Launcher – User Manual

Table of Contents

1. What is the Launcher?
2. Installation
3. Getting Started
4. Adding Icons
5. Managing Icons
6. Layout and Size
7. Multiple Pages (Banks)
8. Window Behavior
9. Special Icons
10. Skins and Appearance
11. Transparency
12. Hotkeys
13. Sounds
14. FritzBox Integration
15. Popups
16. Network Features
17. Saving Changes
18. Updates
19. Multi-Language Support
20. Tips and Tricks
21. Security Notes

What is the Launcher?

The Launcher is a lightweight, portable quick-launch toolbar for Windows. It holds programs, files, folders, and websites and opens them with a single mouse click. The program runs directly from its own folder – no installation, no registry entries.

Highlights at a glance:

• Small, fast, resource-efficient
• Portable – runs from a USB stick, no installation required
• Custom background (skin support, including drag & drop from the browser)
• Infinitely scalable with impressive image quality (GR32 rendering)
• Multiple pages (banks) for any number of icon groups
• Docking to all screen edges, AutoHide, adjustable transparency
• Extensive special icons: analog clock, weather, countdown timer, battery indicator, GPU temperature, and more
• FritzBox integration: incoming and outgoing calls as a popup
• Clippings: 10-slot clipboard manager
• Localized in 23 languages

Installation

Via Setup Program (recommended)

Run LauncherSetup.exe and follow the instructions. The setup stores program files and user data separately, so the Launcher works correctly even in protected system paths.

Via ZIP Archive (portable)

Extract Launcher.zip into a folder where you have write permissions – e.g. C:\Users\YourName\Launcher\ or directly onto a USB stick. Start Launcher.exe – that's it. All files relevant to the Launcher remain in this folder.

Do not extract into C:\Program Files\, as Windows restricts write permissions there and the Launcher would be unable to save its configuration files.

To remove the Launcher, simply delete the entire folder. No traces are left on the system.

Note for Users of Versions Prior to 4.25

From version 4.25 onwards, the icon list is no longer stored as IconList.txt but in INI format as IconList.ini. On the first launch after an update, the conversion happens automatically – the existing IconList.txt is read and replaced by IconList.ini. No manual action is required.

Tip (portable use): On a USB stick, the Launcher works with relative paths. Instead of C:\Programs\Tool\tool.exe, simply use ../Tool/tool.exe. If a target is not found, the Launcher automatically makes a second attempt using its own drive letter.

Getting Started

After the first launch, you will see a window with a toggle button (») and 2 rows of 8 empty buttons each. Open the menu with a right-click on any empty or occupied button – not on the » button itself.

The context menu adapts to the button you clicked:

• Right-click on an occupied button → shows the icon submenu: Icon → Delete Button, Icon → Properties, Icon → Original Icon, Icon → Save as PNG
• Right-click on an empty button → shows the Special Icons submenu (clock, weather, timer …)
• Always visible below: Settings, Undo, Save Changes, Help, Exit

Adding Icons

Drag & Drop

The easiest method: drag files, folders, shortcuts (.lnk), or even URLs directly from the browser onto an empty button slot.

• .lnk files (shortcuts): The Launcher automatically resolves them and stores the path to the target file.
• Multiple files at once: Currently only the first file is accepted.
• Windows 10/11 Start Menu: Icons from the Start Menu can be added via drag & drop.

Properties Dialog

Right-click on an occupied button → Properties opens the properties dialog. All fields are entered individually – no manual editing of configuration files is required.

Click Save after filling in the fields – changes take effect immediately.

Tip: When the Run as Administrator option is active for a button, the Launcher displays a small UAC shield symbol on the button icon – a quick visual indicator that this button requests elevated privileges.

Managing Icons

Moving an Icon

Simply drag an icon to another button slot. If the target slot is empty, the icon is moved; if it is occupied, the two icons swap places.

Changing an Icon's Graphic

Hold Ctrl and drag an image file onto the button. This replaces only the image – the linked program remains unchanged. This way icons can be replaced with nicer ones. Accepted sources:

• Local files: .ico, .exe, .dll, .png, .jpg, and more
• Images directly from the browser via drag & drop (HTTP download)

For those who want to try it straight away – these sites are well suited for direct experimentation: open the page, click an icon, and drag it onto the button:

• iconarchive.com – large selection of free icons in various styles
• iconshock.com – professional icon sets

Deleting a Button

Right-click on an occupied button → Icon → Delete Button removes the icon immediately. The button is then empty and can be reassigned.

