We (I’m assuming you’re a longtime Windows user) have all used the familiar Alt + Tab combination to switch between windows quickly. You know the one: you grab a file in File Explorer, drag it toward the edge of the screen, realize the destination window is buried or not open at all, then try to hover over the taskbar or frantically cycle through apps with your keyboard while still holding the mouse button down. It is an awkward, needlessly fragile interaction that has barely evolved in decades.
Windows Snap layouts alleviate some of that friction, but only if you are willing to resize windows just to relocate a single file constantly.
Dropshelf cuts through the problem with a simple premise: what if you could temporarily “park” files, folders, images, and text snippets in a virtual holding space while you work? Instead of forcing an immediate drop, you gather everything first and dispatch it to its destination in one streamlined move.
- OS
-
Windows
- Developer
-
William Ha
- Price model
-
Free (paid version available)
Move files between apps effortlessly with Dropshelf. Just drag, drop, and stash items in a floating shelf that follows you anywhere on Windows.
Dropshelf turns your cursor into a temporary holding area
Shake, drop, and carry on—for any file type
The core interaction is straightforward. When you’re dragging a file and need to summon a shelf, you give your mouse a quick shake. A small floating window materializes beside your cursor, ready to hold whatever you are carrying. Once something is dropped, the shelf remains anchored on screen while you move elsewhere, gather more items, or focus on other tasks before finishing the transfer.
If mouse shaking feels awkward or unreliable, you can use the keyboard shortcut Windows + Shift + Z instead to summon a new shelf instantly. This offers two equally fluid ways to work. You get a gesture that feels natural when you already have something in hand, and a keyboard option for moments when you want the shelf open before selecting any files.
These obscure keyboard shortcuts make navigating Windows absurdly fast
Ditch the mouse and let your fingers do the heavy lifting.
The app accepts virtually any draggable content. Files and folders are the obvious examples, but you can also drop in images straight from web browsers, URLs, text snippets you’ve highlighted, and even multimedia content. This makes Dropshelf a useful companion for research, content creation, and any workflow that involves gathering information from multiple sources.
Once items are on a shelf, you can view them in either a list or grid layout, depending on your preference. The shelf window itself is movable, so you can position it wherever makes sense for your current task. When you’re ready to use the items, simply drag them from the shelf to their final destination. By default, this moves the files and removes them from the shelf, but you can hold the Ctrl key while dragging to copy instead of moving, leaving the originals on your shelf for reuse.
The free version includes all these core features, with one small limitation: a 3-second wait before you can add more items to a shelf. For casual use, this is barely noticeable. But if you find yourself relying on Dropshelf throughout your day, upgrading to Dropshelf Pro (roughly $0.50 USD, a one-time purchase) removes this delay and unlocks the app’s full potential, making it one of those productivity tools that should go on every PC without fail.
You can save shelves and also customize the app to your taste
Make the app work exactly how you need it
One of Dropshelf’s most practical features is the ability to save shelves for later. When you close a shelf that still contains items, the app automatically saves it in the background. If you click the Dropshelf icon in your system tray, you’ll see a list of all your saved shelves with timestamps showing when you last worked with them. You can reopen any saved shelf and pick up exactly where you left off.
This reinforces the idea that Dropshelf is shifting from a short-term Windows clipboard history to a long-form organizational companion, just like I mentioned earlier. Maybe you are automatically filing screenshots for a tutorial that spans several days. Or collecting reference images for a design concept. Or assembling documents for a report that is not due until next week. Instead of forcing yourself to finish everything in one session or risk misplacing your materials, you can build your shelves gradually and revisit them whenever you are ready to progress.
The Pro version adds another layer of structure by letting you assign each shelf a custom name and a distinct color. This allows you to create a visual system where specific colors map to specific projects or content categories. You might choose blue for work tasks, green for personal items, and red for anything that requires immediate attention.
The settings panel also reveals some additional thoughtful touches. You can customize keyboard shortcuts for opening new shelves or creating shelves from clipboard contents. There’s an option to exclude certain applications from triggering the mouse-shake gesture, which prevents accidental shelf openings in programs where you frequently shake your mouse. You can also choose whether shelves automatically close when they’re empty, adjust shelf placement on your screen, and switch between list and grid views for your items.
As of the time of writing, the app doesn’t support touchscreens due to a bug in the Windows UI framework it’s built on. This limitation might be a dealbreaker if touch input is central to how you use your device.
Try Dropshelf, and see for yourself
From a design standpoint, Dropshelf feels like an app that should be native to Windows 11. It’s the kind of tool that disappears into your routine because it solves a problem you may or may not realize you had. And once you get used to tossing files into these floating pockets, every older method starts to feel primitive.