 18

Here is my 2 cents

 static class Program
    {
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            bool createdNew;
            using (new Mutex(true, "MyApp", out createdNew))
            {
                if (createdNew) {
                    Application.EnableVisualStyles();
                    Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
                    var mainClass = new SynGesturesLogic();
                    Application.ApplicationExit += mainClass.tray_exit;
                    Application.Run();
                }
                else
                {
                    var current = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
                    foreach (var process in Process.GetProcessesByName(current.ProcessName).Where(process => process.Id != current.Id))
                    {
                        NativeMethods.SetForegroundWindow(process.MainWindowHandle);
                        break;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

Answer 19

This is how I ended up taking care of this issue. Note that debug code is still in there for testing. This code is within the OnStartup in the App.xaml.cs file. (WPF)

        // Process already running ? 
        if (Process.GetProcessesByName(Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName).Length > 1)
        {

            // Show your error message
            MessageBox.Show("xxx is already running.  \r\n\r\nIf the original process is hung up you may need to restart your computer, or kill the current xxx process using the task manager.", "xxx is already running!", MessageBoxButton.OK, MessageBoxImage.Exclamation);

            // This process 
            Process currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();

            // Get all processes running on the local computer.
            Process[] localAll = Process.GetProcessesByName(Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName);

            // ID of this process... 
            int temp = currentProcess.Id;
            MessageBox.Show("This Process ID:  " + temp.ToString());

            for (int i = 0; i < localAll.Length; i++)
            {
                // Find the other process 
                if (localAll[i].Id != currentProcess.Id)
                {
                    MessageBox.Show("Original Process ID (Switching to):  " + localAll[i].Id.ToString());

                    // Switch to it... 
                    SetForegroundWindow(localAll[i].MainWindowHandle);

                }
            }

            Application.Current.Shutdown();

        }

This may have issues that I have not caught yet. If I run into any I'll update my answer.

Answer 20

Here's the same thing implemented via Event.

public enum ApplicationSingleInstanceMode
{
    CurrentUserSession,
    AllSessionsOfCurrentUser,
    Pc
}

public class ApplicationSingleInstancePerUser: IDisposable
{
    private readonly EventWaitHandle _event;

    /// <summary>
    /// Shows if the current instance of ghost is the first
    /// </summary>
    public bool FirstInstance { get; private set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes 
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="applicationName">The application name</param>
    /// <param name="mode">The single mode</param>
    public ApplicationSingleInstancePerUser(string applicationName, ApplicationSingleInstanceMode mode = ApplicationSingleInstanceMode.CurrentUserSession)
    {
        string name;
        if (mode == ApplicationSingleInstanceMode.CurrentUserSession)
            name = $"Local\\{applicationName}";
        else if (mode == ApplicationSingleInstanceMode.AllSessionsOfCurrentUser)
            name = $"Global\\{applicationName}{Environment.UserDomainName}";
        else
            name = $"Global\\{applicationName}";

        try
        {
            bool created;
            _event = new EventWaitHandle(false, EventResetMode.ManualReset, name, out created);
            FirstInstance = created;
        }
        catch
        {
        }
    }

    public void Dispose()
    {
        _event.Dispose();
    }
}

Answer 21

Here is a solution:

Protected Overrides Sub OnStartup(e As StartupEventArgs)
    Const appName As String = "TestApp"
    Dim createdNew As Boolean
    _mutex = New Mutex(True, appName, createdNew)
    If Not createdNew Then
        'app is already running! Exiting the application
        MessageBox.Show("Application is already running.")
        Application.Current.Shutdown()
    End If
    MyBase.OnStartup(e)
End Sub

Answer 22

Here is an example that allows you to have a single instance of an application. When any new instances load, they pass their arguments to the main instance that is running.

public partial class App : Application
{
    private static Mutex SingleMutex;
    public static uint MessageId;

    private void Application_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        IntPtr Result;
        IntPtr SendOk;
        Win32.COPYDATASTRUCT CopyData;
        string[] Args;
        IntPtr CopyDataMem;
        bool AllowMultipleInstances = false;

        Args = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();

