I'm looking to create a startup script for my home office laptop that will automatically launch my programs and position them correctly on my three-display setup. So far, I have this script that opens the applications but doesn't specify where they should appear on the screen. Here's what I have so far:
```powershell
Write-Host "Start VMware Workstation"
& 'C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware Workstationvmware.exe'
Write-Host "Start Notepad"
& 'C:Program FilesNotepad++notepad++.exe'
Start-Process -File "$($env:USERProfile)AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsAppsms-teams.exe"
```
I'd appreciate any advice on how to set specific coordinates for each window when they open. Thanks!
5 Answers
To get your windows positioned just right, you'll likely need to use the Win32 API together with P/Invoke in PowerShell. While opening the applications is straightforward, adjusting their sizes and positions requires a bit more work. You might want to check out some scripts from the PowerShell Gallery, especially `Set-Window.ps1`, which can help with this.
This is definitely doable, but you'll need to dig into P/Invoke and the Win32 API. Look into the user32.dll functions for handling window positioning. There's a resource online that helps with the C++ signatures you’ll need to convert into C#. I have some implementation notes that might help you switch your main monitors back and forth, just let me know if you want to see them!
Have you considered using Powertoys Workspaces? You can define where your apps should be located, and then create a shortcut to include in your login script. It could make things a lot smoother!
You're right that launching apps is the easy part, but placing them correctly is more tricky. Don't just rely on `Start-Process`; you'll need some tools specifically for window management on top of PowerShell.
I actually built a PowerShell tool for repositioning windows and would love to share it! I just need to get home first to pull it up.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll see if that script matches what I need.