Mr Window Manager

Created on Thursday, November 4, 2010.
Filed under Software, UI Helpers.
 

Makes dealing with multiple windows easy by allowing you to assign a window to a Numpad key, and then automatically minimise/restore the window by pressing that key.

 

What does it do?

Do you work with a lot of windows open like I do? It gets rather annoying after a while, moving windows around, minimising them, trying to find a bit of free space. Mr Window Manager can help you.

Mr Window Manager uses your Numpad while Numlock is off to link any open window to any of the ten numbered Numpad keys. Then, pressing a numbered key will instantly Minimise or Restore the window that key is linked to. Use the heretofore-ignored powah of your Numpad to shuffle multiple windows more efficiently!

Compatibility

  • Windows XP/Vista/7. Earlier Windows versions should be compatible, but are not supported.

Features

  • Mr Window Manager only applies when Numlock is off, so you can still use your Numpad for number-type activities by turning Numlock back on.
  • Press the Windows key and any numbered Numpad key from 0-9 to link a window to that Numpad key.
  • Press a Numpad key to toggle minimised and restored states for the window it’s linked to.
  • Press Numpad Del to display a list of the windows Mr Window Manager is remembering.
  • Press the Windows key and NumpadDel three times in a row to clear the memorised windows.
  • Run from a compiled .exe, or download Autohotkey and run the included source if you’re worried about malware.

Notes and Caveats

Some windows, instead of minimising to the taskbar properly, will shrink themselves down into the corner of the screen, almost like in Cascading Window display mode. This is behaviour peculiar to that program, and not something Mr. Window Manager has control over. The same behaviour happens if you try to use Win+Down to minimise that window.

For windows such as those it did work to force Minimising through PostMessage, but it made them impossible for the script to Restore again by any means other than clicking on them directly. Therefore I have stuck with the method which delivers better compatibility.

Changelog

v2b: Added a custom icon to the .exe only (stock icon from Windows 7). Unfortunately cannot add it to the source .ahk. Makes it easier to spot Mr Window Manager when running other Autohotkey scripts (all AHK scripts have the same default icon, so when trying to close scripts aside from Mr Window Manager you used to have to hover over each one and read the tooltip to make sure).

v2: Changed the method of remembering windows so that even if the window title changed (like when changing tabs in Firefox or reading a new email) Mr Window Manager would still be able to Minimise/Restore the window. Also increased the length of the Window Title being listed when pressing NumpadDel, from 15 characters up to 23.

v1.1: Changed the method of Restoring windows to ensure the Restored window is in focus.

v1: Initial release.

Let me at it!

Download Mr Window Manager v2b

That's all there is, there isn't any more.
© Desi Quintans, 2002 – 2022.