[Bug]: File converter does not keep memory of its window size #586

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1. fabio42170

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   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   on Oct 25, 2026
2. cre8ive-marketing commented on Oct 25, 2026

   

   cre8ive-marketing

   on Oct 25, 2026

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   Thanks for the report and the screenshot, @fabio42170!

   Why it happens: Filee remembers the window's position, size and page, but only in memory (WindowService.MainWindowPlacement). Closing the window to the tray and opening it again keeps them; quitting Filee forgets them, and the window comes back at its fixed 1080 × 760. On a smaller screen, or with display scaling, that is taller than the screen, which is the cut-off window in your screenshot.

   What I'd do:

   1. Save the placement (size, position, maximized) in settings.json when the window closes, and use it at the next start. It's a new optional property with no schema change: a settings file without it opens as today.
   2. Keep the window on a screen that's still there and inside its working area, also for the first start. A 1080 × 760 window on a 1366 × 768 screen at 125 % then fits instead of running off the bottom.

   @KnifeLemon, nobody seems to be on this. Could you assign it to me? I'd keep it small and post the plan here first. #583 also edits WindowService.cs and AppSettings.cs, so I'd base it on whichever lands first.
3. fabio42170 commented on Oct 25, 2026

   

   fabio42170

   on Oct 25, 2026

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   Hi!
   After resizing the window, I tried to save the presets by using the preset export menu, to no avail as I can't seem to find out the filee-preset.json file created after exporting. So, I decided to open the parameter folder located in C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Roaming\Filee and modify the settings.json, but what should I insert in it? If I want to have a window as large as 1000x700, how can I code this? (and if I want to have the window in the middle of my screen, what other parameters should I insert?) The settings of the window size also appear in the presets.json, I modified them, in vain.
   Can you help me please?
   Thanks
4. cre8ive-marketing commented on Oct 25, 2026

   

   cre8ive-marketing

   on Oct 25, 2026

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   Thanks for trying, @fabio42170! In 2.1.0 there is no setting for the window's size or position in settings.json; that's what this issue would add. So editing the files can't do it yet:

   • The width / longEdge values in presets.json are a preset's picture resize options, not the window. If you changed them, set them back (or reset those presets), or those presets will resize pictures differently.
   • Preset export (Settings → General → Export) opens a Save dialog. The file goes where you pick in it, named filee-presets.json unless you change the name.

   What works today: make everything in the window smaller, so the window fits your screen. Press Ctrl + minus (or Ctrl + mouse wheel), or use Theme → Window size; Ctrl + 0 goes back to normal. This one is remembered after a restart (it's uiScale in settings.json, 0.7 to 1.8).

   Remembering the size and position you choose is the fix proposed above, waiting for the maintainer's go-ahead. It isn't released yet.
5. KnifeLemon

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   cre8ive-marketing

   on Oct 26, 2026
6. KnifeLemon commented on Oct 26, 2026

   

   KnifeLemon

   on Oct 26, 2026 – with Claude

   Last edited by KnifeLemon

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   @cre8ive-marketing yes please, it's yours. Both parts of your plan sound right: an optional placement property in settings.json (no schema bump), and keeping the window on a screen that's still there, inside its working area, also on the first start. Please post the plan here before the code. #583 won't land as it is (it's being split), so base it on main.
7. cre8ive-marketing commented on Oct 26, 2026

   

   cre8ive-marketing

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   Thanks @KnifeLemon! The plan, based on main:

   1. Remember the placement across restarts

   • AppSettings.MainWindow (new, optional, null by default; no schema bump): X, Y (screen pixels), Width, Height (device-independent, as ClientSize) and Maximized, the same values WindowService.MainWindowPlacement already keeps in memory today. Maximized keeps the size it had before, as today.
   • It's written when the main window closes (Closing, while it's still on screen), by a quiet save like SaveUiScale. It doesn't raise SettingsChanged, so nothing else is re-applied.
   • At start, CreateMain uses it when there's no in-memory placement yet. The page shown stays in memory only, as today.

   2. Keep the window on a screen, inside its working area (also on the first start, when nothing is saved)

   • The saved position is only used if its screen is still there (as ApplyTo already checks); otherwise the window is centred on the primary screen.
   • The size is fitted to that screen's working area, less a small margin. The 820 × 560 minimum is lowered for that window when the screen itself is smaller, so a 1366 × 768 screen at 125 % (1093 × 614) gets a window that fits instead of running off the bottom.
   • A window partly off screen (a monitor moved or rescaled) is moved back inside.

   Platforms: Windows and macOS restore position and size. On Wayland the compositor places windows itself, so only the size is restored there; the position is left alone, as Avalonia ignores it.

   Tests (headless has screens, so the fitting can be tested):

   • the placement round-trips through settings.json;
   • an old settings.json without it loads;
   • a saved position on a missing screen falls back to the centre;
   • an oversized saved size and the first-start default are fitted into a small working area;
   • the minimum is lowered only when needed.
8. KnifeLemon commented on Oct 26, 2026

   

   KnifeLemon

   on Oct 26, 2026 – with Claude

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   @cre8ive-marketing the plan looks good, go ahead. One thing to cover: saving only on the window's Closing has to work when Filee quits while the window is open (Quit from the tray, and Windows signing out or shutting down), not only when the window is closed to the tray. Please include that in the tests or say how you checked it.
9. fabio42170 commented on Oct 26, 2026

   

   fabio42170

   on Oct 26, 2026

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   @cre8ive-marketing Actually, the text fits well in the window, that's not really the issue. If I unzoom with ctrl minus (or with the mouse), the text becomes too tiny. Ok, the app keeps remembering those settings indeed, but the point is that the window is still larger than the screen, and if you wish to use the app rather than the wheel (with the right-click context menu in windows), the application is full height and covers the screen so it's not really handy to go seek a file in your explorer (behind the main Filee window) and drag and drop it in Filee. Hope you see my point.
   Thanks anyway
10. KnifeLemon commented on Oct 26, 2026

    

    KnifeLemon

    on Oct 26, 2026 – with Claude

    Last edited by KnifeLemon

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    @fabio42170 I see your point, thanks for explaining. Making everything smaller isn't the fix you need: the window itself is taller than your screen.

    That's what the fix @cre8ive-marketing is working on covers. Part 2 of the plan fits the window inside your screen's working area (above the taskbar), also on the very first start, and part 1 remembers the size and position you give it after a restart. So you'll be able to make it e.g. 1000 × 700, put it next to Explorer and drag files across. It isn't released yet; I'll post here when it is.
11. cre8ive-marketing commented on Oct 27, 2026

    

    cre8ive-marketing

    on Oct 27, 2026

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    PR #640 is open: the window's size, position and maximized state are saved on Closing (close-to-tray, Quit, and Windows sign-out/shutdown all covered) and restored on the next start, fitted to the screen.
12. fabio42170 commented on Oct 27, 2026

    

    fabio42170

    on Oct 27, 2026

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    Prefect! Thanks for following up on that!
13. KnifeLemon

    added 2 commits that reference this issue on Oct 27, 2026

    Keep the saved size when Filee quits maximized or minimized (KnifeLem…

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    c9139b0

    Main window: open where it was after a restart, always fitting its sc…

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    7a7cf8f
14. KnifeLemon

    closed this as completedin #640on Oct 27, 2026
15. KnifeLemon

    added 2 commits that reference this issue on Oct 27, 2026

    Test that quitting and Windows signing out remember the main window (#…

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    777da40

    Merge pull request #640 from cre8ive-marketing/fix/586-main-window-pl…

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    945b50a