A view controller, such as a scroll bar, for a first application which is currently displayed within an inactive window is detached and remotely displayed within an active window in addition to the view controller associated with the content of that active window. A Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) link is then established between the remotely displayed view controller and the first application such that user inputs to the remotely displayed view controller can be utilized to modify the display of the first application without requiring the user to activate the inactive window. In this manner data within the first application can be scrolled and visually accessed by the user while the user is working within an active window, without requiring the user to toggle the focus back and forth between two windows.