DeskBox vs Portals: Desktop Organization

DeskBox is a free Windows app for organizing desktop files in boxes, mapped folders, stacks, and groups. File boxes support drag and drop, renaming, deletion, opening, and locating items in File Explorer. Mapped folders appear on the desktop without changing the original folder location. Similar files can be stacked manually or automatically, and grouped boxes can be switched with the mouse wheel or Ctrl+Tab. A cleanup flow lets users select files individually, include the public desktop, and resume an interrupted cleanup. Built-in boxes cover files, to-dos, notes, and music controls. DeskBox says files, to-dos, notes, and cache remain on the computer and are not uploaded to the cloud by default. Its built-in boxes have no feature restrictions, ads, or subscriptions; the app is listed as GPL-3.0-only with free personal use. It supports Windows 10 version 21H2 or later and Windows 11, with some materials and animations reduced on Windows 10. Direct installers support x64 or ARM64.

Portals: Desktop Organization displays selected folder contents directly on a Windows desktop in customizable portals. Users can adjust colors, fonts, borders, margins, header position, icon sizes, and backgrounds, with individual portals able to override settings such as color and font. Portals can be minimized, sorted using custom or predefined orders, and arranged in tabs linked to separate folders. The folders can be stored outside the desktop, such as in Documents. Users can save portal arrangements as layouts and apply them automatically when display setups change; settings profiles can also be linked to layouts. A configurable keyboard shortcut brings all portals to the top. The app supports command-line actions for creating portals and applying layouts or profiles, and it can use QuickLook or Seer for file previews. The installer can add registry keys for Portals buttons in Windows folder and desktop-background context menus. The maker describes the app as lightweight with minimal background resource usage. It is free, with a pay-what-you-want license that allows users to enter any amount.