WinNumTip

WinNumTip shows the Win+number (0..9) shortcut for each app pinned to the taskbar. While you hold the Win key, a small numbered strip appears over the taskbar buttons; release the key and it disappears.

Hold Win and press a number to launch (or switch to) the app in that taskbar position - WinNumTip just reminds you which number is which.

Disclaimer

Important

WinNumTip installs a global keyboard hook so it can detect when the Win key is held. This is a normal Windows mechanism, but because keyboard hooks are also used by keyloggers, some antivirus tools may flag the app.

WinNumTip reads only the Win key state to toggle the overlay and does not record or transmit any keystrokes.

Features

• Numbered tips over taskbar buttons while the Win key is held.
• Works with the taskbar docked on any edge (bottom, top, left, right).
• Adjustable tip size via the notification area icon's Preferences dialog - from the default slim strip up to the full taskbar-button size (tip height for a horizontal taskbar, tip width for a vertical one); the numbers scale to match.

Preferences

Double-click the notification area icon, right-click it and choose Preferences..., or click Preferences in the About dialog to open the settings dialog.

Settings are saved next to the app in WinNumTip.ini. Click Apply to save them without closing the dialog, or OK to save and close; applied settings take effect immediately.

• Tip size - how thick the numbered strip is across the taskbar: its height on a horizontal taskbar, its width on a side-docked one. Ranges from Default (the slim built-in strip) up to a full Taskbar button cell, and the numbers scale to match.

  WinNumTip.ini keys: TipSizePercent

• Tip font - click Select... to pick the typeface and style (weight, italic, underline, strikeout) the numbers are drawn with; the selected name is previewed in that font next to the button. Only the face and style are used - the tip size stays governed by Tip size - and the color follows Invert colors. When no font is chosen the taskbar's own font is used (Default). When the selection changes, click Apply in the font selector to save the current font without closing the selector.

  WinNumTip.ini keys: FontFace, FontWeight, FontItalic, FontUnderline, FontStrikeOut

• Invert colors - swaps the strip and number colors for a highlighted look. Off by default.

  WinNumTip.ini keys: InvertColors

• Tips refresh - how often, in milliseconds, the numbered tips re-sync with the taskbar buttons while shown, so the numbers stay aligned when a button appears, disappears, or moves. Range 50-1000 ms, default 200 ms; lower is more responsive but polls more often.

  WinNumTip.ini keys: RefreshIntervalMs

• Win key poll - how often, in milliseconds, the app checks the Win key state to show or hide the strip. Range 25-500 ms, default 75 ms; lower reacts faster to pressing or releasing Win but polls more often.

  WinNumTip.ini keys: PollIntervalMs

• Reset to defaults - restores every option above to its factory default in the dialog; the change is saved only if you then click Apply or OK.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11

Troubleshooting

Sometimes numbered strip does not arrear, to fix that Alt+Tab couple of times.

How to build

Open WinNumTip.slnx in Visual Studio and build, or from a developer prompt for x64 build:

msbuild WinNumTip.slnx /t:Build /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=x64

Artifacts can be found in build\<Platform>\Release dir.

Platforms supported

• x64
• Win32
• ARM64