← Back to Blog

Edge Drop Guides | Aug 3, 2026 | 7 min read

Edge-Drop Settings Explained: Behaviour, Position, Appearance

By Deepender Yadav

Edge-Drop Settings Explained: Behaviour, Position, Appearance — Edge Drop Guide

A clipboard shelf with thirty-plus settings spread across three tabs is a clipboard shelf where the user spends time hunting for the right toggle. This guide is a map of Edge-Drop's settings panel, organised by tab, with a one-line description of every control and a link to the in-depth guide where applicable. Use it as a reference; bookmark it; come back when a setting seems to have moved. For the broader product overview see what Edge-Drop does with password manager copies and how to read Edge-Drop's in-app changelog.

The three-tab structure

Edge-Drop's settings panel has three tabs:

  • Behaviour — controls what the shelf does: when it opens, when it captures, when it expires items, what it ignores.
  • Position — controls where the shelf lives: which monitor, which edge, what trigger strip.
  • Appearance — controls how the shelf looks: language, text size, theme, animations.

Each tab is independent; changing a setting in one tab does not affect the others. Settings are saved when changed; no separate "Apply" button. Most settings take effect immediately; a few (language, theme) require a brief shelf reload.

The settings panel itself can be opened via:

  • Tray icon → Settings
  • Alt+C to open the shelf, then click the gear icon
  • Right-click the shelf → Settings

Behaviour tab

The Behaviour tab is the largest. It controls the shelf's logic.

Hover and trigger

  • Hover open — whether the shelf opens when the cursor enters the edge trigger strip. Default on. Turn off for hotkey-only mode. See how to turn hover off and use only the hotkey.
  • Hover-off close — whether the shelf closes when the cursor leaves. Default on. Turn off if you want the shelf to stay open until explicitly dismissed.
  • Hover sensitivity — how long the cursor must dwell in the trigger strip before the shelf opens. Default short; increase for less accidental opens. See how to tune hover sensitivity in Edge-Drop.
  • Hotkey — the keyboard shortcut to toggle the shelf. Default Alt+C. See how to change the Edge-Drop toggle hotkey.

Capture and history

Fullscreen and quiet

Stacks and filters

Position tab

The Position tab controls where the shelf lives on the desktop.

Monitor and edge

Multi-monitor

  • Follow primary monitor — whether the shelf moves to the new primary if the primary monitor changes (e.g., display disconnect). Default on. See display disconnects that reset window positions.
  • Per-monitor DPI awareness — whether text and graphics scale correctly when the shelf is on a monitor with different scaling. Default on (system-managed).

RTL mirroring

Appearance tab

The Appearance tab controls how the shelf looks.

Language and text

Theme and colour

  • Theme — Light / Dark / System. Default System (follows Windows theme).
  • Accent colour — the highlight colour for selected items and the active filter. Default blue; can be customised to any hex colour.
  • Background opacity — how transparent the shelf background is. Default 95%; can be lowered for a more overlay-like feel.

Animations

  • Spring animations — whether the shelf open/close uses a spring curve or a linear tween. Default on. See reduce motion settings and spring UIs.
  • Respect Windows reduce-motion — whether the shelf skips animations when the OS reduce-motion setting is on. Default on.

Thumbnails and previews

  • Thumbnail size — how large image thumbnails appear on the shelf. Default medium.
  • Show favicons on link cards — whether URL cards show favicons. Default on.

Settings that are not in the panel

A few behaviours are not surfaced as toggles because they are foundational:

These are part of Edge-Drop's design contract, not user preferences. Changing them would require modifying the source.

How settings are stored

Settings are stored in config.json under %APPDATA%\Edge-Drop. The file is plain JSON and can be inspected (or backed up) directly. See where Edge-Drop stores data on disk for the layout.

Editing config.json by hand is not recommended — the settings panel is the supported interface. If a setting becomes corrupted (e.g., from a manual edit), delete config.json and restart Edge-Drop; a fresh default config is created.

How settings sync across machines

They do not. Edge-Drop has no cloud sync. Settings are per-machine, per-user. A user with Edge-Drop on two PCs configures each independently. For the broader context, see why some clipboard apps will never sync and remote work: clipboard across home and office PCs.

Failure modes

  • Settings panel does not open — the gear icon is unresponsive. Usually a transient state; restart Edge-Drop. If persistent, delete config.json and restart.
  • Setting does not take effect — confirm the panel saved (close and reopen). Some settings require a shelf reload (language, theme); the panel triggers this automatically, but if the shelf was open when the setting was changed, manually close and reopen the shelf.
  • Setting reverts after restart — config.json is being overwritten by another Edge-Drop instance (e.g., a Store build and a GitHub build both running). Uninstall one. See how to uninstall Edge-Drop cleanly.
  • Setting is missing from the panel — the setting may be in a different tab than expected, or may have been renamed in a recent version. Check the in-app changelog for renames. See how to read Edge-Drop's in-app changelog.

What Edge-Drop does not claim

  • The settings panel does not include a search box. With three tabs and ~25 controls, search is not strictly necessary, but some users may miss it.
  • The settings panel does not provide profiles (e.g., "Work" vs "Personal"). Settings are global per machine.
  • The settings panel does not export or import configurations. The config.json file can be copied manually between machines, but this is not a supported workflow.
  • The settings panel does not show which features are experimental or beta. If a setting is in the panel, it is supported.

Summary

Edge-Drop's settings are organised into three tabs: Behaviour (what the shelf does), Position (where it lives), and Appearance (how it looks). Each control has a clear purpose and a corresponding in-depth guide. Settings are saved when changed and take effect immediately, with a few exceptions that require a brief shelf reload. Foundational behaviours — encryption, concealment, no-focus click-to-paste — are not user-configurable because they are part of the design contract. For the full list of guides, see the related links throughout this article.

Related reading

Sources

Deepender Yadav
Written by Deepender Yadav · Author & Developer

Deepender Yadav is a B.Tech Computer Science Engineering student and software developer interested in building practical software and open-source projects.

GitHub · LinkedIn

Copy. Stack. Drop.

Transform your clipboard into an interactive edge shelf. Stack, pin, and drag assets into any app with zero friction.

Download for Windows Get from Microsoft Store

How to Install Guide · First 10 Minutes Guide · Drag & Drop Guide · Edge-Drop vs Win+V · Support

Free · Lightweight · Privacy First
Find us on CodeHype