Install and first run
WindowPin has no installer. You run the file you downloaded, and that is the whole installation. Windows may show one warning the first time, so here is what it means and how to get past it.
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1
Download it
Your browser may hold the file back as one that “isn’t commonly downloaded”. In Chrome, open the ⋮ menu next to the download and choose Keep. In Edge, use […] → Keep.
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2
The “Windows protected your PC” dialog
Run the file and a blue dialog appears once. Click More info at the bottom left and a Run anyway button appears. You only ever see this the first time.
More infoRun anywayDon’t run -
3
That is all
No setup screen, no restart. An icon appears in the tray and you can start using it.
Installing with Scoop — for first-timers
You don't need to have used a command line before. Open one window and paste the lines below in order. No administrator rights are needed.
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Open a PowerShell window
Press Start, type powershell, and click [Windows PowerShell] in the list. Do not choose [Run as administrator] — Scoop refuses to install from an elevated window. When a dark blue window appears, you're ready.
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Check whether Scoop is already there
Paste the line below and press Enter — a right-click pastes into that window. If a version number appears, Scoop is already installed and you can skip to step 4. If you see “is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet”, go to step 3.
> scoop --version - 3
Install Scoop (only if you don't have it)
Paste the two lines below one at a time, pressing Enter after each. If the first one asks whether to continue, type Y and press Enter. The second takes about a minute.
> Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
> Invoke-RestMethod -Uri https://get.scoop.sh | Invoke-Expression - 4
Install WindowPin
Two lines and you're done. The first tells Scoop where our repository is; the second does the actual install. It takes about thirty seconds.
> scoop bucket add windowpin https://github.com/work517/scoop-windowpin
> scoop install windowpin - 5
Run it, and get new versions later
WindowPin appears in the Start menu. To open it straight from the window, type windowpin. When a new version comes out, the line below brings it in.
> scoop update windowpin
If your browser warns you
The file is signed with our Projectteamforyou code-signing certificate. Even so, Chrome may call it a file that “isn't commonly downloaded” and Windows SmartScreen may report an unknown publisher. That is about how new the certificate is, not about the file being unsafe.
If you would rather check for yourself
Check that the file you got is the real one
Paste this single line into PowerShell and it prints the checksum of the file you just downloaded. If it matches the value above, the file is exactly what we published.
325face4e560a209f5ef125aef3db9761f7f236a73d5c779dc077eadd186eaf1> Get-FileHash "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\WindowPin-3.1.2-win-x64.exe" -Algorithm SHA256 | Format-List
Read the VirusTotal report →
See how roughly seventy antivirus engines judged this exact file. The link goes straight to the checksum of the build we published.
Install from the command line →
Scoop and winget never touch the browser, so no warning appears at all. They also verify the checksum for you.
Lightweight build
Nothing about the app itself. The large file carries the .NET runtime inside it and runs anywhere; the lightweight build uses the runtime already on the PC. If it is missing, Windows offers to install it on first run. If you are not sure, take the large file above.
Lightweight build · 975 KB
If this PC already has the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime, this file is all you need. The app is identical — only the download is smaller.
434fb5e764d9129445685e97215e78659d6a70b0b9b98c592ba32a13cd236310Removing it
Delete the executable and it is gone. Your notes live in %APPDATA%\WindowPin; delete that folder too and nothing is left behind. If you enabled the desktop right-click menu, turn it off in Settings first.