Layout Presets
Capture your current desktop icon layout and save it as a named preset. Restore any preset instantly to return icons to their saved positions.
Windows Desktop Layout Utility
Your desktop, exactly where you left it.
Phexicon — Desktop Layout Control
Phexicon captures, arranges, restores, and protects desktop icon layouts across changing monitor configurations. It accounts for icon size, spacing, label footprint, DPI scaling, and visible work areas — so your desktop stays organized after docking, undocking, resolution changes, and Explorer resets.
- Multi-monitor aware
- Icon-size aware
- Fully offline
- No telemetry
Product preview — not a screenshot
Monitor 1
150% DPI
Stream
OBS
Chat
Tools zone
Monitor 2
100% DPI
Dev
Editor
Term
Music
Mail
Files
Dev zone
Apps zone
The problem and the promise
The problem
Windows icon layouts can shift after:
- Display changes — connecting or disconnecting monitors.
- Docking or undocking a laptop.
- DPI scaling changes between sessions.
- Resolution changes or driver updates.
- Explorer restarts or system updates.
- Manual rearrangement that you did not intend to keep.
The promise
Phexicon treats a desktop layout as a reusable, inspectable system rather than a fragile pile of coordinates. Save a configuration once, then restore it instantly — even after your monitor arrangement changes. Adapt layouts to new icon sizes or DPI settings without losing your visual intent.
Core capabilities
Six capabilities that make Phexicon a precise desktop instrument.
Multi-Monitor Mapping
Preserve visual intent across changed display arrangements, including negative virtual coordinates. Phexicon maps icons to the correct monitor even after reconfiguration.
Icon-Size Awareness
Account for icon image size, label footprint, horizontal and vertical spacing, grid alignment, and DPI when previewing or adapting a layout — not just raw coordinates.
Live Layout Editor
Arrange icons on a virtual monitor canvas before applying anything to the real desktop. Preview changes, adjust positions, and commit only when satisfied.
Icon Guard
Detect meaningful layout drift and restore the active preset according to your chosen protection policy — automatically, on confirmation, or log-only.
Tray and Hotkeys
Switch layouts, save the current arrangement, undo a load, and open Phexicon from the system tray or with global hotkeys — without interrupting your current workflow.
Interactive preset showcase
Select a preset to see how Phexicon arranges icons across monitors.
Product preview — not a screenshot
Streamer Focus
- Intended use
- Streamers who need a clean game or capture monitor.
- Monitor strategy
- Primary display kept minimal; streaming tools on supporting monitors.
- Density
- Low on primary, medium on secondary.
- Icon-size adaptation
- Adapts positions when icon size changes, preserving zone boundaries.
Minimal Zen
- Intended use
- Users who want a calm, uncluttered desktop.
- Monitor strategy
- Essentials prominent; remaining icons in clean archive rails.
- Density
- Very low.
- Icon-size adaptation
- Reflows archive rails to fit larger icons without overlap.
Dockshift
- Intended use
- Laptop users who regularly dock and undock.
- Monitor strategy
- Docked and undocked variants; icons remap to available displays.
- Density
- Medium docked, low undocked.
- Icon-size adaptation
- Adjusts spacing when external monitor DPI differs from laptop DPI.
Productivity Fortress
- Intended use
- Developers and power users with categorized workspaces.
- Monitor strategy
- Dev, Social, Tools, Media, and System zones across monitors.
- Density
- Medium-high.
- Icon-size adaptation
- Maintains zone boundaries; reflows within each zone.
Nightcore Constellation
- Intended use
- Users who want visually distinctive, clustered layouts.
- Monitor strategy
- Constellation-like clusters with radial and curved patterns.
- Density
- Medium.
- Icon-size adaptation
- Adjusts cluster spacing to prevent label collisions at larger sizes.
Icon-size awareness and adaptation
Phexicon presets consider more than raw x, y coordinates. Each icon is
treated as a visual footprint, not a point.
Original preset
Icons at 48px with standard spacing. No overlap.
Larger icon size, no adaptation
Labels overlap. Spacing insufficient for the new size.
