Shortcut Restore

Shortcut Restore is a modern Windows desktop application that allows you to save and restore the positions of your desktop icons. Ever had your desktop icons get scrambled after a display driver update, resolution change, or Windows update? This tool solves that problem by letting you save your perfectly arranged desktop layout and restore it with a single click.

• Scan Current Layout - Instantly capture the position of all desktop icons
• Multiple Presets - Save unlimited layout presets (Work, Gaming, Clean, etc.)
• One-Click Restore - Restore any saved layout instantly
• Rename Presets - Edit preset names anytime with inline editing
• Delete Presets - Remove presets you no longer need

• Clear DNS Cache - Flush your DNS resolver cache (ipconfig /flushdns)
• Empty Recycle Bin - Clear all items from the Recycle Bin silently
• Clear Recent Files - Remove your Windows recent files history for privacy

• Custom Dark Theme - Sleek, modern dark interface built from scratch
• Smooth Animations - Polished hover effects and transitions
• Custom Window Chrome - Borderless window with custom title bar
• No External UI Libraries - 100% custom XAML styling

Shortcut Restore uses the Windows Shell API to interact with desktop icons:

1. Icon Detection: The application locates the desktop ListView control through the Windows window hierarchy (Progman → SHELLDLL_DefView → SysListView32)

2. Position Retrieval: Uses LVM_GETITEMPOSITION and LVM_GETITEMTEXTW messages via SendMessage to read icon names and coordinates

3. Cross-Process Memory: Since the desktop runs in Explorer's process, the app uses VirtualAllocEx to allocate memory in the target process for data exchange

4. Position Restoration: Uses LVM_SETITEMPOSITION to move icons back to their saved coordinates

5. Persistent Storage: Presets are saved as JSON in %AppData%\ShortcutRestore\presets.json

Presets are stored in JSON format:

{
  "presets": [
    {
      "id": "guid-here",
      "name": "Work Layout",
      "createdAt": "2024-01-09T10:30:00",
      "lastUsed": "2024-01-09T15:45:00",
      "icons": [
        { "name": "Chrome", "x": 100, "y": 50 },
        { "name": "Visual Studio", "x": 100, "y": 150 }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

1. Go to Releases
2. Download ShortcutRestore.zip
3. Run the executable - no installation required!

See Building from Source below.

1. Arrange your desktop icons exactly how you want them
2. Open Shortcut Restore
3. Click "Scan Current Layout"
4. Enter a name for your preset (e.g., "Work Setup")
5. Click "Save Preset"

1. Open Shortcut Restore
2. Find your saved preset in the list
3. Click "Restore"
4. Your icons will move to their saved positions!

• Disable Auto-Arrange: For best results, right-click your desktop → View → uncheck "Auto arrange icons" and "Align icons to grid"
• Multiple Monitors: The app saves positions based on coordinates, so it works best when your monitor setup hasn't changed
• Quick Settings: Use the utility buttons at the bottom for common system tasks

• .NET 8.0 SDK or later
• Windows 10/11

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ZxPwdz/shortcut-restore.git
cd shortcut-restore

# Build for development
dotnet build ShortcutRestore.csproj

# Run the application
dotnet run --project ShortcutRestore.csproj

To create a standalone single-file executable that includes the .NET runtime (no .NET installation required on target machine):

dotnet publish ShortcutRestore.csproj -c Release -o publish

This creates a single ShortcutRestore.exe file in the publish folder (~65MB) that:

• Contains the entire .NET 8 runtime
• Requires no installation
• Runs on any Windows 10/11 machine
• Is fully self-contained

The project is configured with these publish settings in ShortcutRestore.csproj:

<PropertyGroup>
  <!-- Single file publish settings -->
  <PublishSingleFile>true</PublishSingleFile>
  <SelfContained>true</SelfContained>
  <RuntimeIdentifier>win-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
  <IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract>true</IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract>
  <EnableCompressionInSingleFile>true</EnableCompressionInSingleFile>
</PropertyGroup>

ShortcutRestore/
├── App.xaml                    # Application entry and resources
├── MainWindow.xaml             # Main UI window
├── ShortcutRestore.csproj      # Project configuration
│
├── ViewModels/
│   ├── MainViewModel.cs        # Main application logic
│   └── PresetViewModel.cs      # Preset item logic
│
├── Models/
│   ├── IconPosition.cs         # Icon position data
│   ├── Preset.cs               # Preset data model
│   └── AppData.cs              # Application data container
│
├── Services/
│   ├── DesktopIconService.cs   # Desktop icon manipulation
│   ├── PresetService.cs        # JSON save/load
│   └── SystemUtilitiesService.cs # Quick settings functions
│
├── Interop/
│   └── ShellInterop.cs         # Windows API definitions
│
├── Converters/
│   └── ValueConverters.cs      # XAML value converters
│
└── Themes/
    ├── Colors.xaml             # Color palette
    ├── Fonts.xaml              # Typography
    ├── Buttons.xaml            # Button styles
    ├── TextBoxes.xaml          # Input styles
    ├── ScrollBars.xaml         # Scrollbar styles
    └── Cards.xaml              # Card panel styles

• .NET 8.0 - Modern, cross-platform framework
• WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) - Rich desktop UI framework
• CommunityToolkit.Mvvm - Lightweight MVVM framework
• Windows Shell API - Desktop icon manipulation
• Custom XAML Themes - No third-party UI libraries

• OS: Windows 10 or Windows 11
• Architecture: x64 (64-bit)
• Runtime: None required (self-contained executable)

• Icons must have unique names for accurate restoration
• Works best when "Auto arrange icons" is disabled
• Monitor resolution/DPI changes may affect saved positions
• Some system icons (like Recycle Bin) may have restricted positioning

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

• Icon design resources
• Microsoft WPF documentation
• The .NET community