SetWindowsHookEx in C#

SetWindowsHookEx specifies the last two parameters thusly:

  • hMod

[in] Handle to the DLL containing the hook procedure pointed to by the lpfn parameter. The hMod parameter must be set to NULL if the dwThreadId parameter specifies a thread created by the current process and if the hook procedure is within the code associated with the current process.

  • dwThreadId

[in] Specifies the identifier of the thread with which the hook procedure is to be associated. If this parameter is zero, the hook procedure is associated with all existing threads running in the same desktop as the calling thread.

I'm not sure you can use a .NET dll in the manner required, but you can certainly try.

Grab hMod via Marshal.GetHINSTANCE(typeof(Form1).Module) and dwThreadId via Process.Threads. Alternatively, set dwThreadId to 0 if you want a global hook (ie. a hook for all GetMessage() calls in the current desktop) but beware of the performance penalties.


The following suggests this won't work:

"Global hooks are not supported in the .NET Framework. Except for the WH_KEYBOARD_LL low-level hook and the WH_MOUSE_LL low-level hook, you cannot implement global hooks in the Microsoft .NET Framework."

From "How to set a Windows hook in Visual C# .NET"


I believe you need to P/Invoke GetModuleHandle and use the handle it returns for the third parameter of SetWindowsHookEx. I also believe 0 is correct for the fourth parameter, as you don't want to hook any one specific thread in the third-party application.

If this doesn't work for you, SetWindowsHookEx on MSDN might point you in the right direction.