Starting an Icon Minimized

Shift + Left-click starts the program in a minimized state. Note: this does not work reliably with all programs.

Layout and Size

Via Settings (or Ctrl+P) you can configure:

Multiple Pages (Banks)

The Launcher supports up to 8 pages (banks). Each page has its own icon list and its own settings.

Switching:

• Ctrl + F1 – next page
• Number keys 1–8 (when the Launcher has focus)

Adding/removing pages:

• Settings → Size tab → Pages section
• A page can only be removed if it is the last one and contains no icons

Window Behavior

Moving

The window can be moved by holding the » button and dragging, or by holding Ctrl and dragging the window from any position. The Launcher snaps to screen edges.

Docking

When the window is dragged close to a screen edge, it docks automatically.

Sliding (Hide)

Clicking on the respective window edge causes the Launcher to slide off the screen in that direction. Clicking on the remaining visible edge brings it back.

Collapsing

Click the » button and release the mouse button over the icon area – or press both mouse buttons simultaneously on the » button.

AutoHide

When AutoHide is enabled, the Launcher hides automatically as soon as the mouse leaves the window and returns when the mouse touches the screen edge.

• Show Delay (ShowDelay): how long the mouse must remain at the edge before the window appears
• Slide Speed (SlideSpeed): speed of the slide-in/slide-out animation

Autostart and Tray Icon

Settings → Options tab → Start with Windows creates a shortcut in the autostart folder. Taskbar Icon shows an icon in the system tray.

Always on Top

Settings → Options tab → Always on Top – the window stays above all other windows.

Multi-Monitor and DPI

The Launcher is designed for use with multiple monitors and varying DPI settings:

• Multiple monitors: The window can be moved to any connected monitor. The Launcher snaps to the edges of all monitors and remembers its last position.
• DPI scaling (HiDPI/4K): GR32 rendering scales icons and skin graphics without quality loss to any screen resolution. The resolution at which an icon is saved is based on the configured base size (Settings → Icon → Size, e.g. 72×72). With CapsLock active during drag & drop, however, the highest possible native resolution can be forced (see also CapsLock on Icon Drop).

Special Icons

Via Right-click on an empty button → Special Icons you can insert functional icons:

Analog Clock

Analog clock with date display directly in the button. The hint shows the full date including day of the week.

Countdown Timer

Countdown timer in the button. Click starts/stops the timer; when it expires, a configurable alarm sound plays. Default start time when inserted: 7 seconds (freely configurable via the button properties dialog).

Weather

Displays the current weather icon for a configured location (entered by city name). Up to 8 weather icons for different locations are possible. Data comes from met.no. The current temperature is shown directly in the button – blue for frost, red for above-zero temperatures. Hovering shows a hint with temperature, other conditions, and sunrise/sunset times for that location.

Battery Indicator (BattPower)

Visualizes the laptop battery charge level as a filled battery symbol with a percentage.

GPU Temperature

Displays the current GPU core temperature in the button (only one GPU button possible). Supports nVidia and AMD; Intel GPUs are not recognized.

Screen Brightness

Opens the BrightBox slider for DDC/CI monitor brightness (requires a compatible monitor).

Screen Magnifier

Opens a freely positionable magnifier that enlarges the area under the mouse cursor.

Clippings

Opens the 10-slot clipboard manager. Texts can be stored there and loaded back into the clipboard with a click. The keyboard hotkey is Ctrl + ^ (default).

Power Management (Shutdown, Restart, etc.)

These buttons (Shutdown, Reboot, Hibernate, Logoff, Standby) are protected against accidental triggering: the command is only executed when the right mouse button is held simultaneously.

Skins and Appearance

Selecting a Skin

Settings → Background tab: the dropdown list shows all available skins.

Creating a Custom Skin

Images can be dragged directly onto the preview image in the Background tab:

• Local files: all common formats (BMP, PNG, JPG …)
• Images directly from the browser via drag & drop (HTTP download)

For those who want to try a custom skin right away – these sites offer suitable images for direct dragging: open the page, click an image, and drag it onto the preview:

• dreamstime.com – Seamless Images – large selection of seamless patterns and textures
• freeimages.com – Metal Textures – free metal and surface textures
• istockphoto.com – Glass Textures – glass and high-gloss textures
• vecteezy.com – Seamless Textures – seamlessly tileable textures in many styles

After dropping, the preview appears in the Launcher immediately. Click Save to store the skin as CustomSkin; Delete removes a saved custom skin.