        // TODO: Replace {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} with your application's GUID
        MessageId   = Win32.RegisterWindowMessage("{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}");
        SingleMutex = new Mutex(false, "AppName");

        if ((AllowMultipleInstances) || (!AllowMultipleInstances && SingleMutex.WaitOne(1, true)))
        {
            new Main();
        }
        else if (Args.Length > 1)
        {
            foreach (Process Proc in Process.GetProcesses())
            {
                SendOk = Win32.SendMessageTimeout(Proc.MainWindowHandle, MessageId, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero,
                    Win32.SendMessageTimeoutFlags.SMTO_BLOCK | Win32.SendMessageTimeoutFlags.SMTO_ABORTIFHUNG,
                    2000, out Result);

                if (SendOk == IntPtr.Zero)
                    continue;
                if ((uint)Result != MessageId)
                    continue;

                CopyDataMem = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(Win32.COPYDATASTRUCT)));

                CopyData.dwData = IntPtr.Zero;
                CopyData.cbData = Args[1].Length*2;
                CopyData.lpData = Marshal.StringToHGlobalUni(Args[1]);

                Marshal.StructureToPtr(CopyData, CopyDataMem, false);

                Win32.SendMessageTimeout(Proc.MainWindowHandle, Win32.WM_COPYDATA, IntPtr.Zero, CopyDataMem,
                    Win32.SendMessageTimeoutFlags.SMTO_BLOCK | Win32.SendMessageTimeoutFlags.SMTO_ABORTIFHUNG,
                    5000, out Result);

                Marshal.FreeHGlobal(CopyData.lpData);
                Marshal.FreeHGlobal(CopyDataMem);
            }

            Shutdown(0);
        }
    }
}

public partial class Main : Window
{
    private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        HwndSource Source;

        Source = HwndSource.FromHwnd(new WindowInteropHelper(this).Handle);
        Source.AddHook(new HwndSourceHook(Window_Proc));
    }

    private IntPtr Window_Proc(IntPtr hWnd, int Msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, ref bool Handled)
    {
        Win32.COPYDATASTRUCT CopyData;
        string Path;

        if (Msg == Win32.WM_COPYDATA)
        {
            CopyData = (Win32.COPYDATASTRUCT)Marshal.PtrToStructure(lParam, typeof(Win32.COPYDATASTRUCT));
            Path = Marshal.PtrToStringUni(CopyData.lpData, CopyData.cbData / 2);

            if (WindowState == WindowState.Minimized)
            {
                // Restore window from tray
            }

            // Do whatever we want with information

            Activate();
            Focus();
        }

        if (Msg == App.MessageId)
        {
            Handled = true;
            return new IntPtr(App.MessageId);
        }

        return IntPtr.Zero;
    }
}

public class Win32
{
    public const uint WM_COPYDATA = 0x004A;

    public struct COPYDATASTRUCT
    {
        public IntPtr dwData;
        public int    cbData;
        public IntPtr lpData;
    }

    [Flags]
    public enum SendMessageTimeoutFlags : uint
    {
        SMTO_NORMAL             = 0x0000,
        SMTO_BLOCK              = 0x0001,
        SMTO_ABORTIFHUNG        = 0x0002,
        SMTO_NOTIMEOUTIFNOTHUNG = 0x0008
    }

    [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError=true, CharSet=CharSet.Auto)]
    public static extern uint RegisterWindowMessage(string lpString);
    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    public static extern IntPtr SendMessageTimeout(
        IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam,
        SendMessageTimeoutFlags fuFlags, uint uTimeout, out IntPtr lpdwResult);
}

Answer 23

The following code is my WCF named pipes solution to register a single-instance application. It's nice because it also raises an event when another instance attempts to start, and receives the command line of the other instance.

It's geared toward WPF because it uses the System.Windows.StartupEventHandler class, but this could be easily modified.

This code requires a reference to PresentationFramework, and System.ServiceModel.

