Powertoys: FancyZones doesn't save zone choice

[Reflekks]

Whenever I launch the zones editor and pick a layout, it doesn't save my choice. It always goes back to Focus and doesn't let me snap my windows into any layout.

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
have you turned on "Allow zones to span across monitors"?

[Reflekks]

Yep. I have all the same settings I did before when it worked :/

[DanielChalk]

I am experiencing the same issue on a newly installed Windows 10 and the latest PowerToys. I'm running two screens with one in portait. "Allow zones to span across monitors" is checked.

[ChimiX12]

same here

[enricogior]

Unfortunately the "Allow zones to span across monitors" has a bug, please turn it off.
Closing as duplicate of https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/6302

[Reflekks]

Hello, this problem has nothing to do with that. I have that turned off but it still doesn't remember what zone I choose.

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
can you do the following steps?

• quit PowerToys
• delete C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys\FancyZones\zones-settings.json
• restart PowerToys
• make sure the Allow zones to span across monitors option is OFF
• open the FancyZones Editor, select the 3 Columns layout and click Apply
• make a copy of C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys\FancyZones\zones-settings.json , change the extension of the copied one to .txt and upload it.

Thanks.

[Reflekks]

zones-settings - Copy.txt

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
FancyZones fails to recognize your monitor, are you using a desktop or a laptop/tablet?
Can you provide more information on the hardware?

[Reflekks]

I'm using a laptop but its display isn't used. I treat it like it's a desktop. I'm using two external monitors. One is in landscape and the other is in portrait.

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
how are they connected? Using an external dock?
Can you also do quick test, disconnect the external monitor and use only the internal monitor and check if FZ saves the selected layout.

[Reflekks]

They're both plugged directly into the laptop (one HDMI and one DP). Using only the internal monitor doesn't help save the selected layout :/

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
we will have to provide a testing tool to see what error returns the API we use to enumerate the connected monitors.

[marxjohnson]

I also found similar problem. I am also using an external monitor (connected via HDMI through a USB-C dock), but disconnecting the external monitor did not help.

Zones worked fine at first before I started changing settings, so I tried deleting all the files in C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys\FancyZones and setting up zones without enabling Allow zones to span across monitors, which appears to have worked around the problem.

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
can you please run the tool I've attached? It will show the output on screen and also create a monitor-info-report file in the same folder where the executable is. This may give us a clue of what is going wrong in FZ. Thanks,

monitor_info_report.zip

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
I've re-uploaded the tool, now it should be good to go.

[Reflekks]

monitor-info-report-09-09-2020-08-07-02.txt

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
the report looks good, we might have a silent error in FZ. In a day or two we will provide a debug version of FZ with extensive error reporting, I'll let you know. Thanks.

[Reflekks]

Sweet sounds good

[enricogior]

@Reflekks

• uninstall the current version of PowerToys
• go to C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys\ and delete the FacnyZones folder
• installed the debug build attached to this post

If FancyZones detects any problem while enumerating the monitors, it will show a dialog with the error.
If it doesn't show any error dialog and it still can't save the chosen layout, the problem may be in some other place in the code.

PowerToysSetup-0.21.2-x64-debug build.zip

[Reflekks]

Awesome that fixed it! Allow zones to span across different monitors works too

[enricogior]

@Reflekks
the build I sent you is a debug build with unstable code, but if it works for you feel free to keep it running until we publish a new official release.

[enricogior]

I'll keep this issue open until you can test a new official release. Thanks.

[CommandoEchino]

Thank you (and Reflekks) so much, I've been having this issue and I'm super glad that y'all managed to communicate so well and get this pesky bug squashed. Thanks so much! 😄