Grayscale Toggle

The skin can optionally be converted to grayscale – switchable back and forth before saving, without any data loss.

Colorization (Dye)

The color slider lets you tint the skin in a chosen color to seamlessly match your desktop style.

Transparency

Settings → Window tab:

Hotkeys

All hotkeys are freely configurable (Settings → Options tab → Hotkeys section).

There is also a hard-wired shortcut (not configurable):

Sounds

Settings → Sounds tab – a custom sound can be assigned to each event:

Possible values: WAV files from the Sounds\ subfolder, all detected Windows system sounds, or <NONE> for no sound.

FritzBox Integration

The Launcher can connect to an AVM FritzBox and display incoming and outgoing calls as an animated popup.

Setup (Settings → Popup tab → Call Monitor section):

The popup shows the caller's name and number, optionally with reverse lookup and a warning for suspicious numbers.

Important: The FritzBox call monitor must first be activated on the phone:

• Enable: dial #96*5*
• Disable: dial #96*4*

Popups

Popups are small message windows that slide in at the edge of the screen. They can be triggered from scripts, from a button or over the network, and are described entirely by a list of parameters.

Structure of a parameter list

Each parameter has the form Name:Value, is enclosed in quotation marks and separated from the next one by a space:

"Title:Hello world" "Text:First line\nSecond line" "Icon:note" "Delay:5000"

The case of the name does not matter (title: and Title: are equivalent). Unknown names are skipped – a typo such as Titel: simply has no effect instead of causing an error. A faulty parameter only ever costs itself; all the others are still applied.

Where parameters are entered

The general parameters from Popup Settings are always applied first; whatever an individual popup brings along overrides them.

Quotation marks in the text: a custom delimiter

If the text itself is to contain quotation marks, the usual " would tear the list apart. If the parameter list starts with three identical characters, that character becomes the delimiter from then on:

***Title:Quote* *Text:He said "Hello" to me* *Delay:8000*

Any character that does not occur in the text itself will do – * and # are the common choices.

In a batch file, special characters also need the right code page, otherwise accented and Cyrillic characters arrive garbled:

CHCP 65001 >NUL
Launcher.exe ***Title:Погода: Москва* *Time: 25°C* *Icon:note* *ISize:32* *BGColor:-1*

Line breaks and file contents

\n produces a line break – in Text: as well as in Title:. If Text: instead points to a file with the extension .txt, .log, .ini, .md or .csv, its contents are displayed. The encoding is detected automatically (UTF-8 with and without BOM, UTF-16, ANSI), and for very large files the first 64 KB are shown – recognisable by the appended [...].

"Text:C:\Logs\backup.log" "MaxLines:12" "FName:Consolas"

Content

Icon: accepts several notations:

• an .ico or .png file: Icon:C:\MyIcon.ico
• an icon from a DLL or EXE with its number: Icon:imageres.dll,203 · Icon:shell32.dll,196 · Icon:C:\Windows\notepad.exe,0
• the two built-in icons Icon:note and Icon:clock
• environment variables are resolved: Icon:%SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,44

Sound: takes a .wav file, which is looked for first in the Launcher's Sounds folder and then in the Windows media folder. The built-in sounds can be addressed by name (LTING, CLICK, GLICK); a leading @ forces the built-in sound even when that slot has been assigned a .wav file of your own in the settings.

Despite its name, Time: is a free text field – the first five characters appear at the top right. Without the parameter the current time is shown there; Time:78:92 displays a score just as well.

Actions on click

Action: determines what a click on the popup triggers. Besides a program or a URL there are these fixed values:

When Action: is set, the mouse pointer turns into a hand over the popup. The action runs on click only: a popup that closes by itself via Delay: does not perform it, and neither does a popup that has been dragged away – dragging it away is the last chance to prevent an action.

Careful with the system commands. @Reboot, @ShutDown, @Hibernate, @LogOff and @StandBy are carried out immediately and without any confirmation when clicked. There is no confirmation dialog and no way to cancel; unsaved work is lost. Combined with Host:, a single click shuts down someone else's computer. Popups like these should state unmistakably in Title: and Text: what the click will do.

Colours, font and frame

Careful: the two colour parameters count their bytes in opposite directions. BGColor: is read as $RRGGBB, whereas TXColor: uses the usual Windows order $BBGGRR. Pure blue is therefore BGColor:$0000FF as a background, but TXColor:$FF0000 as a text colour.

