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glassbar

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What glassbar is

glassbar is an open-source Windows desktop shell that combines a floating dock, a HUD, and a fuzzy launcher, and it can coexist with the Windows taskbar. The dock displays pinned and running apps, with controls to launch, focus, minimize, pin, unpin, and reorder them. The launcher searches Start Menu apps, UWP and Microsoft Store apps, and files in common folders; it can match acronyms and tolerate typos. The HUD brings together a clock, weather, CPU and RAM readings, network throughput, media controls, an audio device switcher, file stash, WARP toggle, and power menu. Users can adjust accent color, glass tint, and opacity, with changes appearing live across windows. Weather comes from Open-Meteo, while the WARP control invokes warp-cli locally. Settings and pinned apps stay on the device, and app and file indexes remain in process memory. The project says it does not collect, store, or transmit user data and has no analytics, telemetry, crash reporting, phone-home, or account system. glassbar is available as an MSI installer or portable executable. It requires Windows 10 version 1809 or later, Windows 11, and WebView2.

Who it suits

glassbar suits Windows users who want a floating dock, searchable app and file launcher, and system controls together in a HUD. It may also suit people looking for an open-source tool with locally stored settings and no account system.

What it does well

  • Dock can launch, focus, minimize, pin, unpin, and reorder apps.
  • Launcher searches apps and common-folder files with acronym and typo matching.
  • HUD includes system readings, media controls, audio switching, and power options.
  • Accent color, glass tint, and opacity changes apply live.
  • Available as an installer or portable executable.
  • MIT-licensed and described as collecting no user data.

What to know first

  • Supports only a single primary monitor.
  • Does not host third-party system tray icons.
  • Requires WebView2 and Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11.
  • Early release may have rough edges on non-1080p, multi-monitor, and fractional-DPI setups.

Limits

The project supports only one primary monitor and does not host third-party system tray icons. The early release may have rough edges on non-1080p, multi-monitor, and fractional-DPI configurations.

Getting started

  1. Open the project's GitHub Releases page.
  2. Choose the MSI installer or portable executable.
  3. Use a supported Windows version and ensure the WebView2 runtime is available.
  4. Adjust the accent color, glass tint, and opacity to your preference.
  5. Select a city in HUD settings for current weather.

Verdict

Choose glassbar if you want a customizable Windows dock and HUD with a fuzzy launcher, plus a portable download option. Its single-primary-monitor support and stated rough edges on some display configurations may make it a poor fit for those setups.

Questions

Is glassbar free?

Yes. It has a free plan and no free trial.

Which platforms does it support?

It supports Windows 10 version 1809 or later and Windows 11, and requires the WebView2 runtime.

Is glassbar open source?

Yes. It is open source under the MIT license.

How can I install it?

The project's GitHub Releases page offers an MSI installer and a portable executable.

Does glassbar send data online?

The project says its only outbound requests are to Open-Meteo weather and geocoding endpoints. It says it has no first-party server or third-party SDK and collects, stores, or transmits no user data.

Facts from glassbar's own pages

Customization
Users can change the accent color, glass tint, and opacity, with changes applied live across windows. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Dock
The dock shows pinned and running app icons and supports launching, focusing, minimizing, pinning, unpinning, and reordering apps. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Downloads
The project offers an MSI installer and a portable executable through its GitHub Releases page. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
HUD
The HUD includes a clock, weather, CPU and RAM readings, network throughput, media controls, an audio device switcher, file stash, WARP toggle, and power menu. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Integrations
The project describes fetching weather from Open-Meteo and locally invoking Cloudflare WARP; it also reads Claude Code transcripts locally. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Launcher
The Spotlight launcher searches Start Menu apps, UWP and Microsoft Store apps, and files in common folders with acronym and typo-tolerant matching. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
License
The project is open source under the MIT license. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Limitations
The README says the current version supports only a single primary monitor and does not host third-party system tray icons. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Local data
Settings and pinned apps are kept locally, while Spotlight's app and file indexes are held in process memory. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Network requests
The README lists Open-Meteo weather and geocoding endpoints as glassbar's only outbound requests and says the app has no first-party server or third-party SDK. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Privacy
The README says glassbar collects, stores, or transmits no user data and has no analytics, telemetry, crash reporting, phone-home, or account system. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Product
glassbar is an open-source floating dock and HUD for Windows that can coexist with the Windows taskbar. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Purpose
glassbar is an open-source Windows desktop shell with a floating dock, HUD, and fuzzy launcher overlay. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Release status
The GitHub release page identifies v0.1.31 as the latest release and says it removes the voice dictation feature. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Requirements
The README lists Windows 10 version 1809 or later, Windows 11, and the WebView2 runtime as requirements. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
WARP integration
The HUD can toggle Cloudflare WARP through local warp-cli invocations. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
Weather integration
Weather uses Open-Meteo and its geocoding API to fetch current weather for the city selected in HUD settings. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026

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