SLauncher

A modern, multi-language app launcher for Windows

Languages: English • 한국어 • 日本語

Features • Installation • Usage • Building

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⭐ If you find this project useful, please consider giving it a star on GitHub!

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🌟 Features

Core Functionality

• ⚡ Quick Launch - Access your favorite apps, folders, and websites instantly
• 🔑 Global Hotkey - Show/hide launcher from anywhere (default: Ctrl + Space)
• 📑 Tab Organization - Organize items into multiple tabs with custom names and colors
• 🖱️ Drag & Drop - Easy item management with intuitive drag-and-drop
• 🔍 Smart Search - Find items or directly open files/folders/URLs from search
• 📐 Icon Scaling - Adjust icon size with slider or Ctrl + Mouse Wheel (0.25x - 6.00x)

Multi-Language Support

• 🇺🇸 English
• 🇰🇷 한국어 (Korean)
• 🇯🇵 日本語 (Japanese)
• ⚡ Real-time language switching - No restart required!

Modern UI

• 🎨 Windows 11 Design - Native WinUI 3 with Mica/Acrylic effects
• 🌓 Theme Support - Automatically follows system dark/light theme
• 📺 Fullscreen Mode - Immersive launcher experience
• ⚖️ Grid Alignment - Choose between Left or Center alignment
• 🎨 Tab Colors - 8 preset colors for tab customization

Performance & Portability

• 📦 Portable - All data stored in executable folder (UserCache/)
• 🚀 Fast Startup - Cached data for instant loading
• 💾 Favicon Cache - Website icons cached locally
• 🪶 Lightweight - Minimal resource usage

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📸 Screenshots

Main Window

Clean and intuitive interface with tab organization

Settings Window

Comprehensive settings with multi-language support

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📦 Installation

Requirements

• Windows 10 version 1809 (Build 17763) or later
• Windows 11 (recommended for best experience)
• .NET 8.0 Runtime (included in self-contained builds)

Quick Install

1. Download the latest release from Releases
2. Extract the ZIP file to any folder
3. Run SLauncher.exe
4. (Optional) Enable "Start with Windows" in Settings

Portable Mode

All settings and data are stored in the UserCache folder next to the executable:

SLauncher/
├── SLauncher.exe
└── UserCache/
    ├── Settings/   # User preferences
    ├── Files/        # Item data
    └── FaviconCache/    # Website icons

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🎮 Usage

Adding Items

Method 1: Buttons

• Add File: Click button and select .exe, .lnk, or any file
• Add Folder: Click button and select any folder
• Add Website: Click button and enter URL (e.g., https://github.com)

Method 2: Drag & Drop

• Drag files, folders, or shortcuts directly into the window
• Drag between tabs to move items
• Drag one item onto another to create a group

Managing Items

Action	Method
Edit	Right-click item → Edit
Delete	Right-click item → Delete or press Delete key
Create Group	Drag one item onto another
Reorder	Drag items to new positions

Tab Management

Creating Tabs

• Click + button next to tabs
• Each tab can have different items and settings

Tab Options (Right-click tab)

• Rename - Give tab a custom name
• Change Color - Choose from 8 preset colors
• Delete - Remove tab (requires confirmation if has items)

Search

The search box supports multiple input types:

Input Type	Example	Result
Item Name	notepad	Search through all items
File Path	C:\Windows\notepad.exe	Open file directly
Folder Path	C:\Users\Documents	Open folder in Explorer
Website URL	https://google.com	Open in default browser
Search Query	search:keyword	Search with default browser

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + Space	Show/hide launcher (customizable in Settings)
Ctrl + Mouse Wheel	Adjust icon size (works anywhere in window)
Delete	Delete selected item
Esc	Close launcher (in fullscreen mode)
Enter	Open first search result

Icon Scaling

Adjust icon size using:

• Slider in bottom-right corner
• Ctrl + Mouse Wheel anywhere in the window
• Range: 0.25x to 6.00x

