Getting started
PerchBar is a single executable. There is no installer and nothing is written outside your own user profile.
Run
PerchBar.exe. It puts an icon in the notification area and stays there. Everything is reached from that icon.Right-click the tray icon and choose Groups… to open the one window where groups are made and changed.
Choose New, name the group, then add applications with From window… (pick something already running) or Add file… (pick an
.exe). See Adding applications.In a hurry? Suggested groups… offers ready-made groups for browsers, editors and Office, built from what is actually installed on this machine. See Suggested groups.
Choose OK to save.
Pin the group. Select it and choose Pin to taskbar. PerchBar saves the group, writes its shortcut, and asks Windows to pin it; Windows shows its own confirmation, so nothing is pinned unless you accept. See Pinning a group to the taskbar.
Turn on Start with Windows — in the tray menu, or on the Settings dialog's General page — so grouping resumes after a restart.
What you should see
Start two members of the group. Within a few seconds both windows share one taskbar button — the group's. Click the pinned icon to see the whole group, members that are not running included.
Nothing happened? Troubleshooting covers the usual causes, elevated applications and Store apps among them.