Deck 2.1 frequently asked questions

Deck is a drop-down Windows launcher that puts programs, scripts, documents, folders, URLs, and plugin actions into a fast searchable grid.

Deck is free to use and does not require an account. Donations are optional and help support development.

Yes. Deck 2.1 has separate Win32 and Win64 builds. Use the build that matches your Windows architecture.

No. Extract the complete ZIP to a writable folder and run the matching executable. Deck is designed to work as a portable application.

Your shortcuts and settings stay local, and the launcher works offline. Weather and update checks are the main features that require internet access.

Choose Win64 for 64-bit Windows or Win32 for 32-bit Windows. Native plugin DLLs must match the Deck build you run.

Press Ctrl+F12 with the default configuration. You can change this global hotkey under Options → Hotkeys or from Quick Settings.

Deck remains available from the Windows notification area. The first-run tray message reminds you of the current show/hide hotkey.

Yes. Enable the edge trigger under Options → General, choose the top or bottom dock, select left-click or right-click, and adjust the trigger thickness.

Yes. Turn on Run at Windows startup under Options → General.

You can add programs, scripts, documents, folders, URLs, horizontal or vertical dividers, and actions published by installed plugins.

Yes. Use Add by Drag-Drop and drop one or several Explorer items into the Drop Zone, then select their destination group.

Yes. Enable the optional Add to Deck App Launcher command under Options → General to add files and folders from Explorer’s right-click menu.

Use Manage Shortcuts to drag entries, move them up or down, or select multiple items with Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click and move the selection to another group.

Yes. Disable the group in Manage Groups. The group and its shortcuts are hidden but preserved until you enable it again.

Yes. The shortcut editor supports a custom label, target, arguments, icon, group, and Run as Administrator option.

Start typing while Deck is open. Deck filters the visible grid immediately and can rank the strongest matches first.

You can enable acronym matching, ignored spaces and punctuation, typo tolerance, and ordered-character matching alongside normal exact, prefix, contains, and word-prefix rules.

Yes. Enable Search target paths and URLs under Options → Search & Filter. Target matches are intentionally lower priority than label matches.

When the Command Runner plugin is loaded, > uses Windows Run-style launching, cmd: runs Command Prompt, and ps: runs PowerShell. Nothing executes until you press Enter.

No. Enter is inert unless a shortcut matches or a loaded plugin recognizes an explicit command prefix.

Choose a theme preset or customize the global palette, shortcut font, icon size, transparency, animation speed, dock, and compact or vertical group layout.

Yes. A group can override border, header, header text, and body colors. Those overrides take priority over the active global theme.

Deck provides standard 32, 48, and 64 pixel choices plus exact sizes from 16 through 256 pixels and a custom size control.

Deck includes clock and extra time-zone displays, multi-location weather through wttr.in, and live system and Deck CPU/RAM monitoring.

Yes. Put the panel on the left or right, adjust its width, enable only the widgets you want, and reorder widget entries.

A plugin can publish clickable actions, explicit search commands, menu tools, and its own configuration surface while Deck keeps control of the main interface.

Open Options → Manage Plugins. From there you can install, remove, enable, disable, reload, configure, inspect, or open the plugin folder.

Win32 Deck loads Win32 plugins and Win64 Deck loads Win64 plugins. Deck checks a DLL before installation and rejects the wrong architecture.

An action is saved as a normal clickable shortcut. A search command is typed with an explicit prefix and is available only while its plugin is loaded.

The project provides Command Runner, Folder Scanner, and Window and Workspace Manager plugins for matching Win32 and Win64 builds.

No. Plugins are native DLLs that run inside Deck with the same access as the application. Install plugins only from authors you trust.

Choose Sub-folder, User AppData, or Beside EXE under Options → General. Deck falls back to AppData when an executable location is not writable.

Back up Deck.ini, shortcuts.json, recents.json, their .bak files, and the plugins folder. For a portable setup, copying the complete Deck folder is simplest.

Yes. Shortcut and recent JSON files are replaced atomically, previous copies rotate to .bak, and Deck can recover from a valid backup after parse failure.

Yes. Use Sub-folder or Beside EXE storage, exit Deck, then copy the complete folder. Paths inside the Deck directory remain portable through %DECKDIR% references.

Set Default restores Options preferences and theme palettes but keeps shortcuts, groups, per-group colors, cities, clocks, and the selected data location.

Open Deck from its tray icon, then choose another hotkey under Options → Hotkeys. Another application may already own the current combination.

Edit the shortcut and verify its target, arguments, icon source, and elevation setting. A moved or deleted target will need an updated path.

Confirm the active data folder is writable. If needed, switch the data location to User AppData and check deck.log for migration or write errors.

The weather widget uses wttr.in. Check your connection and try again later if the service is unavailable or limiting requests.

Confirm the required plugin is installed, enabled, loaded, and built for the same architecture as Deck. Disabled or missing plugins leave saved shortcuts visible but inactive.

Deck is single-instance. Starting it again sends a toggle request to the running copy instead of opening another instance.

Download only from the official site, compare the published SHA-256 hash, review the VirusTotal link when available, and include the result in a bug report if you suspect a false positive.