[wpf] How to make overlay control above all other controls?

I need to make a control appear above all other controls, so it will partially overlay them.

This is a common function of Adorners in WPF. Adorners typically appear above all other controls, but the other answers that mention z-order may fit your case better.

Put the control you want to bring to front at the end of your xaml code. I.e.

<Grid>
  <TabControl ...>
  </TabControl>
  <Button Content="ALways on top of TabControl Button"/>
</Grid>

Robert Rossney has a good solution. Here's an alternative solution I've used in the past that separates out the "Overlay" from the rest of the content. This solution takes advantage of the attached property Panel.ZIndex to place the "Overlay" on top of everything else. You can either set the Visibility of the "Overlay" in code or use a DataTrigger.

<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">

 <Grid x:Name="Overlay" Panel.ZIndex="1000" Visibility="Collapsed">
    <Grid.Background>
      <SolidColorBrush Color="Black" Opacity=".5"/>
    </Grid.Background>

    <!-- Add controls as needed -->
  </Grid>

  <!-- Use whatever layout you need -->
  <ContentControl x:Name="MainContent" />

</Grid>

<Canvas Panel.ZIndex="1" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="570">
  <!-- YOUR XAML CODE -->
</Canvas>

Controls in the same cell of a Grid are rendered back-to-front. So a simple way to put one control on top of another is to put it in the same cell.

Here's a useful example, which pops up a panel that disables everything in the view (i.e. the user control) with a busy message while a long-running task is executed (i.e. while the BusyMessage bound property isn't null):

<Grid>

    <local:MyUserControl DataContext="{Binding}"/>

    <Grid>
        <Grid.Style>
            <Style TargetType="Grid">
                <Setter Property="Visibility"
                        Value="Visible" />
                <Style.Triggers>
                    <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding BusyMessage}"
                                 Value="{x:Null}">
                        <Setter Property="Visibility"
                                Value="Collapsed" />
                    </DataTrigger>

                </Style.Triggers>
            </Style>
        </Grid.Style>
        <Border HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
                VerticalAlignment="Stretch"
                Background="DarkGray"
                Opacity=".7" />
        <Border HorizontalAlignment="Center"
                VerticalAlignment="Center"
                Background="White"
                Padding="20"
                BorderBrush="Orange"
                BorderThickness="4">
            <TextBlock Text="{Binding BusyMessage}" />
        </Border>
    </Grid>
</Grid>