microsoft
FancyZones settings are not remembered
Microsoft PowerToys version
0.81.1
Installation method
PowerToys auto-update
Running as admin
Yes
Area(s) with issue?
FancyZones
Steps to reproduce
Reboot PC. PowerToys is among the startup applications. Laptop is connected to two external monitors and all three monitors are configured with FancyZone layouts. Shift-drag a window to where a FancyZone was previously created. FancyZone layouts for the two external monitors are switched. However, the monitors are numbered as they were when the layouts were originally configured.
✔️ Expected Behavior
I expect the FancyZone layouts I select for each monitor to remain unchanged the next time I boot my laptop.
❌ Actual Behavior
The FancyZone layouts for the two external monitors are swapped.
Other Software
None.
Hi I'm an AI powered bot that finds similar issues based off the issue title.
Please view the issues below to see if they solve your problem, and if the issue describes your problem please consider closing this one and thumbs upping the other issue to help us prioritize it. Thank you!
Closed similar issues:
- Fancy Zone monitor settings not saved (#28093), similarity score: 0.88
- Fancy Zone monitor settings not saved (#28094), similarity score: 0.88
- FancyZones layouts changing on reboot (#24121), similarity score: 0.87
- FancyZones doesn't seem to save the layout after reboot (#13107), similarity score: 0.87
- Fancy Zones not holding settings on reboot (#13465), similarity score: 0.86
Note: You can give me feedback by thumbs upping or thumbs downing this comment.
![github-actions[bot] avatar](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/in/15368?v=4 "Published by a pub.dev verified publisher"){kind=small}
I'm having the same issue.
Looking for %localappdata%\Microsoft\PowerToys\FancyZones\zones-settings.json, the file does not exist, and making changes to my zones does not create the file.
PowerToys itself is set to always run as administrator incase it matters.
Yes. In my case, for v.87.0 I still don't have a zone-settings.json file (assuming that's the correct file to look for).
In my use case, I now believe the issue is related to RDP, and potentially monitor IDs changing between connections. I primarily access my work machine through RDP, with 3 1440p monitors through the "Use all my monitors for the remote session" option checked.
If I close PowerToys and reopen, the layouts do persist correctly. However, if I close the RDP session and immediately reopen it, then all my zones are lost and all 3 monitors reset back to the default layout. Reboot would obviously have the same effect since it would require a reconnect.
I assume it's either the fact that the monitor IDs may be changing after reboot or on RDP connection, or an issue with the number of monitors transitioning constantly between 1 (when just a single laptop) and 3 (when connected via RDP).
I can now confirm this remains a problem with version 0.87.1.
I set two external and one laptop screens in FancyZones. Sometimes, the FancyZones Editor settings persist through a reboot; more often, they do not, and I have to rerun the Editor and reset to my desired layouts again.
I did some more testing and did the following steps, again assuming I only use this computer via RDP. Interestingly, for me it's correct after a reboot, but a second RDP into the machine returns them to default again. Considering I rarely reboot, this means it's incorrect most of the time.
Note I only have custom layouts on the left and right monitors, I keep the zones default on the middle monitor which is the primary display.
- Test Fancy Zones - ❌ Zones are incorrect and show as default (3 vertical zones with a larger middle on all 3 monitors)
- Reboot the computer
- RDP into the machine.
- Test Fancy Zones - ✔All zones are correct across all monitors
- Close RDP session.
- RDP into the machine again.
- Test Fancy Zones - ❌Zones are incorrect and are back at default
Bug Report zip: PowerToysReport_2025-01-02-14-38-27.zip