What is Deskboard

Deskboard opens a folder you already have as a workspace you can arrange, instead of a list of names in a file manager.

Nothing moves and nothing is copied. The folder stays exactly where it is on your disk. Deskboard just gives you a second way to look at it, one where you can place things where you want them, and add notes, tasks, music and more alongside your files.

A folder, opened as a board

flowchart LR
  subgraph board["Your board"]
    direction LR
    subgraph folder["Your folder"]
      direction TB
      f1["Report.docx"] ~~~ f2["Screenshots/"] ~~~ f3["ideas.txt"]
    end
    w1["Notes"] ~~~ folder
    w2["Tasks"] ~~~ folder
    w3["Music"] ~~~ folder
    w4["Annotations"] ~~~ folder
  end

The inner box is your folder, exactly as it is on disk. The outer box is the board: the same folder, arranged how you want it, with room for things a folder cannot hold.

What stays in sync

Everything that is a real file or folder:

• Add, delete or rename a file on your board, and it happens in the folder.
• Add, delete or rename a file in your file manager, and your board updates while it is open. You do not need to reload it.
• Move a file into a folder on your board, and it really moves.

So a board is never out of date, and you can keep using your file manager whenever you prefer to.

What you add on top

Alongside your files, a board holds things your folder knows nothing about:

• Widgets: notes, task lists, timers, a music player, images, links, a mini browser and more. See Adding widgets.
• Annotations: draw, write and mark up anywhere on the board.
• A look of its own: a theme, a wallpaper, fonts, and colours per item.

These belong to the board, not the folder, so they never appear as files in your file manager.

Everything Stays Local

Deskboard is not a cloud service, a backup tool or a sync tool. It never uploads your files, and it never keeps a second copy of them. If you uninstall Deskboard, your folders are exactly as they were. You only lose the arrangement and the widgets.