Support

Where your files live, answers to the questions that come up most, and how to report something that is broken.

The fastest way to get help is to email iamincontrol.dev@gmail.com, or to open an issue at https://github.com/IAmInControlll/alcove-web/issues. Issues are public, so use email for anything private.

Alcove is a personal project, so replies are best-effort rather than same-day.

Where your files are

Everything Alcove stores is under one folder:

%APPDATA%\Alcove\
├── shortcuts\   copies of the shortcuts you added
├── icons\       cached icons
├── settings.json
├── positions.json
├── folder_colors.json
├── launch_stats.json
├── search_history.json
└── exchange_rates.json

Paste %APPDATA%\Alcove into the address bar in File Explorer to open it, or use the link in Settings > About.

Reporting a problem

The more of this you can include, the faster something gets fixed:

What you expected, and what happened instead.
The exact steps that trigger it, ideally from a fresh launch of the app.
Your Alcove version, from Settings > About.
Your Windows version, from winver.
Whether the problem survives a restart of the app, and whether it survives Settings > About > “Reset settings”.

If a specific shortcut misbehaves, say what kind it is: a .lnk, a .url, an .exe, a linked external folder, or a Windows shell object such as Recycle Bin.

Common questions

Windows warned me about the installer

Current builds are not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show a “Windows protected your PC” prompt, and some antivirus engines occasionally flag an unsigned installer on heuristics alone. Choose “More info” and then “Run anyway” if you are confident the download came from a source you trust. This is a signing gap, not a sign that anything is wrong with the file, and it is on the list to fix.

There are two installers. Which one do I want?

The .exe (NSIS) installer is the one to use for a normal install. It installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Alcove for your user account and needs no administrator rights.

The .msi (WiX) installer is the enterprise option. It always installs for all users, to C:\Program Files\Alcove, and needs administrator rights.

I deleted a shortcut from the grid. Did I delete the real file?

No. Alcove works on its own copy inside shortcuts\, so deleting from the grid removes that copy and leaves the original where it was.

Linked external folders work the same way in spirit: dragging a folder in creates a Windows junction, and deleting it removes only the junction. The real folder and everything inside it is untouched.

My global hotkey does nothing

Global hotkeys are exclusive: whichever application registers a combination first owns it, and everything else silently misses out. Ctrl+Space in particular is claimed by some IMEs and by a few IDEs.

Open Settings, record a different combination for the workspace, Peek, or Command Palette hotkey, and check that it is not already in use by something running at startup.

An icon is missing or looks wrong

Icons are extracted once and then cached. If a program updates and changes its icon, or extraction failed the first time, the stale one sticks around. Settings > About > “Clear cache” empties the cache, and icons are re-extracted the next time the folder is opened.

A restored shortcut does not open anything

A backup stores your shortcuts, not the programs they point at. If a program has been uninstalled since the backup was made, or you restored onto a different machine where it was never installed, the shortcut comes back with nothing to launch. Linked folders that cannot be found are listed for you after a restore.

Where do I find the changelog?

Settings > About > “What’s new”, inside the app.

Backing up your workspace

Settings > Backup & restore exports your whole workspace - settings, layout, folder colours, shortcuts, launch statistics, and search history - to a single .alcove-backup file wherever you choose to put it. It is worth doing before a big rearrange, before resetting settings, or before reinstalling Windows.

Importing replaces your current workspace entirely, and asks you to confirm before it does. If the restore fails part way, your existing workspace is left as it was.

Two cautions. A backup file contains your search history and the real paths of your linked folders, so treat it as personal. And only import archives you trust, since a backup can hold any kind of file, including programs, which become launchable shortcuts once restored.

Uninstalling

Uninstall from Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps, or from the Start menu entry.

The .exe (NSIS) installer cleans up after itself: it restores your desktop icons if Alcove hid them, removes the auto-start entry, and offers to delete your Alcove data folder. Decline that last prompt if you want to keep your workspace for a future reinstall. To remove it later by hand, delete %APPDATA%\Alcove\.

The .msi (WiX) installer does not include cleanup hooks. If you uninstall via MSI, you’ll need to restore desktop icons and remove the Startup shortcut manually.

Backup files you exported are never touched by the uninstaller. Delete those yourself.

Privacy and terms

See the Privacy Policy for what is stored and what leaves your device, and the Terms of Use for the licence the app is provided under.