A quiet Windows tray app that puts OBS, Discord, browsers, and streaming tools back exactly where they belong.
Streaming and gaming setups usually need the same windows in the same places: OBS on one side, Discord on another, a browser where chat or dashboards live, and everything ready after a reboot. Windows can remember some things, but tray apps, delayed startup windows, monitor offsets, and Show Desktop can still scramble a setup.
WindowAutoLayout saves workspace profiles and restores them from the app, tray menu, startup, or a hotkey. It is built for the everyday Windows workflow where pressing one button should bring the setup back, whether the apps are already open, minimized, hidden in the tray, or fully closed.
- Saves app layouts per monitor using monitor-relative coordinates.
- Captures the visible windows on a selected monitor into the active profile.
- Detects top-level windows with title, class name, process name, PID, bounds, visibility, minimized state, and executable path when Windows exposes it.
- Restores a profile by launching missing apps, waiting for real matching windows, then moving and resizing them with Win32 APIs.
- Pulls minimized and hidden tray windows forward before treating an app as missing.
- Handles OBS in the tray by asking OBS through its tray icon path, then waiting for the real OBS window to repaint before applying the saved layout.
- Keeps a selected profile locked while the lock is on, so Show Desktop, accidental minimize, and accidental moves get snapped back.
- Supports editable app presets, multiple profiles, startup restore, tray restore, logs, JSON import/export, and a global hotkey.
- Stores config and logs locally. No telemetry, accounts, analytics, or background network calls.
Grab the newest build from GitHub Releases.
Each tagged release publishes:
| Asset | Use |
|---|---|
WindowAutoLayout_<version>_x64-setup.exe |
Recommended Windows installer |
WindowAutoLayout_<version>_x64_en-US.msi |
MSI installer |
.sha256 files |
Checksums for verifying downloaded installers |
After install, WindowAutoLayout lives under the current Windows user profile and can register startup restore through the current user's HKCU Run key.
- Install the latest release.
- Open WindowAutoLayout.
- Pick the default monitor in Settings, or choose a target monitor on a profile.
- Open and arrange the apps you want in the profile.
- On Dashboard, pick the capture monitor and press Capture current layout.
- Fine-tune app matching on Apps or individual windows on Layout if needed.
- Press Restore from Dashboard, the tray menu, startup restore, or
Ctrl+Alt+L.
For a complete setup walkthrough, see docs/usage.md.
OBS can stay running in the system tray with Replay Buffer on. For the OBS app entry, keep these enabled:
Pull hidden/tray windowsWake running tray apps
When OBS is fully hidden in the tray, Windows may report no normal main window. WindowAutoLayout handles that by sending OBS the same tray activation path a manual tray click uses, waiting for OBS to show and repaint, then moving it into the saved layout. That avoids starting a duplicate OBS process and avoids moving the window while OBS is still a blank shell.
More details and recovery checks are in docs/troubleshooting.md.
The lock button watches the selected profile and only runs a full restore when one of its managed windows changes position, visibility, minimized state, or disappears. It is meant for live setups where the layout should recover after Show Desktop, accidental minimize, dragging, or another app stealing placement without burning CPU while everything is already stable. The lock interval is clamped to a low-impact range, and fullscreen non-profile apps get a longer pause so games are not polled hard.
Startup restore uses:
"<installed WindowAutoLayout.exe>" --startup-restore
The app can start minimized to tray, wait for configured startup delay seconds, restore the default startup profile, launch missing apps, then keep the layout locked if that option is enabled.
WindowAutoLayout decides whether a window belongs to an app entry using:
- process name, such as
obs64.exeorDiscord.exe - executable path when Windows exposes it
- optional title rule
- optional class name rule
- title visibility rules
- hidden/minimized settings
- whether the app was just launched by restore
Useful notes:
- OBS may take longer while plugins and docks load.
- Discord uses multiple Electron processes and may appear late.
- Steam can show update or login windows before the main window.
- Browser titles change with tabs.
- Elevated apps may block moves from a normal, non-elevated WindowAutoLayout process.
Requirements:
- Windows 11
- Node.js 20 or newer
- Rust stable with the MSVC toolchain
- Microsoft WebView2 Runtime
npm ci
npm run check
cd src-tauri
cargo fmt --check
cargo check
cargo test
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
cd ..
npm audit --audit-level=moderate
npm run desktop:buildDevelopment:
npm run desktop:devInstall or update this PC from the newest local bundle:
npm run desktop:installThe install helper rebuilds when needed, runs the newest WindowAutoLayout installer, verifies the Windows uninstall entry, finds the installed exe, records the installer hash, and can smoke-launch the installed app.
src/ React UI
src-tauri/src/ Rust backend and Win32 restore logic
examples/ Sample config
docs/ Usage, testing, troubleshooting, and release docs
.github/workflows/ Windows build and release automation
scripts/ Local install/update helper
Every version tag matching v* builds the Windows bundles and publishes installer assets to GitHub Releases.
git tag v0.1.18
git push origin main
git push origin v0.1.18The workflow validates that the tag matches package.json, runs TypeScript, frontend audit, and Rust checks, builds the Tauri bundle, generates checksums, uploads CI artifacts, and publishes the release.
License terms have not been finalized yet. Do not redistribute compiled releases or source archives until a license is selected.