MetaDock is, in simple terms, a window manager that runs on top of Windows 10/11.  It allows you to create split screen layouts of multiple applications, games and/or websites.

It saves your layouts and restores them, no matter how complex.  You could have a workspace that consists of 5 MetaDock layouts, each having 5 websites each.  Close & Reload MetaDock, and the entire workspace will be reloaded and restored in 30 seconds.

You are not limited to 1 workspace containing a number of layouts. Rather, you can switch between workspaces that have a different amount of layouts, and it will restore them back where they were, including all the browser windows (& apps if they are still loaded) in the correct positions, on the correct monitor.

MetaDock has a browser engine built-in, based on Edge Chromium.

NOTE: How to use in some cases has some problem and solutions.

Features

Feature Description Use case How to use
Layout system Allows dynamic creation of split screen layouts consisting of websites, applications and/or games.

All windows can be resized as needed. | Finance: where multiple markets need to be monitored at the same time, having multiple websites (in particular, charts/news sites) can be extremely valuable | Opening any new browser window will automatically add them to your layout to the right side (default settings) | | Docking system | Docking guides allow users to move the location of windows to any position in their layout., creating their own layout according to their needs. | | Docking a window:

  1. Drag the title bar of the window you wish to dock.
  2. You should see a visual representation of the window you currently are using (we will call this the docking window)

Relative docking: Dragging the docking window into a different window will display 5 guides (north, south, east, west, and center). We will call the different window the occupying window**.**

Holding the docking window over any of the guides will show a basic preview of the new position.

Releasing the mouse while a preview is open will dock the docking window into that position.

All directions except center: Split the space of the occupying window 50% with the docking window in the direction chosen.

**Center: Tabs the docking window into the same container as the occupying window

North & South: top/bottom split between the occupying window and docking window. ** East & West: left/right split between the occupying window and docking window.

North example: Top is the docking window and bottom is the *occupying window.

East example:: Left is the occupying window* and right is the *docking window.

Absolute docking:* Dragging the docking window anywhere in the layout should show guides at the north, east, south, and west areas of the layout.

Holding the docking window over any of the guides will show you a basic preview of the new position.

Releasing the mouse while a preview is open will dock the window into that position.

These positions take a lot more space and appear outside the current layout | | Layouts | Allows creation of additional MetaDock layouts at the same time (eg multiple metadocks) | One layout is not always enough for all the information required for any use case. | To add a layout: Click on the layouts button, then click on Add Layout and follow the instructions

IMPORTANT: This layout will only be saved for this workspace. You will have to add additional layouts on other workspaces.

To toggle a layout: Click on the layouts button, then click on name of the layout you want to toggle, it should load up if not loaded, or close if it is loaded.

To delete a layout: Click on the layouts button, then click on ‘Manage layouts’, click on the layout you want to remove, then click “Remove”. You will have to confirm your choice.

To make all layouts appear at startup: Go to settings (this is the COG icon on the top of the side toolbar) → click on “Screens”, then under “When I open MetaDock, it should:” click on “All layouts saved in my workspace (on all my monitors) | | Workspaces | Saves the position & contents of multiple instances automatically (auto-save can be disabled optionally).

Multiple workspaces: You can have as many workspaces as you want. They can be exported and imported by other people, minus positions of instances. | Time saving: Load massive layouts with multiple instances spanning across multiple monitors in seconds. | To switch workspaces: Click on the workspaces button, below “Export workspace”, there will be a list of workspaces. Click on the appropriate workspace to switch between.

To create a workspace: Click on the workspaces button,, click ‘Add workspace’ and follow the instructions

To permanently delete a workspace: First, change to a different workspace other than the one you’d like to delete, then:

Click on the workspaces button, click ‘Manage workspaces’, click on the workspace you’d like to delete, then click ‘Remove’. You will have to confirm your choice.

To make a MetaDock instance change workspace independently: Click on the workspace button, click on “Workspace link”.

NOTE: If you observe the icon of Workspace link, a single line means “independent window”, multiple lines means it will change workspace with the rest of MetaDock. | | Browser profile system | Allows users to switch between different browser profiles and as a result enables people to sign in to websites multiple times on different profiles without websites natively supporting this.