Size and position

A Monitor: number higher than the number of monitors present is allowed – the popup then appears on whichever monitor the Launcher is on.

Timing and animation

If Delay: expires while the mouse pointer is over the popup, the popup stays until the pointer leaves it.

These curve names are valid for the three Ease parameters – an unknown name silently falls back to the default:

linear · inQuad · outQuad · inOutQuad · inCubic · outCubic · inOutCubic · inQuart · outQuart · inOutQuart · inQuint · outQuint · inOutQuint · inSine · outSine · inOutSine · inExpo · outExpo · inOutExpo · inCirc · outCirc · inOutCirc · inElastic · outElastic · inOutElastic · inBack · outBack · outBack2 · inOutBack · inBounce · outBounce · inOutBounce

To see how these curves actually move, easings.net shows each one as a diagram and a small animation. The names there carry an additional ease prefix: easeInOutCubic corresponds to inOutCubic here, easeOutBounce to outBounce. On top of that the Launcher also knows linear and the special outBack2.

Network

Host: takes a computer name or an IP address. Action:ClipBoard without Host: sends the popup to every Launcher on the network; with Host: the clipboard contents go to one specific machine:

Launcher.exe "Action:ClipBoard" "Host:192.168.0.22"

Third-party tools can send popups too, as long as they put the parameter list on the wire via UDP and terminate it with @EOF:

Sendlog32.exe -H 192.168.0.22 ###Title:Test# #Text:JuHu ...# #Jump:2000# #@EOF#

Examples

A short message from a batch file that disappears by itself after 6 seconds:

Launcher.exe "Title:Backup" "Text:Backup completed" "Icon:clock" "Delay:6000"

Multi-line text with its own sound and a coloured background:

Launcher.exe "Title:The Jabberwocky" "Text:Twas brillig, and the slithy toves\nDid gyre and gimble in the wabe:\nAll mimsy were the borogoves,\nAnd the mome raths outgrabe.\nLewis Carroll, 1872" "BGColor:$FFBDBD" "Sound:Tupp.wav" "Icon:note"

An eye-catching warning that stays until it is clicked – and then opens the log:

Launcher.exe "Title:Error" "Text:The service is not responding" "BGColor:$FF6060"
             "Icon:imageres.dll,84" "ISize:32" "Pulse:1" "Jump:4000"
             "Action:C:\Logs\service.log"

The last lines of a log file on the second monitor, in a monospaced font:

Launcher.exe "Title:Server log" "Text:C:\Logs\server.log" "FName:Consolas"
             "FSize:14" "MaxLines:15" "MaxWidth:600" "Monitor:2"

Showing a message on another computer on the network:

Launcher.exe "Title:Closing time" "Text:This machine shuts down in 5 minutes"
             "Host:OFFICE-PC" "Delay:20000"

Network Features

UDP Popups

External programs can trigger animated notification popups via UDP packets sent to port 12001 (default). The port is configurable in the options. How such a message is composed is described in the Popups chapter.

Hourly Signal

Settings → Popup tab → Hourly Signal section: the Launcher can play a sound and/or display a popup on the hour.

Sharing Clippings Over the Network

Via Menu → Send Clipboard the current clipboard content is transmitted via UDP to other Launcher instances on the network.

Saving Changes

The » button lights up red when there are unsaved changes.

Important: If "Save on Exit" is disabled, you are responsible for saving manually. All unsaved changes will be lost when the program is closed.

Updates

If an internet connection is available, the Launcher automatically checks for a newer version at startup. If an update is available, a notification appears on the Settings → About tab. From there, the update can be downloaded and installed directly.

Multi-Language Support

The Launcher is localized in 23 languages (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean). The language selection is found in Menu → Options → Language. Additional languages can easily be added by including new language entries.

Tips and Tricks

Sound Buttons:
WAV or MP3 files can be added directly as a button. One click plays the sound; another click (or Esc) stops it. A stop symbol appears in the button during playback. Power management buttons (Shutdown etc.) can also play a farewell sound – simply enter the path in the parameter field of the button properties dialog.

Mouse Wheel:
Scrolling the mouse wheel over the Launcher window switches to the next or previous page (only active with more than one page; can be disabled in settings).

CapsLock = Run as Administrator:
With CapsLock active, clicking any button starts the program with administrator rights – regardless of the setting in the button properties dialog.

