Fences AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Shell Extensions

The best Shell Extension alternative to Fences is Portals: Desktop Organization, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Fences and six of them are Shell Extensions so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Shell Extension alternatives to Fences are Nimi Places, Sideslide, Folderview Screenlet and Coodesker.

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Fences alternatives are mainly Desktop Customization Tools, but if you're looking for Application Launchers or Shell Extensions you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows + Free, Mac, Free, Linux, Desktop Customization and Windows. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Fences.
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Alternatives list

  1. Create containers (aka Portals) on your desktop which show the contents of a specified folder. Divide your desktop into folders then use Portals to display the contents of the folders in an organized fashion - you can even hide the folders away somewhere else.

    19 Portals: Desktop Organization alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    2
    Portals: Desktop Organization vs Fences Comments
    Ross Patterson
    Positive
    0

    It looks like windows native.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Free and beautiful. A must have.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Portals: Desktop Organization is Free and ProprietaryFences is Paid and Proprietary
    • Portals: Desktop Organization is Lightweight and CustomizableFences is not according to our users
  2. Nimi Places icon
     55 likes

    Organizes desktop into customizable containers showing folder contents as icons/thumbnails on a scrollable surface. Has lots of management features: e.g. labelling; sort by category; time & location based settings. Thumbnails are displayed for supported Open Documents, PSD images & PDFs.

    24 Nimi Places alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    7
    Nimi Places vs Fences Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    3

    Free, and it works almost the same. Just has a little more setup than Fences does.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    6

    This performs ONE of Fences' secondary functions: displaying the contents of directories OTHER THAN the Desktop as virtual containers on the Desktop. IT IS NOT for organizing Desktop icons/files or setting up automatic rules for categorization of new Desktop icons/files.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    -2

    Nimi Places is not an exact replica of Fences, but(!) it will give you the look and feel. Instead of everything being on your desktop, it links it a folder. I am just going to change my behavior a tad and just know that my files, when placed in the fence, are not stored on the actual desktop. I still have easy access to move the files between the desktop to fence and vice versa, which is most important to me.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 7 comments
    • Nimi Places is Free Personal and ProprietaryFences is Paid and Proprietary
    • Nimi Places is LightweightFences is not according to our users
  3. Sideslide icon
     17 likes

    SideSlide is an advanced, portable, unobtrusive, dockable, skinnable, instantly accessible, highly configurable Desktop Extension on Steroids! Clean desktop clutter and make your computer friendlier and faster than ever before.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    4
    Sideslide vs Fences Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Very full featured program with a steep learning curve, but it's worth it.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    1

    Because it's not similar and easy to use like Fences that is a very intuitive application

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    It's a very comprehensive program with lots of features that can change the way you work with Windows.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 4 comments
    • Sideslide is Free and ProprietaryFences is Paid and Proprietary
  4. Coodesker icon
     4 likes

    Automatically organize your desktop shortcuts icons and running tasks.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    2
    Coodesker vs Fences Comments
    phantasmrevolutionary
    Positive
    0

    by far the best alternative to Stardock Fences, better even than Stardock Fences itself.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Very easy to use and customize, it's lightweight, cheap, available on Steam or their website for a one time purchase, and pretty much does everything Fences does but better.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Coodesker is Paid and ProprietaryFences is also Paid and Proprietary
    • Coodesker is LightweightFences is not according to our users
  5. A Central Hub for User-Categorized Shortcuts to Apps, Files & Folders, Quick Access to Drives & System Folders with PC Info & Resource Monitoring Dashboards and One-Click Access to Common Windows Operations.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
6 of 6 Fences alternatives