In daily work, users may edit more than a dozen Word documents or Excel spreadsheets simultaneously, keep dozens of browser tabs open, fill the entire taskbar with File Explorer windows, and also run terminals and code editors. When switching with the Alt+Tab shortcut, windows are arranged in a long queue, and each switch advances one position. Virtual desktops can separate them, but after switching to another desktop, windows still have to be moved manually, and there is no way to aggregate a certain category of windows for one-click operations.
The taskbar and Alt+Tab use flat ordering and carry no semantics, so finding the three windows for that contract requires scanning them visually one by one. Windows groups only by application; if Word, Excel, and browser windows are mixed in the same task, they cannot be grouped. Moreover, when work is finished, files and windows must still be closed one by one, and for an ad hoc meeting, windows must still be minimized one by one.
Attempts have been made to solve this problem with AutoHotkey scripts, which can also perform batch operations by process, but the rules must be hard-coded and there is no unified interface, making modification highly inconvenient. Many tools were examined, but none provided the function of grouping and operating windows according to rules, so the tool was developed independently.
The main requirements are threefold: flexible custom grouping rules, the ability to perform unified operations by group, especially window cycling, and instant access to frequently used groups through custom global hotkeys. Custom grouping rules support a name plus multiple matching rules, including title, class name, handle, PID, process name, and main executable name, with support for regular expressions, negation, and any/all matching. Unified operations support activating, maximizing, minimizing, and closing an entire group, as well as cycling within a group. Global hotkeys are mapped to the five unified operations and support one-key invocation. The tool is very compact and lightweight, starts quickly, and is always ready.
Office scenario: one group per client, with Word, Excel, PDF, and browser windows gathered together with one click and able to be minimized, closed, and cycled at any time.
Development scenario: terminal windows, code editors, and log windows are each assigned to a group, and a hotkey such as Ctrl+Alt+1/2/3 is bound to each group for direct switching. Cycling within a group behaves like pressing Alt+Tab within a single group and focuses only on windows in that group.
Customer service duty: work orders, knowledge base, and chat windows are fixed into a group, so private windows will not be accidentally brought to the foreground.
Presentation scenario: groups are prepared in advance; during the presentation, rotation is performed within the group, so unrelated windows do not appear on the large presentation screen.
Temporary tasks: select several windows to create a temporary group and disband it when no longer needed, without writing configuration as is required when using AutoHotkey.
The essence of window management is not aesthetic arrangement but making windows follow tasks; WindowNest enables rules to be written once and switching to be handled by hotkeys.