Show Mode for Windows v0.2.0 (preview)

Show Mode for Windows catches up with most of the Mac version. Still a preview: bench-tested, not yet trusted with a show, and not code-signed.

New in v0.2.0

• The Windows key does nothing during a show, on its own or with anything else, so a slipped hand can't open Start, Task View, Win+D, the Project panel or the Magnifier over the show. The Copilot key, Ctrl+Esc and Print Screen go with it. Win+L and Ctrl+Alt+Del still work: Windows deals with those before any app sees them.
• A cursor fence. Tick the audience's screens under Keep Cursor Off and the mouse stops dead at their edge. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F10 pauses it when you need to drag something across on purpose, and it stands down rather than leave the cursor nowhere to go.
• System sounds off for the show: the error ding, devices plugging in and out, the Recycle Bin. App sound, the show's included, plays as normal.
• Energy saver off in the show's copy of your power plan, Always use energy saver included.
• AutoPlay, the taskbar's Show Desktop corner, window shake, and the accessibility shortcuts that put a "turn on Sticky Keys?" box over the show, all off for the show and back afterwards.
• f.lux and LightBulb are asked to quit and opened again afterwards. Syncthing's syncing folders are paused and only those resumed. Sync apps (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, MEGA, Resilio Sync) can be quit for the show too, off by default, since a file kept online only can't be opened while OneDrive isn't running.
• The pre-show checks now name remote-access, backup and sync tools that are running.

As before, everything it changes is written down first and put back at the end, or on the next launch after a crash. Nothing needs admin, and apps are only ever asked to quit, never killed.

Download

ShowMode-0.2.0-windows-x64.zip for nearly every PC, ShowMode-0.2.0-windows-arm64.zip for a Snapdragon laptop or Windows on a Mac. Unzip it somewhere it can stay and run ShowMode.exe; to update from v0.1.0, quit Show Mode and replace the file. The licence and third-party notices are in the zip beside it.

It isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC" the first time: click More info, then Run anyway. With Smart App Control switched on, Windows won't run it at all.

Status

Bench-tested on Windows 11 25H2, on an x64 VM and an ARM64 Parallels guest. The system sounds were checked by recording what came out (a test sound at −40 dB before the show, nothing during it, −40 dB after). The cursor fence was checked with two virtual screens beside the VM's own, and f.lux and Syncthing with the real apps installed for the test. The Windows key and the fence have only had input sent by a program, not a real keyboard and mouse. Not yet: a real show, an app running as administrator in front, Dropbox, Google Drive and the other sync apps, the wallpaper blackout itself, a real projector, and Windows 11 24H2. The user guide lists exactly what was and wasn't checked.

Show Mode for Windows v0.1.0 (preview)

The first release of Show Mode for Windows, the Windows sibling of Show Mode for the Mac. It's a preview: bench-tested, not yet trusted with a show, and not code-signed.

What it does

One click on the masks in the notification area, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F11, or showmode://on from Companion, and:

• display and system sleep are held off, with a temporary copy of your power plan so a laptop keeps going with its lid shut
• Do Not Disturb goes on; the screen saver, Snap and app-crash dialogs go off
• the wallpaper is blacked out on every screen (and left alone under Windows Spotlight, which can't be put back exactly)
• the main display stays main, and a screen that starts mirroring is split back out
• optionally, every app not allowed to play is muted, with a watchdog that unmutes them if Show Mode dies
• pre-show checks point out what no app can switch off, a waiting Windows restart first

Everything it changes is written down first and put back at the end, or on the next launch after a crash. Nothing needs admin.

Download

ShowMode-0.1.0-windows-x64.zip for nearly every PC, ShowMode-0.1.0-windows-arm64.zip for a Snapdragon laptop or Windows on a Mac. Unzip it somewhere it can stay and run ShowMode.exe. The licence and third-party notices are in the zip beside it.

It isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC" the first time: click More info, then Run anyway. With Smart App Control switched on, Windows won't run it at all.

Status

Bench-tested on Windows 11 25H2, on an x64 VM and an ARM64 Parallels guest: starting and ending a show, a crash mid-show and the next launch putting everything back, muting measured by recording the output, and the display lock with two virtual screens. Not yet: a real show, the wallpaper blackout itself, the hotkey pressed, Launch at Login, a restart mid-show, a real projector, and Windows 11 24H2. Keeping Windows-key shortcuts and the cursor off the audience's screens, which the Mac version does, isn't in this one. The user guide lists exactly what was and wasn't checked.