Usage:

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var applicationId = new Guid("b54f7b0d-87f9-4df9-9686-4d8fd76066dc");

        if (SingleInstanceManager.VerifySingleInstance(applicationId))
        {
            SingleInstanceManager.OtherInstanceStarted += OnOtherInstanceStarted;

            // Start the application
        }
    }

    static void OnOtherInstanceStarted(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        // Do something in response to another instance starting up.
    }
}

Source Code:

/// <summary>
/// A class to use for single-instance applications.
/// </summary>
public static class SingleInstanceManager
{
  /// <summary>
  /// Raised when another instance attempts to start up.
  /// </summary>
  public static event StartupEventHandler OtherInstanceStarted;

  /// <summary>
  /// Checks to see if this instance is the first instance running on this machine.  If it is not, this method will
  /// send the main instance this instance's startup information.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="guid">The application's unique identifier.</param>
  /// <returns>True if this instance is the main instance.</returns>
  public static bool VerifySingleInstace(Guid guid)
  {
    if (!AttemptPublishService(guid))
    {
      NotifyMainInstance(guid);

      return false;
    }

    return true;
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Attempts to publish the service.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="guid">The application's unique identifier.</param>
  /// <returns>True if the service was published successfully.</returns>
  private static bool AttemptPublishService(Guid guid)
  {
    try
    {
      ServiceHost serviceHost = new ServiceHost(typeof(SingleInstance));
      NetNamedPipeBinding binding = new NetNamedPipeBinding(NetNamedPipeSecurityMode.None);
      serviceHost.AddServiceEndpoint(typeof(ISingleInstance), binding, CreateAddress(guid));
      serviceHost.Open();

      return true;
    }
    catch
    {
      return false;
    }
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Notifies the main instance that this instance is attempting to start up.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="guid">The application's unique identifier.</param>
  private static void NotifyMainInstance(Guid guid)
  {
    NetNamedPipeBinding binding = new NetNamedPipeBinding(NetNamedPipeSecurityMode.None);
    EndpointAddress remoteAddress = new EndpointAddress(CreateAddress(guid));
    using (ChannelFactory<ISingleInstance> factory = new ChannelFactory<ISingleInstance>(binding, remoteAddress))
    {
      ISingleInstance singleInstance = factory.CreateChannel();
      singleInstance.NotifyMainInstance(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs());
    }
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Creates an address to publish/contact the service at based on a globally unique identifier.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="guid">The identifier for the application.</param>
  /// <returns>The address to publish/contact the service.</returns>
  private static string CreateAddress(Guid guid)
  {
    return string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "net.pipe://localhost/{0}", guid);
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// The interface that describes the single instance service.
  /// </summary>
  [ServiceContract]
  private interface ISingleInstance
  {
    /// <summary>
    /// Notifies the main instance that another instance of the application attempted to start.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="args">The other instance's command-line arguments.</param>
    [OperationContract]
    void NotifyMainInstance(string[] args);
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// The implementation of the single instance service interface.
  /// </summary>
  private class SingleInstance : ISingleInstance
  {
    /// <summary>
    /// Notifies the main instance that another instance of the application attempted to start.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="args">The other instance's command-line arguments.</param>
    public void NotifyMainInstance(string[] args)
    {
      if (OtherInstanceStarted != null)
      {
        Type type = typeof(StartupEventArgs);
        ConstructorInfo constructor = type.GetConstructor(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic, null, Type.EmptyTypes, null);
        StartupEventArgs e = (StartupEventArgs)constructor.Invoke(null);
        FieldInfo argsField = type.GetField("_args", BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
        Debug.Assert(argsField != null);
        argsField.SetValue(e, args);

        OtherInstanceStarted(null, e);
      }
    }
  }
}

Answer 24

Normally, this is the code I use for single-instance Windows Forms applications:

[STAThread]
public static void Main()
{
    String assemblyName = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name;

    using (Mutex mutex = new Mutex(false, assemblyName))
    {
        if (!mutex.WaitOne(0, false))
        {
            Boolean shownProcess = false;
            Process currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();

            foreach (Process process in Process.GetProcessesByName(currentProcess.ProcessName))
            {
                if (!process.Id.Equals(currentProcess.Id) && process.MainModule.FileName.Equals(currentProcess.MainModule.FileName) && !process.MainWindowHandle.Equals(IntPtr.Zero))
                {
                    IntPtr windowHandle = process.MainWindowHandle;

                    if (NativeMethods.IsIconic(windowHandle))
                        NativeMethods.ShowWindow(windowHandle, ShowWindowCommand.Restore);

