A lightweight Windows desktop utility for organizing shortcuts to programs, files, and folders in a tabbed grid interface. Built with VB.NET and Windows Forms (.NET 8). Desktop Folders can be created and loaded into the grid, and then the hidden file attribute set to hide so they no longer appear on the desktop. This is provided as an extended feature to clean up the desktop by providing a secondary way to store files, folders, and links that may otherwise appear on the desktop. Also note that this is a roll-up form by double clicking on the header.
- Tabbed grid layout - 9 tabs with 4x4 grids (144 shortcut slots) plus an All Links management tab
- Drag and drop - Drop files and folders from Explorer onto any grid cell
- Icon rearrangement - Drag icons between cells to swap positions
- File and folder support - Shortcuts to both files and folders with proper Windows icons
- Launch on double-click - Open any shortcut directly from the grid or the All Links list
- Icon notes - Attach a free-text note to any shortcut via right-click; a green ✓ badge appears on the icon when a note exists; notes are saved to XML and visible in the All Links tab
- Tab renaming - Customize all 8 tab names from the management tab with live preview
- Hide/unhide desktop folders - Toggle the Windows Hidden attribute on desktop folders via right-click
- Dark / light mode - Switch themes from the management tab; preference is persisted
- Roll-up - Double-click the title bar to collapse the window to just the title bar
- Automatic XML backups - On every launch, both data files are backed up to a
BACKUP-XMLsubfolder; the last 10 backups per file are retained - Portable - All settings stored next to the executable; copy the folder for independent instances
- Windows 10/11
- .NET 8.0 SDK or Runtime
dotnet build
dotnet run
- Drag files or folders from Windows Explorer onto any cell in Tabs 1-8 or the eMails tab.
- Double-click an icon to launch it.
- Drag icons between cells to rearrange.
- Right-click an icon for options (Open Containing Folder, Edit Note, Hide Folder, Remove).
- Use the All Links tab to rename tabs, toggle dark mode, and view all shortcuts with their notes in a list.
For detailed feature documentation, see Help.md.
All data is stored in the application directory (portable, no registry or AppData):
| File | Contents |
|---|---|
ProgramManagerLayout.xml |
Shortcut positions, tab names, icon notes, dark mode preference |
ProgramManagerSettings.xml |
Window size, position, and state |
BACKUP-XML/ |
Timestamped backups of both XML files (last 10 per file) |
Note: The XML data files and
BACKUP-XML/folder are excluded from source control via.gitignoresince they contain local file paths.
Copy the entire application folder to a new location to run independent instances. Each copy maintains its own settings and shortcuts.
- Added a 9th icon grid tab titled "eMails" (renameable via All Links settings panel), increasing total shortcut slots to 144
- Icons with a note now display a green ✓ badge in the top-right corner of the icon
- Added per-icon note field, editable via right-click "Edit Note..." dialog; notes saved in XML and shown in the All Links tab
- Added automatic XML backups to
BACKUP-XML/on every launch (last 10 kept per file) - Excluded runtime data files from source control via
.gitignore
For the full changelog, see ChangeLog.md.