GitHub - cool-RR/dodo: Dodo: Desktop Switcher for Windows

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Dodo Desktop Switcher

A lightweight Windows system tray application that adds convenient keyboard shortcuts for Windows 10/11 virtual desktops.

The Problem

Windows 10 and 11 have excellent built-in virtual desktop support, but the default keyboard shortcuts are awkward:

  • Ctrl+Win+Left/Right - Hard to remember which direction is which desktop
  • No direct jumping - You must cycle through desktops one by one to reach desktop 5
  • Awkward window moving - Moving windows between desktops requires multiple steps
  • No quick "return to previous" - Can't easily toggle between two workspaces

If you're trying to organize your work across multiple virtual desktops, these limitations make the feature frustrating to use.

The Solution

Dodo provides intuitive keyboard shortcuts that make virtual desktops actually usable:

Basic Shortcuts

  • Alt+1 through Alt+9 - Jump directly to desktops 1-9
  • Alt+0 - Jump to desktop 10
  • Alt+- - Return to your previous desktop (like Alt+Tab but for desktops)
  • Alt+Shift+1 through Alt+Shift+0 - Move the active window to a specific desktop
  • Alt+Shift+` - Pin/unpin the active window to all desktops

Advanced Features

  • Ctrl+Alt+- - Generate a snapshot of your current window layout (Toxita feature)
  • Ctrl+Alt+Shift+- - Show desktop number overlay on demand
  • Desktop Names - Customize desktop names shown in overlays
  • Auto-Pinning - Automatically pin windows based on title patterns
  • Desktop Monitoring - Automatically show overlay when desktops change

Dodo automatically ensures you have 10 virtual desktops available and shows a brief on-screen indicator when you switch desktops.

Installation

pip install dodo-desktop-switcher

Auto-start with Windows

To have Dodo start automatically when you log in:

This creates a shortcut in your Windows Startup folder. Dodo will run silently in your system tray.

To remove from startup:

To check installation status:

Usage

After installation, simply run:

Dodo will appear in your system tray. The keyboard shortcuts are immediately active.

Right-click the system tray icon to:

  • View all available shortcuts
  • Manually switch desktops via menu
  • Exit the application

Requirements

  • Windows 10 or Windows 11
  • Python 3.12 or later
  • Virtual desktops must be enabled (they are by default)

How It Works

Dodo doesn't create or manage virtual desktops itself - Windows does all the heavy lifting. Dodo simply:

  1. Uses the pyvda library to interface with Windows' built-in Virtual Desktop API
  2. Registers global hotkeys using pywin32
  3. Provides a system tray interface using wxPython

This means Dodo is lightweight, reliable, and works seamlessly with Windows' native virtual desktop features.

Advanced Features

Toxita: Window Layout Management

Dodo includes a powerful feature called "Toxita" that lets you save and restore window layouts across desktops:

  1. Generate a snapshot: Press Ctrl+Alt+- to create ~/.dodo/toxita.yaml with all your current windows organized by desktop
  2. Edit the layout: The YAML file will open automatically - move window entries between desktops by editing the file
  3. Auto-apply changes: Dodo watches the file - when you save it, windows are automatically moved to match your layout

This is perfect for:

  • Quickly reorganizing your workspace
  • Creating repeatable window layouts
  • Moving many windows between desktops at once

Desktop Names

Customize the names shown in desktop overlays by creating ~/.dodo/names.yaml:

desktop_1: Code
desktop_2: Browser
desktop_3: Communication
desktop_10: Music

Desktop names appear in the overlay when switching desktops, making it easier to remember what's on each desktop.

Auto-Pinning

Automatically pin windows to all desktops based on their titles. Create ~/.dodo/always_pinned with regex patterns (one per line):

.*Spotify.*
.*Discord.*
Task Manager

Any window whose title matches these patterns will be automatically pinned to all desktops. If you manually unpin a window using `Alt+Shift+``, Dodo will respect that choice and won't re-pin it.

Uninstallation

dodo --uninstall  # Remove from startup
pip uninstall dodo-desktop-switcher

Troubleshooting

Hotkeys don't work:

  • Make sure Dodo is running (check system tray)
  • Check if another application is using the same keyboard shortcuts
  • Try restarting Dodo

"Failed to initialize Virtual Desktop Manager":

  • Virtual desktops must be enabled in Windows
  • Try creating a virtual desktop manually first (Win+Tab, then "New Desktop")
  • Restart Windows and try again

Application doesn't start:

  • Make sure you're running Windows 10 or 11
  • Check that all dependencies installed correctly: pip install --upgrade dodo-desktop-switcher

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Author

Created by Ram Rachum (ram@rachum.com)