CapsLock on Icon Drop = Highest Resolution:
If an icon is dropped onto a button with CapsLock active, the Launcher saves it at the highest available native resolution. This results in sharper icons on HiDPI monitors but uses slightly more memory.

Open a File with a Specific Program:
Drag a file onto an already occupied button (e.g. Notepad) – the file will be opened with that program.

Relative Paths (Portability):
Paths can be entered as relative paths in the properties dialog, e.g. ../WinCmd/TOTALCMD.EXE. This makes the Launcher work independently of the drive letter.

Full Hint Text:
If an alternative hint text is set, CapsLock always shows the full path instead of the hint text.

Drive Info in Hint:
When a drive is added via drag & drop, the hint text automatically shows the drive label, total size (MB), free space (MB and %).

Rubber Band Effect:
If an icon is dragged out of the Launcher window and released, it floats back to its original position with a rubber band effect. While the icon is attached to the mouse, its size can be changed – via the mouse wheel, arrow keys, or the forward/back buttons on the mouse.

Delete / Open Icons via Keyboard:
When the mouse cursor is over an icon:

• Del – delete icon
• Enter – opens Icon → Button Properties dialog

Security Notes

Antivirus False Positives

Some antivirus scanners incorrectly flag Launcher.exe as suspicious or malicious. These are false positives – the Launcher contains no malware.

Why the Launcher is trustworthy

• The Launcher has been in active development for over 20 years and is used by thousands of users worldwide.
• Well-known download portals list the Launcher in their directory and independently check each new version for malware before publishing it: WinFuture · heise Download · Chip.de · Softpedia
• There has never been a single confirmed security incident related to the Launcher in all these years.
• The Launcher is portable, writes no registry entries (except the optional autostart) and leaves no traces on the system when the folder is deleted.

Why does this happen?

Heuristic scanners evaluate programs based on behavioral patterns. The Launcher uses a combination of techniques that are individually harmless but can appear suspicious together:

• Global keyboard hotkeys (RegisterHotKey)
• Autostart entry (optional, only when enabled)
• Network communication (weather data, update check, UDP popups, FritzBox connection)
• Shell execution of programs and files (ShellExecute)
• Portable EXE without a code-signing certificate

The Launcher's source code is not publicly available, but the file can be checked at any time on VirusTotal – where you can see how many of the 70+ scanners in use rate the file as clean.

Recommendation: Upload the current version to virustotal.com or verify the hash of the downloaded file. Typically only 1–3 heuristic scanners flag an anomaly, while the remaining 70+ scanners report no issues.

If your antivirus scanner blocks the Launcher: add Launcher.exe (and if necessary the entire Launcher folder) to the scanner's exclusion list.

Windows 11 Smart App Control (SAC)

Smart App Control is a security feature in Windows 11 that blocks apps without a code-signing certificate and without sufficient Microsoft reputation data. The Launcher is portable and unsigned — that is enough reason for SAC to block it, regardless of the actual content of the file.

The key difference from a normal antivirus alert:

SAC cannot be configured per app. There is no exclusion list and no "Run anyway". SAC is a global switch for the entire system.

Solution

SAC can be disabled in the Windows Security settings:

Windows Security → App & browser control → Smart App Control → Off

Note: Unlike before, this decision is no longer final: since a more recent Windows 11 version, SAC can be re-enabled the same way after being disabled — Windows Security → App & browser control → Smart App Control → On — without reinstalling Windows. You can therefore safely turn the protection off temporarily and switch it back on later.

After disabling, the regular Windows Defender / SmartScreen takes over again, which can be configured with an exclusion list (see section Antivirus False Positives).

Anyone who consciously keeps SAC enabled and does not wish to disable it will unfortunately not be able to use the Launcher on Windows 11 — without a code-signing certificate, there is no technical workaround.

Windows Network Access

On first launch, Windows may show a firewall prompt:

"Do you want to allow [Launcher.exe] to communicate over public and private networks?"

Allow – Recommended

If access is allowed, all network features are fully available.

Restrictions When Denied

If access is denied or the prompt is closed, the following features will not be available:

Note: Network permission can be adjusted later in the Windows Firewall:
Control Panel → Windows Defender Firewall → Allow an app through Windows Firewall → enable Launcher.exe.

All local features (icons, skins, sounds, hotkeys, special icons such as analog clock, countdown, battery, GPU temperature, screen brightness, magnifier, clippings) work completely without a network connection.

Launcher – Copyright © 2026 Stefan Moka