MetaDock remembers the profile you used last time on your saved windows in your workspace | Social media marketing: Many agencies have multiple clients on the same platform. It is a tedious amount of work to login to their accounts multiple times (login, logout, or having to resort to multiple browsers, incognito mode which forgets everything if you close it, etc..) | NOTE: The profile button will always be the name of the currently selected profile. It is Session 1 for most users by default.

To switch profiles for next browser you open via any search bar: Click on the profile button, click on the profile you wish to change. This will ONLY affect new windows opened by the URL bar on the top, or bookmarks opened at the top.

To switch profile after on a new tab: Click on the profile button, click on the profile you wish to change. This will ONLY affect new windows opened by the new tab, or bookmarks opened in the new tab.

To switch profiles on an active browser window: Right click on the title bar of the window you wish to change the profile on, go to ‘Change profile’, then click on the profile you wish to change it to. Clicking on it will immediately reload the window into that profile without confirmation.

To create a profile: Click on the profile button on the url bar, click ‘Add profile’, then follow the instructions

To delete a profile: Click on the profile button, click ‘Manage profiles’, then follow the instructions, then click on ‘Delete’. You will have to confirm your choice. | | Native app support (beta) | Allows users to dock normal windows application (and games) into the layout. Not all apps are supported. A list of supported apps is here on reddit. | General productivity: Having your general apps such as Word by your other websites makes it less time consuming than switching between apps. | Before loading apps: Click on the Settings button and click on ‘Enable app support’ under General → General Options, and agree/disagree to the app support agreement.

NOTE: These instructions apply to all search bars, including the browser toolbars if you toggle them on, or always show browser toolbars.

To search by app name: Enter the name of an app (eg discord). You should see a choice to Load app and the name of the application, title, and icon. Click on that choice to mount it.

To search by executable file: Enter the full executable name of the file (eg discord.exe) and if it supported, it should show up.

[Advanced] To search by PID: Find the pid of the application using task manager or other means. Enter the pid digits into the search bar, and the app should show up if supported.

To view all supported apps currently running: Enter anything into the search bar, then scroll down to the bottom where it says “View all apps”. You should see a list of all supported apps that can be mounted currently.

NOTE: The apps list reloads every 10 seconds or so. If your app doesn’t show up, you may have to reload the app, or in the case of games, set to windowed mode to full screen and back in some cases.

To unload an app from MetaDock back into Windows: Close the window from inside MetaDock or switch workspaces. Make sure you use MetaDock’s [x] button, not the one that belongs to the application.

If you accidentally move the application inside the docked window and want to resize it to correct proportions: Simply dock another window in the interface, or resize the specific docked window, this should reset it. | | Privacy system | Allows users to quickly hide & mute a single browser window, or the entire layout of all instances.

MetaDock browser windows (not to be confused with native apps that are browsers) in both cases are muted. | Confidential client data: A client walks in, and I need to hide some information quickly. | To hide a single MetaDock browser window: Click inside the window and press F8

To hide all layouts across all instances: Click the insideof any browser window and press F2. Or click on the shortcuts and go to “Hide layout”. | | Multi-functions secondary toolbar | Allows users to add either a bookmark, international clock, or RSS feed to a toolbar | | To toggle the toolbar: Press on the star icon on the main toolbar. If it’s filled, the toolbar is shown If it’s empty, it’s hidden.

To add a bookmark: Click on the “(+) Add” button on the toolbar, then click Add Bookmark, then choose the bookmark you want to use, or enter a custom link and name.

To add an international clock: Click on the “(+) Add” button on the toolbar, then click Add Time, then choose the appropriate time zone.

TIP: IF you don’t know exactly by name, you can always use the UTC values at the bottom. You can google “my city UTC offset” and you should get a result, then you can apply this in the clock.

TIP: Date can be omitted by unchecking “Show date” & am/pm clock can be used if you uncheck “Use 24-hour clock”

To add an RSS feed: Click on the “(+) Add” button on the toolbar, then click Add RSS Feed, follow the instructions. | | Interface customization | Allows users to do the following (application wide):

To use a premade theme: At the very bottom, there should be a box that says “Light”. Simply select anything other than Light, and it will change the entire interface to that theme. Please note that doing so will reload browser windows.