                    NativeMethods.SetForegroundWindow(windowHandle);

                    shownProcess = true;
                }
            }

            if (!shownProcess)
                MessageBox.Show(String.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "An instance of {0} is already running!", assemblyName), assemblyName, MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Asterisk, MessageBoxDefaultButton.Button1, (MessageBoxOptions)0);
        }
        else
        {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
            Application.Run(new Form());
        }
    }
}

Where native components are:

[DllImport("User32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, ExactSpelling = true, SetLastError = true)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
internal static extern Boolean IsIconic([In] IntPtr windowHandle);

[DllImport("User32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, ExactSpelling = true, SetLastError = true)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
internal static extern Boolean SetForegroundWindow([In] IntPtr windowHandle);

[DllImport("User32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, ExactSpelling = true, SetLastError = true)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
internal static extern Boolean ShowWindow([In] IntPtr windowHandle, [In] ShowWindowCommand command);

public enum ShowWindowCommand : int
{
    Hide                   = 0x0,
    ShowNormal             = 0x1,
    ShowMinimized          = 0x2,
    ShowMaximized          = 0x3,
    ShowNormalNotActive    = 0x4,
    Minimize               = 0x6,
    ShowMinimizedNotActive = 0x7,
    ShowCurrentNotActive   = 0x8,
    Restore                = 0x9,
    ShowDefault            = 0xA,
    ForceMinimize          = 0xB
}

Answer 25

Look at the folllowing code. It is a great and simple solution to prevent multiple instances of a WPF application.

private void Application_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
{
    Process thisProc = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
    if (Process.GetProcessesByName(thisProc.ProcessName).Length > 1)
    {
        MessageBox.Show("Application running");
        Application.Current.Shutdown();
        return;
    }

    var wLogin = new LoginWindow();

    if (wLogin.ShowDialog() == true)
    {
        var wMain = new Main();
        wMain.WindowState = WindowState.Maximized;
        wMain.Show();
    }
    else
    {
        Application.Current.Shutdown();
    }
}

Answer 26

It looks like there is a really good way to handle this:

WPF Single Instance Application

This provides a class you can add that manages all the mutex and messaging cruff to simplify the your implementation to the point where it's simply trivial.

Answer 27

A new one that uses Mutex and IPC stuff, and also passes any command line arguments to the running instance, is WPF Single Instance Application.

Answer 28

You should never use a named mutex to implement a single-instance application (or at least not for production code). Malicious code can easily DoS (Denial of Service) your ass...

Answer 29

This code should go to the main method. Look at here for more information about the main method in WPF.

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern Boolean ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 nCmdShow);

private const int SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED = 3;

static void Main() 
{
    Process currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
    var runningProcess = (from process in Process.GetProcesses()
                          where
                            process.Id != currentProcess.Id &&
                            process.ProcessName.Equals(
                              currentProcess.ProcessName,
                              StringComparison.Ordinal)
                          select process).FirstOrDefault();
    if (runningProcess != null)
    {
        ShowWindow(runningProcess.MainWindowHandle, SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED);
       return; 
    }
}

Method 2

static void Main()
{
    string procName = Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName;
    // get the list of all processes by that name

    Process[] processes=Process.GetProcessesByName(procName);

    if (processes.Length > 1)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(procName + " already running");  
        return;
    } 
    else
    {
        // Application.Run(...);
    }
}

Note : Above methods assumes your process/application has a unique name. Because it uses process name to find if any existing processors. So, if your application has a very common name (ie: Notepad), above approach won't work.

Answer 30

I added a sendMessage Method to the NativeMethods Class.

Apparently the postmessage method dosent work, if the application is not show in the taskbar, however using the sendmessage method solves this.

class NativeMethods
{
    public const int HWND_BROADCAST = 0xffff;
    public static readonly int WM_SHOWME = RegisterWindowMessage("WM_SHOWME");
    [DllImport("user32")]
    public static extern bool PostMessage(IntPtr hwnd, int msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam);
    [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
    public static extern IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int Msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);
    [DllImport("user32")]
    public static extern int RegisterWindowMessage(string message);
}