Logs and troubleshooting

Logs

The app keeps a log for the program and one for every game, so you can see what happened with a specific game without wading through the rest.

File (next to the program)	Contents
windowmanager.log	Everything: start-up, config, monitors, and all games.
logs/<game>.log	Only the entries made while that game was the selected target.

Both roll over at 1 MB: the full file is renamed to *_old.log and a new one starts.

Viewing: File > View logs... (Ctrl+L). Pick the application log or a game from the dropdown; it opens on the current game.

Refresh reloads, Open folder shows the files in Explorer. Newest entries are at the bottom.

Each line is [time] [level] [source] message. Every action you take is logged with its result; a result that failed is logged as WARN. Start with the last WARN or ERROR lines when something goes wrong.

The game's windows, focus and mouse

Some games fight over their window, the focus or the mouse: a start screen in another size than the game, a picture that jumps, a mouse that stays locked in the game. While a game runs, the app writes what happens to the game log, under the source Watch. Windows only.

Line	Meaning
Game window 0x… 'TEKKEN 7' (UnrealWindow): window 1280x720 at 320,180, drawn area …, borderless	A window of the game was shown for the first time. Windows that never show (input method, tooltips) are left out.
Game window 0x…: window 1280x720 at 320,180 -> 1920x1080 at 0,0	The window changed size or place (read once it has settled for 0.3 s). Also hidden / shown, frame added / removed, a new title.
Game window 0x… closed	The window was closed.
Foreground: TekkenGame-Win64-Shipping.exe 'TEKKEN 7' (the game)	Which window has the keyboard now: the game, this app, or another program (only its exe name: other programs' titles can be private).
Mouse: held inside 1920x1080 at 0,0 / Mouse: free	The game locked the mouse inside that area, or let it go.

The downscaled view logs its own layout under ScaledView: the monitor, the black overlay and its display scale, the game window, the area it draws, and where the picture goes. It writes a line when any of these changes, when it puts a game window back that the game resized, and when it gives up doing so. A line ending in THE OVERLAY DOES NOT COVER THE MONITOR means the picture is drawn bigger or smaller than the screen. It also logs when it brings the game to the front.

Common problems

Symptom	What to try
Table is empty after Start	The game has not created its window yet or runs under another process. Press Scan. Check the game log for no matching windows.
Batch scan timed out	The batch file did not start a new process within 15 seconds. Start the game, then press Scan.
Buttons do nothing to the game	The game runs as administrator. Run WindowManager as administrator too.
Window jumps back after moving it	The game repositions itself. Turn on Stability.
Fit is a few pixels off	The game resizes its window after being moved. The popup reports how far off; apply again, and remove the title bar and borders first.
Downscaled view looks the same	The game stretches a fixed-size picture instead of re-rendering at the window size.
Game runs slowly	Look at the game info overlay (Ctrl+Alt+I): an orange warning names the usual causes (on battery, integrated GPU, power-saving mode). The game log has a stats summary every minute. The two most common causes on a laptop: the charger is not plugged in (the CPU and GPU then run at a fraction of their speed), or the game renders on the integrated GPU. Set the game to High performance on the GPU & Power tab, especially after a graphics driver update, which can change what Let Windows decide picks.
Overlay shows FPS needs administrator rights	Recording frames needs administrator rights. Add your account to the Performance Log Users group once, then sign out and in: steps in Adding your account to Performance Log Users.
The app's keys do nothing while the game runs	The game keeps the keyboard. Press F1 to switch to the app; if the game takes the focus straight back, the app goes mouse only. See Focus, mouse and hotkeys.
Mouse stays locked in the game	Many games (Unreal Engine ones such as Tekken 7) hold the mouse inside their window while they have the focus. Press Ctrl+Alt+M: the mouse is free and this app is in front. Click the game to give it the mouse back. The Foreground and Mouse lines in the game log show who has the focus and when the mouse is held.
Game window goes back to a small size when it gets the focus	The game, or its loader, applies its own window settings again. Set them to the monitor's size and position in the game's own options. For arcade games started through JConfig (Tekken 7 Fated Retribution) these are DX Resolution Width / Height, Window Position X / Y and Window Width / Height with DX Window Mode ticked: JConfig's Direct3D wrapper places the window itself. The Watch lines show each change.
A button does nothing to the game	The active window (the green row) may be a helper window of the game. Click the game's real window in the table, or press Scan.
Downscaled view shows only part of the picture	Check the ScaledView layout lines in the game log: the overlay size against the monitor, and the game window against the drawn area.
Game was fine before, now slow	Check the same two causes first. A driver update can switch a game to the integrated GPU without warning. The game log's [Stats] lines show which card it rendered on and whether the PC was on battery.
Fit popup does not open by itself	View > Check window fit after launching a game is off, or no window appeared within two minutes. Use Ctrl+F.

Files

Where the logs, settings and snapshots are kept: Files and settings. To start completely fresh, close the app and delete the files you want to reset.