To change font: Click on “Change font”, and select font, font style & size.

To see a custom font in the change font dialog: Simply download the font in OTF or TTF, right click on it and install it to Windows fonts. Afterwards, restart MetaDock if it’s loaded.

To change text color: Scroll down to “text color” and click “Pick color”

To change background color: Scroll down to “text color” and click “Pick color”

To change title color: Scroll down to “text color” and click “Pick color”

NOTE: For all colors, make sure there is a contrast between them. For example, white text & black background is okay, but white text & white background is unreadable. If it becomes unreadable, simply click on the last box in the “Interfaces” area of settings and choose a premade theme, then adjust colors accordingly.

To change interface icon sizes: Slide the lever on the “Icon size” control. You should see immediately results on the toolbar.

To change the resize grip size: Slide the lever on the “Resize grip size” control. You should see immediately results if you have more than 1 window open. It is recommended to do this with 4 windows to properly see the result. | | Extensions | Allows use of some extensions. | | To install an extension: go to the chrome web store or microsoft edge add-ons, and go to the appropriate extension page. Refresh the page. You should see a popup asking if you want to install.

To disable an extension: Open a browser to the profile you are looking to disable it on. Right click on the title bar and go to “Show extension list”, select the correct extenson and click **Disable.

To configure an extension:** Open a browser to the profile you are looking to disable it on. Right click on the title bar and go to “Show extension list”, select the correct extenson and click Configure. This only works on some extensions.

To uninstall an extension: Open a browser to the profile you are looking to disable it on. Right click on the title bar and go to “Show extension list”, select the correct extenson and click Uninstall.

To remove extensions (emergency only): Close MetaDock. ****Open ****into file explorer. Enter the folder: %localappdata%\\metadock\\extensions, and delete the appropriate extension. Extension folder names should be descriptive. | | Equalize button | Attempts to make the size of all docked windows | | Press the equals button on the toolbar and confirm | | Redock button (Grid) | Re-docks the entire layout in a grid layout, correcting any issues with the current layout and re-enabling auto docking | | Press the grid button on the toolbar and confirm | | Destroy button | Removes all windows from the current layout | | Press the destroy button on the toolbar and confirm | | Floating Search Bar | Allows a user to use a floating search bar that automatically disappears after use and does not take up layout space. | A user can get more layout space by disabling the universal search bar and only using the floating search bar | To open the toolbar: On the side toolbar, click the [+] Button, and a search bar should automatically appear in the middle of the MetaDock layout.

Browser Shortcut: Ctrl+T

NOTE: May have to click inside browser, then attempt the shortcut. | | Universal Search bar | Gives a normal search bar like a normal browser | | To enable/disable: Click on COG icon/Settings, on the sidebar then click on ‘Enable Universal Search bar’ to toggle it on/off. | | New Window Button | Creates a new tab that allows you to either go to a website, bookmark, or load an app/game into a window | | To activate: Press the new tab button on the sidebar, which will be indicated by a [+] icon, or [+] New Button. This will create a new window that is automatically docked into your interface, depending on your settings.

To load a website or search in a new tab: Click on the part that says “Search or enter address”. Enter an address (eg https://www.google.com) or a search (eg how do I open a new window in metadock)

To load a bookmark in a new tab: Simply choose the bookmark you want, and it will load into the window.

To embed an app in a new tab: Read section above about app feature (beta). It is covered there. | | Sidebar & Top Toolbar Adjustment | Allows you to hide, or customize the appearance of the sidebar & top toolbar | Less text, less clutter. More room for more windows. | To toggle between modes for sidebar: Left Click the sidebar button (picture pending) on the top next to the MetaDock logo, it will toggle between different modes.

To toggle between modes for top toolbar: Left Click the top toolbar button (picture pending) on the top next to the MetaDock logo, it will toggle between different modes.

To set a specific mode for sidebar: Right Click the sidebar button (picture pending) on the top next to the MetaDock logo, , it will show you a list of options with different toolbar modes.

To set a specific modes for top toolbar: Right Click the top toolbar button (picture pending) on the top next to the MetaDock logo, it will show you a list of options with different toolbar modes. | | | | | |