🔗 AlwaysBindWindow

Bind multiple windows together — move, activate, and minimize as one.

将多个窗口绑定在一起 — 同步移动、激活、最小化，如同一体。

English | 中文

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English

What is this?

AlwaysBindWindow lets you group windows from different applications so they behave as one unit:

• Activate together: Click any window in a group → all grouped windows come to the foreground
• Move together: Drag one window → all others follow, maintaining their relative positions
• Minimize/Restore together: Minimize one → all minimize; restore one → all restore
• Visual lasso selection: Just like taking a screenshot — drag a rectangle to select windows

Quick Start

1. Download the latest release from Releases
2. Run always-bind-window.exe — it starts as a system tray icon
3. Press Ctrl+Alt+G — a dark overlay appears
4. Drag a rectangle over the windows you want to bind
5. Release mouse — done! The windows are now linked

Hotkeys

Hotkey	Action
Ctrl+Alt+G	Lasso-select windows to bind
Ctrl+Alt+D	Unbind the group under cursor
Ctrl+Alt+U	Unbind all groups

All hotkeys are customizable — right-click the tray icon → Hotkey Settings to change them in-app.

Tray Menu

Right-click the tray icon for:

• Bind / Unbind controls
• Hotkey Settings — change shortcuts directly in a visual dialog
• Language toggle (Switch to English ↔ 切换到中文)
• Auto-start on login toggle
• Quit

Settings

Settings are stored at:

• Windows: %APPDATA%/AlwaysBindWindow/settings.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/AlwaysBindWindow/settings.json

Example settings.json:

{
  "lang": "auto",
  "hotkey_bind": { "modifiers": "Ctrl+Alt", "key": "G" },
  "hotkey_unbind_cursor": { "modifiers": "Ctrl+Alt", "key": "D" },
  "hotkey_unbind_all": { "modifiers": "Ctrl+Alt", "key": "U" },
  "sync_move": true,
  "sync_minimize": true,
  "auto_start": false
}

How It Works

1. Window Event Hooks (SetWinEventHook): Monitors foreground changes, minimize/restore events
2. Polling Thread (8ms/~120fps): Tracks cursor position to sync window movement with zero drift
3. Z-order Preservation: When bringing a group to front, internal window stacking order is maintained
4. Occlusion-aware Selection: Only visible (non-occluded) windows can be selected during lasso

Platform Support

Platform	Status
Windows 10/11	✅ Fully supported
macOS	🚧 Planned
Linux	📋 Planned

Build from Source

# Prerequisites: Rust 1.75+
git clone https://github.com/XR-stb/AlwaysBindWindow.git
cd AlwaysBindWindow
cargo build --release
# Binary at: target/release/always-bind-window.exe

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中文

这是什么？

AlwaysBindWindow 可以将不同应用的窗口绑定成一组，像同一个软件的窗口一样联动：

• 同步激活：点击组内任一窗口 → 所有窗口一起浮到前台
• 同步移动：拖动一个窗口 → 其他窗口跟着动，保持相对位置
• 同步最小化/恢复：最小化一个 → 全部最小化；恢复一个 → 全部恢复
• 框选绑定：像截图一样拖一个框，框住的窗口就绑在一起了

快速开始

1. 从 Releases 下载最新版本
2. 运行 always-bind-window.exe — 程序以系统托盘图标驻留
3. 按 Ctrl+Alt+G — 屏幕出现暗色覆盖层
4. 拖框选择要绑定的窗口
5. 松开鼠标 — 完成！窗口已绑定

快捷键

快捷键	功能
Ctrl+Alt+G	框选绑定窗口
Ctrl+Alt+D	解绑光标所在的组
Ctrl+Alt+U	解绑全部

所有快捷键均可在软件中直接修改 — 右键托盘图标 → 快捷键设置。

托盘菜单

右键托盘图标：

• 绑定 / 解绑操作
• 快捷键设置 — 直接在界面中修改快捷键
• 语言切换（切换到中文 ↔ Switch to English）
• 开机自启动开关
• 退出

配置文件

配置文件位于：

• Windows: %APPDATA%/AlwaysBindWindow/settings.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/AlwaysBindWindow/settings.json

首次运行会自动生成默认配置。快捷键建议通过托盘菜单的「快捷键设置」修改，实时生效无需重启。

技术原理

1. 事件钩子 (SetWinEventHook)：监听窗口激活、最小化、恢复事件
2. 轮询线程 (8ms/~120fps)：追踪鼠标位置实现零漂移的窗口跟随移动
3. Z-order 保持：前置窗口组时保持组内原有的窗口层级关系
4. 遮挡感知框选：只有在屏幕上可见的窗口才会被框选到

从源码构建

# 需要 Rust 1.75+
git clone https://github.com/XR-stb/AlwaysBindWindow.git
cd AlwaysBindWindow
cargo build --release
# 产物：target/release/always-bind-window.exe

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License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.