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⚙️ Settings

General Settings

• Enable Fullscreen - Use launcher in fullscreen mode
• Grid Alignment - Left (fills width) or Center (fixed width)
• Start with Windows - Launch automatically at startup
• Global Hotkey - Customize show/hide hotkey
  • Modifiers: Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Ctrl+Shift, Ctrl+Alt
  • Keys: Space, Tab, Enter, Esc, F1-F4
• Language - Select preferred language (English, Korean, Japanese)

Cache Management

• View Cache Size - Monitor favicon cache usage
• Clear Cache - Remove all cached website icons
• Open Cache Folder - Access cache directory directly
• Cache Location - Portable: UserCache\FaviconCache\

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🛠️ Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio 2022 (17.8 or later)
  • Workload: ".NET Desktop Development"
  • Component: "Windows App SDK C# Templates"
• Windows App SDK 1.5 or later
• .NET 8.0 SDK

Clone and Build

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/siriz/SLauncher.git
cd SLauncher

# Restore NuGet packages
dotnet restore

# Build solution
dotnet build -c Release

# Or open in Visual Studio
start SLauncher.sln

Project Structure

SLauncher/
├── SLauncher/   # Main WinUI 3 project
│   ├── Classes/     # Core classes
│   │   ├── LocalizationManager.cs # Multi-language support
│   │   ├── UserSettingsClass.cs     # Settings management
│   │   ├── GlobalHotkeyManager.cs   # Hotkey registration
│   │   └── IconHelpers.cs   # Icon extraction & cache
│   ├── Controls/   # Custom controls
│   │   ├── GridViewTile.xaml  # App tile control
│   │   ├── GridViewTileGroup.xaml   # Group control
│   │   └── AboutSectionControl.xaml # About page
│   ├── Strings/  # Localization resources
│   │   ├── en-US/Resources.resw     # English
│   │   ├── ko-KR/Resources.resw   # Korean
│   │   └── ja-JP/Resources.resw# Japanese
│   ├── MainWindow*.cs  # Main window (partial classes)
│   │   ├── MainWindow.xaml.cs  # Main logic
│   │   ├── MainWindow.UI.cs   # UI management
│   │   ├── MainWindow.Tabs.cs       # Tab management
│   │   ├── MainWindow.Items.cs      # Item management
│   │   ├── MainWindow.DragDrop.cs# Drag & drop
│   │   ├── MainWindow.Search.cs     # Search logic
│   │   └── MainWindow.Hotkeys.cs# Hotkey & tray
│   └── SettingsWindow*.cs  # Settings window (partial classes)
│       ├── SettingsWindow.xaml.cs    # Main logic
│       ├── SettingsWindow.Localization.cs # Language UI
│       ├── SettingsWindow.Cache.cs     # Cache management
│       ├── SettingsWindow.Hotkey.cs    # Hotkey config
│       └── SettingsWindow.Settings.cs  # Settings toggles
└── WinFormsClassLibrary/   # Helper library (file dialogs)

Partial Classes Pattern

Both MainWindow and SettingsWindow use partial classes for better code organization:

• Each partial class file handles a specific feature area
• Makes code easier to navigate and maintain
• Follows the same pattern as MainWindow for consistency

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📄 License

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

Third-Party Libraries

• WinUI 3 - MIT License
• CommunityToolkit.WinUI - MIT License
• WinUIEx - MIT License
• System.Drawing.Common - MIT License

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🙏 Acknowledgments

• Based on: Apollo199999999's LauncherX
• UI Framework: WinUI 3
• Community Toolkit: Windows Community Toolkit
• Window Management: WinUIEx
• Icons: Segoe Fluent Icons

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📊 Changelog

SLauncher v1.0.0 (Latest)

• ✨ Multi-language support (English, Korean, Japanese)
• ✨ Real-time language switching
• ✨ Partial class refactoring for better code organization
• ✨ Window-wide Ctrl+MouseWheel icon scaling
• 🐛 Fixed Grid Alignment localization
• 🐛 Fixed Cache Management subtitle localization
• 📝 Comprehensive localization (90+ strings per language)

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Made with ❤️ for Windows power users

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