Spooky View LittleTijn
winget install --id=LittleTijn.SpookyView -e A small open-source app to make any app window transparent. Small and use minimal system resources.
Spooky View is a lightweight Windows application designed to make any app window transparent. This open-source tool allows users to adjust transparency levels effortlessly, enhancing multitasking and screen organization.
Key Features:
- Adjustable transparency for any window.
- Minimal system resource usage, ensuring smooth performance.
- Lightweight design with no unnecessary features.
- Cross-version compatibility, supporting older Windows operating systems.
Audience & Benefit:
Ideal for power users and developers who need a simple yet effective tool to manage window transparency without compromising system performance. Spooky View helps users customize their workspace for improved productivity and visual comfort.
Available via winget for easy installation.
README
Spooky View
A Windows application to make any window transparent.
System requirements
This application will run on Windows XP and newer.
Downloads
The application is available from the Microsoft Store and Github.
Microsoft Store
Github
https://github.com/littletijn/spooky-view/releases
When downloading from Github, make sure to choose the correct version.
- For 64-bits Windows, download the x64 version to make sure that x64 based apps can also be set transparent.
- For 32-bits Windows, download the x86 version. Use this version only on 32-bits computers.
- For Windows 10 or 11 Arm-based PCs, download the ARM64 version for the best performance.
Known issues
- WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) apps cannot be set transparent.
- When stopping Spooky View, some apps will not return opaque. Restart the affected apps to revert them.
- Only when Spooky View is run as administrator will it be able to make high privileges app transparent, like Windows Task Mananger.
FAQ
How do I enable automatic startup of Spooky View?
It depends on the installed version. When using the MSI or portable version:
- Start Spooky View.
- Right click on the icon of the app in the Notification Area.
- Click on the "Settings..." option in the menu.
- Check the option "Start program when this user logs in".
- Click on "OK" button to save the changes and enable automatic startup.
When downloaded from the Microsoft Store or using the MSIX version:
- Open the Settings app of Windows.
- Click the "Apps" category.
- Click on the "Startup" option.
- Set the slider to enabled for the Spooky View item in the list of apps.
How can I make high privileges apps (apps started as administrator) transparent?
When the app is installed from the Microsoft Store, MSIX or MSI:
- Find the app in the start menu.
- Right click on the app.
- Click on the "Run as administrator" option.
When the portable app is downloaded and extracted:
- Find the executable of the app (SpookyView_version_Portable.exe).
- Right click on the icon of the executable.
- Click on the "Run as administrator" option.
Building
Microsoft Visual Studio
This project can be build with Visual Studio 2022. Install the "Desktop Development with C++" workload and the "C++ Windows XP Support for VS 2017 (v141) tools" component. Open the Solution file "SpookyView.sln" and build the SpookyView project within.
MinGW-w64 with Microsoft Visual Studio Code
To build with the MinGW-w64 standalone version, use the Build task available for Microsoft Visual Studio Code. Debugging is also available with the included debug configuration. Simply build the project first and start the debugger afterwards.
MinGW-w64 on the command line
The project can also be build via the command line and the MinGW-w64 standalone version. First build the resource and manifest file:
windres.exe SpookyView.rc .\\obj\\SpookyViewRes.owindres.exe Manifest.rc .\\obj\\Manifest.o
Then build the rest of the project:
mingw32-make.exe
When using MSYS2 or another Unix based environment, use the windres and make executables instead.
License
Spooky View is licensed under the GNU GLP v3.0 or later. See the LICENSE file for more details.