WinManager is a utility which brings easier application and windows management to Microsoft Windows. WinManager enables efficient applications and windows switching and closing functionality that is optimized for the keyboard only and screen reader users. You will find the benefit of WinManager especially if you are running many applications and their open windows at the same time.
The benefit of WinManager can be best demonstrated on specific example of its usage. Let's assume you have open two Microsoft Word documents, four windows in the Microsoft Edge web browser, three File Explorer windows, and a Microsoft Outlook window with the inbox folder.
Let's say you want to switch to or close certain window in Microsoft Edge where you searched something using Google:
- Press Windows + F12, or Windows + Shift + A, to invoke WinManager. A list of four running applications mentioned above will be displayed.
- Arrow down to the "Microsoft Edge" application, or simply just type "edge" to filter the list of applications.
- Press the Right arrow key to show all windows for Microsoft Edge.
- Arrow down to the desired Google search window, or narrow down the windows list just by typing "google".
- Press Enter when on the desired window to switch to it, or press Delete to close it.
Let's say you want to quit Microsoft Edge with all its windows so that it asks for restoring all the windows next time you start it:
- Press Windows + F12, or Windows + Shift + A, to invoke WinManager. A list of four running applications mentioned above will be displayed.
- Arrow down to the "Microsoft Edge" application, or simply just type "edge" to filter the list of applications.
- Press Shift + Delete to force quit Microsoft Edge, which makes it ask you for restoring its windows next time you start it.
Let's say you are in File Explorer, and want to switch or close its another "Downloads" window that you used a long time ago:
- Press Windows + F11, or Windows + Shift + Q, to invoke WinManager. A list of open windows only for the application in foreground will be displayed, that is, for File Explorer.
- Arrow down to the "Downloads" window, or simply just type "down" to filter the list of windows.
- Press Enter when on the "Downloads" window to switch to it, or press Delete to close it.
The complete changelog can be found here.
After starting, WinManager notifies the user it has been started and then runs in background until its functionality is invoked using the corresponding keyboard shortcuts, which are global, that is, the shortcuts work no matter which application or window is currently in the foreground. The user can invoke the following lists:
- List of running applications and their open windows.
- List of open windows only for the application in the foreground.
After pressing Windows + F12, or Windows + Shift + A, the user can invoke a list of currently running applications, ordered by the most recently used application first. The list can be operated using the following keys:
- Down or Up arrow: Navigates to the next or previous item in the list.
- Right arrow: When an application is selected, navigates to the list of open windows only for that selected application.
- Left arrow: When a window is selected, navigates back to the list of running applications.
- Enter: When an application is selected, switches to that application's most recently used window. If a window is selected, switches to that window. Then hides WinSwitcher.
- Delete: When an application is selected, quits that application. If a window is selected, closes that window. TO force quit an application, press Shift + Delete. Note that force quitting an application may cause unsaved work to be lost, whereas application quitting or window closing may fail and require you to save work before closing.
- Escape: Hides WinManager.
- Alt + F4: Exits WinManager, so it no longer runs in background. WinManager notifies the user it is exiting.
After pressing Windows + F11, or Windows + Shift + Q, the user can invoke a list of open windows only for the application in the foreground, ordered by the most recently used window first. The list can be operated using the following keys:
- Down or Up arrow: Navigates to the next or previous window in the list.
- Enter: When a window is selected, switches to that window. Then hides WinSwitcher.
- Delete: When a window is selected, closes that window. Note that window closing may fail and require you to save work before closing.
- Escape: Hides WinManager.
- Alt + F4: Exits WinManager, so it no longer runs in background. WinManager notifies the user it is exiting.
The WinManager settings can be accessed by the "Settings and more" button which can be navigated to using Tab or Shift + Tab on the main WinManager window.
After WinManager is launched, it registers itself so that it will be automatically launched every time you log in to Microsoft Windows. This auto launch behavior can be disabled in WinManager settings dialog. Automatic check for update can be also disabled here.
To make the finding of the desired application or window faster, the list of applications or windows supports filter by typing feature, which means that whenever the list is focused, typing characters immediately filters the list, displaying only the applications or windows whose titles contain the typed characters. The filtering is not case sensitive.
The filter can be reset and the original unfiltered list of applications or windows displayed back again by pressing Backspace.
The WinManager settings dialog allows you to configure the global keyboard shortcuts for invoking WinManager. More than one shortcut can be enabled at the same time, so that the chance of conflicting with another program is minimized.
For invoking the list of running applications, you can choose from the following shortcuts:
- Windows + F12 (checked by default).
- Windows + Shift + A (checked by default).
For invoking the list of open windows for the application in the foreground, you can choose from the following shortcuts:
- Windows + F11 (checked by default).
- Windows + Shift + Q (checked by default).
Note that Windows Defender security software may prevent both the WinManager installer and portable version from starting. If blocked by Windows Defender, visit the "More info" link which should be available on the page displayed to you, and then press the "Run anyway" button.
Below, you can download the installer for WinManager. The installer creates a Desktop shortcut.
Download WinManager installer for Windows.
WinManager is also available as a portable executable not requiring installation. Download the ZIP archive from the link below, extract it to a location of your choice and run it by executing the WinManager.exe file.
Download WinManager portable for Windows.
WinManager is a free and open-source software developed in C# as a WPF application using the .NET 8.0 framework. You can find all the necessary source files in the WinManager folder of this repo.
- Occasionally, after an attempt to switch to a window, the focus is not properly placed to that window. What may help in this condition is pressing Alt + Tab and then Alt + Shift + Tab.
If you have suggestions for WinManager improvement, problems with its functionality or other comments, you can drop me an email to [email protected]
WinManager is available under the MIT license.
Copyright (c) 2024 Adam Samec
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.