TAN Window Manager

When working with multiple screens you'll often find that windows don't stay where you put them when you move between monitor changes or even awaking from sleep. This small program allows you to save the location and size of selected windows so you can easily restore their location later.

Getting Started

Run the Pre-Built Binary (recommended)

1. In the Releases section in the right-hand sidebar, click the latest version and from there download TANWindowMgr.exe to some place on your computer. There is no 'installation', it's just a standalone executable.
2. Note: The Settings.ini will be created in the same directory as TANWindowMgr.exe. If you move the .exe file, move the Settings.ini file with it.
3. Optional: If you want the program to run each time your computer starts you can place a shortcut to the program in your startup folder.
4. Open all the programs you want to save and place them where you want.
5. Right-click the TAN Window Manager icon that will be in your tray and click 'Manage Profiles'.
6. In the popup check the windows you want to save and click 'Save'. You can create additional profiles to save multiple layouts.
7. Use the 'Load Profile:' options in the tray menu to magically move your saved windows back to where you placed them.

Or... Build it Yourself

1. Download Visual Studio Community 2019 from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/
2. During install, select at least the .NET desktop development tools.
3. Open the TANWindowMgr\TANWindowMgr.sln
4. Build | Build Solution or Ctrl+Shift+B
5. The .exe file will be created in the folder TANWindowMgr\TANWindowMgr\bin\Debug\TANWindowMgr.exe
6. Run as described in the prior section.

Command Line Arguments

-saveall Save all open windows to the configuration file under the Default profile.
-restore Restore layout for the Default profile from the configuration file.
-restore=<Name> Restore layout for the <Name> profile from the configuration file. Use quotes if the profile name has spaces or special characters.
-autoexit Don't keep TANWindowManager active in the tray. Useful with the above switches.

Examples

TANWindowMgr.exe -saveall -autoexit
TANWindowMgr.exe -restore -autoexit
TANWindowMgr.exe -restore="My Home Layout" -autoexit

Known Limitations

1. Does not reliably handle situations where you have multiple instances of the same program open.
2. Is not compatible with Windows UWP/Metro apps (e.g. Sticky Notes, Calculator).

Author

Todd Nelson
[email protected]
https://toddnelson.net