FolderHeat

FolderHeat is a lightweight Windows tray utility that keeps your most relevant folders one shortcut away.

It is not a file manager and it is not an Explorer replacement. It is a smart folder launcher: press the hotkey, get a compact popup, and open the folder you probably need right now.

Features

• Tray utility for Windows.
• Global hotkey, configurable from Settings.
• Popup grouped by Active Now, Pinned, Recent, and Frequent.
• Search by folder name or path.
• Manual folder add.
• Add current folder when FolderHeat can infer the active context.
• Pin, unpin, ignore, and restore folders.
• Smart context signals from Explorer, VS Code, Notepad, Notepad++, and Windows recent shortcuts.
• Related-folder and likely-next-folder ranking.
• Local SQLite storage under %LOCALAPPDATA%\FolderHeat.
• Optional start with Windows.
• About dialog with version, GitHub link, license, and diagnostics.

Install

Download the latest portable ZIP from GitHub Releases:

https://github.com/javiergarate/FolderHeat/releases

Extract the ZIP and run:

FolderHeat.App.exe

FolderHeat runs in the system tray. The default shortcut is:

Ctrl + Alt + Space

Usage

• Left-click the tray icon or press the hotkey to open the popup.
• Type to filter folders.
• Press Enter or click Open to open the selected folder.
• Use Pin for folders that should stay easy to reach.
• Use Ignore for noisy folders that should not appear.
• Open Settings from the tray menu to change the shortcut or enable start with Windows.

Popup reasons:

• Current: detected from your active context.
• Next: usually opened after your current context.
• Related: related to the current folder context.
• Pinned: pinned by you.
• Recent: opened recently.
• Frequent: opened often.
• Tracked: known to FolderHeat, with no stronger signal yet.

Privacy

FolderHeat stores its data locally.

By default, the database is stored at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\FolderHeat\folderheat.db

No cloud service is used by the app.

Development

FolderHeat uses:

• C#
• .NET 10
• WinForms
• SQLite
• Lightweight Clean Architecture

Project structure:

src/
  FolderHeat.Domain
  FolderHeat.Application
  FolderHeat.Infrastructure
  FolderHeat.App

tests/
  FolderHeat.Domain.Tests
  FolderHeat.Application.Tests

Build:

dotnet build FolderHeat.slnx

Test:

dotnet test FolderHeat.slnx

Run from source:

dotnet run --project src\FolderHeat.App

Release

Release builds generate a local portable ZIP under artifacts/. ZIP files are ignored by Git and should be published through GitHub Releases.

To publish a version:

dotnet build src\FolderHeat.App\FolderHeat.App.csproj -c Release
git tag v0.7.0
git push origin main
git push origin v0.7.0

The GitHub Actions release workflow also builds the portable ZIP and attaches it to the release for pushed v* tags.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.