Manage Desktop Windows with Windows Layout Manager

Looking for the ultimate desktop windows management program? There are a lot of programs out there that let you position windows precisely on your screen, especially if you have multiple monitors.

Windows Layout Manager is a free program written by a guy who has 9 monitors all connected together!

What exactly does this program allow you to do? Basically, it lets you position and scale multiple windows on multiple monitors easily. It is also probably the most complicated program out of all desktop management programs because it has a slew of features and options.

In order to use the program, you have to grasp a few key concepts that the author created in order for the program to work effectively. In the program, there are three concepts that make up the program: Window Definitions, Layout Definitions, and Hotkeys.

Window Definitions – Basically, a window definition is a collection of properties and actions that allow the program to automatically recognize a windows on the desktop. It also lets the program apply specific actions to the window (like offset, minimize, maximize, move, etc).

Layout Definitions – In the simplest terms, layout definitions are a collections of window definitions. More deeply, it controls the behavior of the layout and its windows.

Hotkeys – There are a couple of different types of hotkeys in the program. Application hotkeys lets you hide/unhide the application or print up the active window context menu.

Layout hotkeys allow you to apply a layout by hitting the key combo. And Window hotkeys allow you to apply desired actions to windows that match the definition. Windows hotkeys can apply to a single window or to a collection of windows.

The first thing you want to do is to create a new layout using the Layout Manager. From the menu, click Layout and then click Add.

The above image has several layouts already created, but yours will be empty. On the Layout Editor screen that pops up, click the Capture button. Make sure that you have several windows open on your desktop at this point.

At this point, the list on the right hand side will begin to be populated with all the current open windows. Give your new layout a name and click OK. It will now be added to the collection of layouts.

Now test out the program by moving some or all of the windows that were captured on your desktop to new positions. Also resize some of them so they are different from what they were before the capture.

Now select the layout in the list and choose Layout and then Apply. You can also edit a window definition by first double-clicking on a layout and then double-clicking on one of the window definitions in the list above.

Here you can assign a hotkey and fine-tune the settings for finding the matching window. You can also apply actions and reposition or resize the windows.

But that’s not all the options! If you go back to the main Layout Manager screen and click on Options, you can choose Configuration.

Here you can exclude certain processes if you do not want specific windows to show up in the list of window definitions. You can also choose which types of windows should be automatically detected. You can also setup the hotkey for the popup menu and the system tray icon.

Overall, it takes a little bit of time to learn, but it’s the best window management program for Windows ever! If you have more than one monitor and especially more than two monitors, this program will save you a lot of time! Enjoy!