Phexicon-adapted result
Positions reflowed. Labels clear. Visual intent preserved.
What Phexicon accounts for
- Icon image dimensions
- Label footprint and line wrapping
- Horizontal and vertical spacing
- Grid alignment behavior
- Monitor work area boundaries
- DPI scaling factor
- Reserved zones and taskbar area
Three apply modes
Positions Only
Restore icon positions without changing icon size, spacing, or view settings. Use when your display configuration has not changed.
Restore View and Positions
Restore the saved icon size, spacing, and label settings along with positions. Use when you want the desktop to match the preset exactly.
Adapt Preset
Recalculate positions to account for the current icon size, DPI, and monitor work area. Designed to preserve visual intent when supported by Windows.
How it works
1
Capture
Phexicon reads the current desktop icon positions, view settings, and monitor topology. Every icon is identified by its Windows Shell item identity, not just its display name.
2
Save
Save the captured layout as a named preset. The preset stores icon positions, monitor mappings, view settings, and layout options in a local file.
3
Preview or adapt
Open the layout editor to preview the preset on a virtual monitor canvas. Adjust positions, or let Phexicon adapt the layout to a changed monitor configuration or icon size.
4
Restore and protect
Apply the preset to move icons to their saved positions. Enable Icon Guard to detect drift and restore the layout automatically. Undo any apply with a single action.
Phexicon is designed around Windows Shell item identities, monitor-relative coordinates, layout verification after apply, and transactional undo snapshots. It does not rely on fragile window-title matching or screenshot-based detection.
Product principles
Offline-first operation
Phexicon works without an internet connection. No feature requires network access.
No telemetry
No usage data, analytics, or diagnostics are sent anywhere. Your desktop stays private.
No account requirement
No sign-up, login, or cloud account. Phexicon runs entirely on your machine.
Local preset storage
Presets are stored as local files. Import, export, and synchronize via any folder you choose.
Transactional undo
Every layout apply creates an undo snapshot. Revert to the previous arrangement with one action.
No admin access for normal operation
Phexicon does not require administrator privileges for everyday capture and restore operations.
Windows 10 and 11 target support
Phexicon is designed for Windows 10 and Windows 11 (64-bit).
Honest about Explorer limitations
Some Windows Shell behaviors are imperfect. Phexicon reports verification results and warnings rather than silently failing.
Development status
In active development
Phexicon is under active development. When a verified release is available, a download link will appear here.
Frequently asked questions
What does Phexicon save?
Phexicon saves the positions of your desktop icons, along with the monitor topology, icon view settings (size, spacing, label wrap), DPI scaling factor, and layout options. Each icon is identified by its Windows Shell item identity for reliable matching across sessions.
Does it support multiple monitors?
Yes. Phexicon is designed for multi-monitor setups. It maps icons to their original monitors using monitor-relative coordinates and can remap icons when the display arrangement changes, including monitors with negative virtual coordinates.
Does it account for icon size and DPI?
Yes. Phexicon stores icon image size, label footprint, horizontal and vertical spacing, and DPI scale factor with each preset. When you apply a preset with the Adapt mode, positions are recalculated to account for the current icon size and DPI, preserving visual intent.
Can it prevent Windows from rearranging icons?
Icon Guard detects when icons have drifted from the active preset and restores the layout according to your chosen policy. It does not physically prevent icon dragging — instead, it detects meaningful drift and can restore automatically, ask first, or log the change.
Does it require an internet connection?
No. Phexicon operates entirely offline. No feature requires network access, and no data is transmitted.
Does it upload desktop information?
No. Phexicon has no telemetry, no analytics, and no network communication. All preset data stays on your machine in local files.
What happens when a monitor is disconnected?
Phexicon can adapt the layout to the remaining monitors. Icons from the disconnected display are remapped according to the preset's monitor strategy and your chosen apply mode. When the monitor is reconnected, restoring the preset returns icons to their original positions.
Is Phexicon available now?
Phexicon is in active development. When a verified release is available, the download link will appear on this page. You can explore the capabilities and interactive previews above to see what is being built.