Automatically organize your desktop shortcuts and icons with Fences

Fences

Fences

  -  18.36 MB  -  Trial
  • Latest Version

    Fences 5.8.4.7 LATEST

  • Review by

    Marian Marinescu

  • Operating System

    Windows 10 / Windows 11

  • User Rating

    Click to vote
  • Author / Product

    Stardock / External Link

  • Filename

    Fences5-sd-setup.exe

  • MD5 Checksum

    453eb47981bf5baec1874dee9a9c4a49

Fences help you organize your PC by automatically placing your shortcuts and icons into resizable shaded areas on your desktop called fences. Its many customization features are what make this app the world's most popular Windows desktop enhancement.



Fences eliminate desktop clutter with adjustable fenced areas that organize desktop objects into logical groups for quick access. Over 5 million users around the world rely on the app every day to keep their PC desktops organized for quick and easy access to their programs and files they use most. The new tool features will now keep frequently used folders visible and organized on the desktop by creating a fence from any folder.

Customization options direct Fences to automatically place new icons in designated fenced areas. Additionally, a simple double click can hide or unhide all fence groups revealing an unobstructed view of the desktop.

Features and Highlights

Section off your desktop
It enables you to create shaded areas on your desktop that you can place icons into called fences. You can label them however you wish as well as move or resize them anywhere on the desktop.

Desktop Pages
Create multiple pages of fences on your desktop and quickly swipe between them. To change to a different desktop page, just take your mouse cursor to the edge of your screen and click and drag. Then a new page of fences will be displayed. This feature provides greater control over how you can organize favorite programs, documents, websites, and more.

Desktop Quick-hide
Instantly clean up your desktop. Double-click any blank space on your desktop and your icons will fade out. Double-click again and they will return. You can even pick icons and individual fences to exclude.

Automatic desktop organization
Define rules for how your icons are arranged on your desktop and the app will automatically sort new icons into the fences you have chosen based on your rules.

Folder portals
It can act as a portal to any folder on your PC. For example, your documents or pictures folders can be mirrored onto your desktop as a fence enabling quick access to their contents without adding clutter to your desktop.

Customize your Desktop
Quickly personalize the labels, background colors, and transparency of your fences from the easy to use configuration menu.

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Note: Free 30-Day Fully Functional Trial Version.

  • Fences 5.8.4.7 Screenshots

    The images below have been resized. Click on them to view the screenshots in full size.

    Fences 5.8.4.7 Screenshot 1
  • Fences 5.8.4.7 Screenshot 2
  • Fences 5.8.4.7 Screenshot 3
  • Fences 5.8.4.7 Screenshot 4
  • Fences 5.8.4.7 Screenshot 5

What's new in this version:

Added:
- Added functionality to resolve excessive User Account Control prompts
- Added the "Create debug package" option to the Troubleshooting area
- Added a new advanced (C++) logging option to the Troubleshooting area
- Added resilience for desktop folders relocated to removable drives

Fixed:
- Fixes ‘number of times opened’ sorting for items in a Fence
- Fixed "icons bunch up on bottom" issue
- Fixed "layout stuck" issue

- Updated Win11ContextMenu package's internal package icons (new installs only)
- Prevent rare situations where all icons could end up on the desktop upon app startup
- Prevent situations where a layout could not save when using old layout modes
- New feature: Ability to "Swap Screen Contents" in the Layouts tab. If you've arrived at a multi-monitor configuration and your icons/groups are not on the correct monitor, you can swap them until it's right. Find this under "Adjust displays" link.
- Major Update: All users are now being migrated to the new multi-mon compatible auto layout adjustment system introduced in Fences v5.50. Unlike the previous options, this new system will keep track of your group positions on a per-monitor-configuration basis so that when you plug and unplug monitors/dock and undock, your groups and icons will be right where you left them. Additional messaging has been placed throughout the Layout tab area to emphasize and notify when users arrive to this tab. (Only users who currently have or have had in the past more than 1 monitor will be notified.)
- Major Improvement: Folder Portals now resize lightning fast, so you can see their contents rearrange in real-time as you resize your group. It's pretty neat! And now super responsive.
- Compatibility update: Peek performance and reliability has been further improved with the latest Windows Insider.
- Compatibility update: It was possible for some Folder Portals to delay showing if one of the folder portals was actively syncing (i.e. Dropbox). This has been worked around.
- Compatibility update: Roll-up Fence groups will remain open and expanded (vs retract) when you right-click on a file and navigate using Windows 11 Insider's new file context menu.
- Compatibility update: On the latest Windows 11 Insider builds, desktop icon spacing will now respond more favorably especially when changing DPIs and especially when desktop icon size is set to "large".
- Fix: When using Peek, you can now properly hold Control to multi-select files.
- Fix: Folder Portals now correctly scroll with the mouse wheel one icon at a time, instead of Explorer's default of 1.5x at a time.
- Fix: Folder Portals that have icons smaller than the desktop + are a single row in height would be taller than they should be on startup.
- Fix: Potential crash when changing Windows system themes.
- Fix: Using the pipe symbol "|" in title could cause issue with rules system.
- Fix: Rule picker will now better stay up to date if you create a new Fence group and then navigate back to the dialog.
- Fix: Mouse wheel + control now once again correctly resizes desktop icons .
- Fix: Peek could dismiss if you do a desktop lasso during Peek and release the mouse outside of the Peek area.
- QOL Improvement: Double-clicking on the "folder" or "up" icon of a folder portal title bar no longer triggers roll-up