A Windhawk mod that displays a visual indicator and vignette effect when switching virtual desktops on Windows 11.
- Desktop Indicator — shows which virtual desktop is active
- Numbers style:
[1] 2 3 4 - Dots style:
⏺ ○ ○ ○
- Numbers style:
- Vignette Effect — smooth radial gradient flash on desktop switch
- Smooth Animations — eased transitions for indicator and vignette
- Multi-Monitor Support — display on all monitors or primary only
- Fully Configurable — position, colors, sizes, animation speeds, feather, intensity
- Windows 11 22H2 or later
- Windhawk v1.5+
- Install Windhawk
- Open Windhawk → click "Create a new mod"
- Copy the contents of
virtual-desktop-indicator.wh.cppinto the editor - Click Compile Mod (Ctrl+B), then Enable
Coming soon — pending submission to the official Windhawk mods repository.
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Indicator Position | Top Left | Screen corner for the overlay |
| Horizontal Offset | 20 px | Pixel offset from corner |
| Vertical Offset | 12 px | Pixel offset from corner |
| Indicator Style | Dots | Numbers or Dots |
| Indicator Size | 14 px | Font/dot size |
| Active Color | White | Color of the active desktop indicator |
| Inactive Color | Gray | Color of inactive indicators |
| Show Background | Yes | Rounded pill behind indicator |
| Background Opacity | 180 | Pill background opacity (0–255) |
| Always Visible | No | Keep indicator on screen permanently |
| Fade Delay | 2000 ms | How long indicator stays after switching |
| Animation Speed | 200 ms | Highlight slide animation duration |
| Vignette Enabled | Yes | Flash vignette on desktop switch |
| Vignette Color | (0, 220, 120) | Vignette gradient color |
| Vignette Intensity | 150 | Maximum edge opacity (0–255) |
| Vignette Feather | 80 | Gradient softness (0–100) |
| Vignette Animation | 500 ms | Fade in + fade out duration |
| All Monitors | Yes | Show on every monitor |
The mod polls the Windows registry (HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VirtualDesktops) every 20ms to detect virtual desktop changes. When a switch is detected, it triggers indicator animation and vignette flash using GDI+ rendered layered windows.
Use at your own risk. This mod interacts with internal Windows shell behavior and undocumented registry values. While it does not modify any system files or registry keys (read-only), it runs inside explorer.exe via Windhawk's injection framework. The author is not responsible for any issues that may arise from using this software. Always ensure you have a way to disable the mod if something goes wrong (Windhawk's safe mode or disabling the mod from the tray icon).