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How to save and restore window layouts on Windows 11 and 10

You spend ten minutes putting the browser on the left screen, your editor in the middle and chat on the portrait monitor. Then a reboot, a driver update or a docking station hiccup throws everything onto one display and you start over. Windows remembers a little on its own, but it has no way to save a named window layout and restore it later. This guide shows what the built-in options can and cannot do, then walks through saving and restoring complete layouts with DisplayForge, a free multi-monitor utility for Windows 10 and 11.

Updated 6 steps

  1. Know what Windows already does

    Windows 11 has a switch under Settings, System, Display, Multiple displays called “Remember window locations based on monitor connection”. When a monitor comes back, Windows tries to move the windows that were on it back again. Snap Layouts (Win+Z or hovering over the maximize button) and Snap Groups help you arrange windows quickly, and Microsoft PowerToys offers FancyZones for zones and Workspaces for launching a set of apps into positions. What none of these give you is a saved layout of the windows you already have open, across every monitor, that you can restore on demand. Windows 10 has no equivalent of the monitor-connection setting at all.

  2. Install DisplayForge and open Window Profiles

    Download DisplayForge from windowlayout.com and install it; the installer is about 10 MB. Open it and choose Window Profiles in the sidebar. A window profile is a snapshot of every window on every monitor: which app it belongs to, its title, which monitor it was on, its exact position and size, whether it was windowed, maximized or minimized, its stacking order and whether it was always on top. Monitors are recorded by a stable identity based on the device and its EDID model, not by the Display 1, Display 2 numbers that Windows reshuffles after sleep or reconnecting.

  3. Arrange your windows and click Save current

    Put every window exactly where you want it, then click Save current and give the profile a name such as Work desk or Coding. The profile appears with a live map of your monitors and a list headed Windows in this profile. You can untick windows you do not care about, choose Leave alone if minimized for a window you sometimes hide, or remove an entry from the profile. Later, when your layout changes, use Update from open windows with Merge to add new windows while keeping your settings, or Replace to start fresh.

  4. Check how each window is matched

    Window titles change all the time: a browser tab, a document name, an unread counter. Each entry has a title rule. Smart is the default: for browsers and editors it looks at the stable part of the title such as the app name at the end, and for other apps it uses the exact title, falling back to any window of that app. You can switch an entry to Exact match, Contains, Regex or Any title. If you keep five Chrome windows or three Explorer windows open, each saved entry is paired with one window only, by title similarity first and then by which monitor it is on, so two windows never fight over the same spot.

  5. Preview, restore and undo

    Before anything moves, click Preview restore. The map shows each window marked as Will move, Already in place, Will launch, Not running or Skipped, so you can see exactly what will happen. Click Restore now to apply it. Maximized windows are restored maximized on the right monitor instead of landing on the main display, and windows are placed correctly on monitors with different scaling. If you change your mind, Undo last restore puts every window back where it was a moment ago.

  6. Restore with a hotkey, from the tray or automatically

    Open Profile options to give the profile its own Hotkey, so you can restore it from any app. Profiles also appear in the tray menu and in the command palette (Ctrl+Alt+Space). Turn on Apply automatically when this setup connects to restore the profile whenever the same set of monitors appears again. If some apps are often closed, tick Launch if not running for them and click Allow launch… to approve the exact program path and arguments. Approved apps start only when you click Restore & launch missing; hotkeys, triggers and automatic restores never launch programs.

Frequently asked questions

Can it restore several windows of the same app, like five browser windows?

Yes. Every saved entry is matched to one open window at most, using the title rule, then the monitor it was on, then stacking order. Five browser windows go back to five different places instead of piling into one.

What happens if the resolution or scaling has changed since I saved?

If a monitor has the same geometry, windows go back to the exact pixel position. If the resolution, scaling or position changed, DisplayForge places each window at the same relative spot in that monitor's work area and keeps it on screen.

Will DisplayForge open apps that are closed?

Only if you ask it to. You mark an entry Launch if not running, approve the program with Allow launch…, and then use Restore & launch missing. If the program file changes, the approval stops working until you approve it again.