Alcove replaces Explorer's grid of desktop icons with named drawers. They open one at a time, spread into a full canvas once they hold more than a dozen things, and keep their own arrangement on every monitor. A frequent strip along the screen edge fills itself with whatever you actually open, and Ctrl+Space opens a search window from anywhere in Windows. Surfaces take their tint from the wallpaper behind them.
Alcove reads the real files on your Desktop and opens them with the real Windows shell, so nothing is copied or moved unless you move it. Ctrl+Shift+F12 hands the desktop back to Explorer at any time. No account, no telemetry; it works with the network unplugged.
Yes. Alcove is free and open-source software released under the MIT license.
What is the latest version of Alcove?
The latest version is 0.2.4, released on Sep 4, 2026.
Is it safe to download Alcove?
The download button links to the official installer published on github.com, the same file Windows Package Manager installs. You can verify the downloaded file by comparing its SHA-256 checksum with 1cf290735a20abca00520050da2cc97840ee8e30736be1fef071b013ee33dfe7.
Which Windows versions does Alcove support?
Alcove runs on Windows and is available for 64-bit (x64) systems.
How do I install Alcove silently?
Run the offline installer with "Alcove_0.2.4_x64-setup.exe" /S, or install it with Windows Package Manager: winget install --id=Cromis.Alcove -e --silent.
How do I uninstall Alcove?
Open Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Alcove and select Uninstall. From the command line, run winget uninstall --id=Cromis.Alcove -e.
Alternatives to Alcove
Other Command Line Tools programs for Windows from different developers.
