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Clear the clutter. Keep what matters close.
A visual workspace for Windows, one hotkey away.
Try it:
A grid you arrange the way you think
Your space
Shortcuts, apps, folders, and shell objects on a grid you drag into shape. It stays the way you left it.
Folders
Group things into coloured folders. Drag in a real folder and it is linked, not copied.
Peek
Look inside an image, document, or text file right from the grid, without opening its app.
Around the edges: a per-app volume mixer, power actions that ask before they act, and full keyboard and Xbox controller navigation if you'd rather not touch the mouse.
When you already know what you want
There's the Shelf: a launcher, kept separate on purpose so the grid stays a place you arrange.
Its own hotkey opens it from anywhere. Type a few letters and it finds the app, file, or folder you mean, across your user folders and any drive you add in Settings. Results show up as you type, with no web results mixed in, so Windows Search can stay closed.
It does quick sums and conversions too, and searches Google or Wikipedia when you do want the web.
Dark, light, or Windows XP
Same window, same spot, different theme. All 40 are in the picker below, and this page switches with you.
Dark
Light
Special
Wearing the default.
What Windows already gives you#
Windows already has two places to keep things. This is how they compare.
| Windows desktop | Start menu pins | Alcove | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reach it over open windows | Win + D minimises everything first | Win key, over anything | Your hotkey, and again to hide it |
| Arrange things your way | Anywhere, until something covers it | A fixed grid you can reorder | A grid you drag into shape |
| Group related things | Folders, which move the files | Folders, one level deep | Coloured folders, and real folders linked, not copied |
| Find something by typing | Not really | Start search, mixed in with web results | The Shelf: apps, files, and folders as you type |
| Look inside a file | Open it | Open it | Peek, without opening the app |
| Back up the layout | Copy the files by hand | Windows Backup, with a Microsoft account | One .alcove-backup file, no account |
Yours, privately
Your workspace stays on your machine. No account, no telemetry, no analytics, no crash reporting. It lives in%APPDATA%\Alcove\ as plain JSON and copied files.
Back it up to a single .alcove-backup file and restore it whenever. Searches you run, currency rates, and a quick update check at launch are the only things that touch the network. The details are in the Privacy Policy.
%APPDATA%\Alcove\
- shortcuts\
- icons\
- settings.json
- positions.json
- folder_colors.json
Questions#
Alcove is built by one person. Questions, bugs, and feature requests all land in the same inbox: iamincontrol.dev@gmail.com
About Alcove
A visual workspace for Windows. You arrange shortcuts, folders, apps, and tools on a grid, then bring it up with a hotkey from anywhere.
Yes. It's a personal project and it's free for personal or internal business use. See the Terms of Use for the details. If you'd like to support development, there's a Ko-fi page - entirely optional.
Your workspace stays on your machine. There is no account, no telemetry, and no analytics. It lives in %APPDATA%\Alcove\ as plain JSON and copied files. The few times Alcove goes online are listed in the Privacy Policy.
Yes. An Xbox controller, or anything Windows sees as one, gets you around the grid, the Shelf, Peek, and Settings. A layout guide shows the buttons when you connect it, and you can remap them in Settings > Behavior > Controller. PlayStation controllers work through Steam Input or DS4Windows.
Alcove is built on Windows Shell APIs. The workspace, the linked folders, the icon extraction, the hotkeys - all of it is Windows-specific. That is where it lives.
Click "Download for Windows" on the home page to get the latest installer - you'll be taken to a short install guide while the file downloads. Current builds are not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may warn you; choose "More info" and "Run anyway" if you trust the download. Step-by-step instructions are on the Install page.
Yes. Settings > Backup & restore exports your whole workspace to a single .alcove-backup file. Importing replaces your current workspace, so only import archives you trust.
Troubleshooting
Everything is under %APPDATA%\Alcove\. Paste that into File Explorer to open it, or use the link in Settings > About.
Settings > Backup & restore. Export to a .alcove-backup file wherever you choose. Importing replaces your current workspace and asks you to confirm first.
Current builds are not code-signed. SmartScreen warns about unsigned installers generally. It is a signing gap, not a sign that anything is wrong with the file.
On the Changelog page, or inside the app under Settings > About > "What's new".
This is what yours looks like on day one. Drag your shortcuts in.
Free for personal use. No account. See what's new