Beta release
Workspace Navigator 0.5.1 Beta
The latest public beta of Workspace Navigator for Windows, replacing version 0.5.0: a free, early version for testing and feedback. It isn't a finished product, and you may find problems. Keep your own backups of anything important — Workspace Navigator doesn't make automatic backups.
This beta is intended for users in Canada and the United States.
Release details
- Version
- 0.5.1 Beta
- Platform
- Windows 10 and Windows 11 · x64
- Filename
- Workspace.Navigator.Setup.0.5.1.exe
- File size
- 117 MB (122,972,183 bytes)
- Beta expires
- 3 February 2027, 15:50 UTC
- Code signing
- Not signed
- SHA-256
- ce713a8afbe911858a5df0835eb489d3564a72118850655a97d55c0651b8b2b2
Download
The installer and its source code are published together on GitHub, in the release Workspace Navigator v0.5.1 Public Beta.
- 1Download the installer.
- 2Check the file before you run it (see Check your download).
- 3Run the installer and follow its steps. You can install Workspace Navigator for your own Windows account without administrator rights.
Compatibility
System requirements.
- Designed for Windows 10 and Windows 11 on 64-bit (x64) PCs with Intel or AMD processors.
- Tested for this beta on Windows 10 Pro version 22H2 and on Windows 11. Testing doesn't cover every PC, edition or configuration.
- This beta isn't intended for Windows on Arm PCs.
Before you install
The installer isn't signed.
Unsigned installer
This beta's installer isn't yet signed with a code-signing certificate, so Windows treats it as coming from an unknown publisher.
Smart App Control
If Smart App Control is turned on (a Windows 11 security feature), Windows blocks this installer and it can't be installed on that PC. We don't ask you to turn off Smart App Control, or any other Windows security protection, to try this beta.
SmartScreen and browser warnings
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen or your browser may warn that the file is uncommon or unrecognized. Only continue if you downloaded the installer from this page's link and its SHA-256 checksum matches.
Check your download
- 1After the download finishes, open Windows PowerShell.
- 2Run this command, changing the path if you saved the file somewhere else:
Get-FileHash "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\Workspace.Navigator.Setup.0.5.1.exe" - 3Compare the Hash value it shows with the SHA-256 above (upper or lower case doesn't matter). If they don't match, delete the file and don't run it.
Beta expiry
This beta expires on the morning of 3 February 2027 (North America).
Each beta stops working 90 days after it was built. This one expires on 3 February 2027 at 15:50 UTC, which is 10:50 a.m. Eastern and 7:50 a.m. Pacific. From 4 January 2027 at 15:50 UTC, Workspace Navigator reminds you of the date once each time you start it.
After it expires, Workspace Navigator no longer opens normally. It shows a message with options to open your Workspace folder or to visit pcnav.net, and there is no read-only mode. If it's open when it expires, it asks you to save or discard any unsaved changes, then closes — so save your work regularly as the date approaches.
Your files don't expire. They stay in your Workspace folder, and you can keep using them with other programs. Expiry doesn't delete or change your files or projects.
The expiry date is checked on your computer, without an internet connection, and can't be extended. Check this page to see whether a later version is available.
Known limitations
Things to expect in this beta.
Read-only documents can't be closed directly
With a Word document open read-only, Close, File > Close Document and Ctrl+F4 do nothing. PDFs and images shown in the editor may behave the same way. To leave the document, open another one. This doesn't affect your files.
Your last session may not reopen
When Workspace Navigator starts — especially the first time after it's installed over an existing installation — it may not reopen the project you last had open. Panes may appear at their default widths, and your last-opened document may not appear. Selecting the project again can bring back its saved layout and last-opened document. This doesn't affect your files.
No automatic updates
Workspace Navigator doesn't update itself or check for updates. To get a later version, come back to this page.
Uninstalling
Uninstalling removes the app but leaves your Workspace folder and Workspace Navigator's settings on your computer. After the app is removed, the uninstaller offers to remove this Windows account's licence and trial records as well. The box is unticked by default, and your Workspace, Projects and history aren't affected either way. On some PCs, a Start menu shortcut may remain afterwards; you can delete it.
Replace All in Word documents
In a Word document, Replace All changes at most 22 matches at a time. If there are more, it changes nothing and asks you to replace them in smaller steps. Undoing a Replace All can take one or more Undo steps for each replacement, and if you close the document before you've undone them all, the replacements you haven't undone stay in the file.
Some Word documents open read-only
Word documents that contain tracked changes, or that use settings Workspace Navigator can't keep — such as change tracking or document protection — open read-only. Tracked changes are shown, not accepted. To edit these documents, use another program.
Your information
How this beta handles your information.
- Your projects stay on your computer. Each project keeps Workspace Navigator's records in a reserved .workspace folder inside the project.
- There are no accounts, no telemetry or usage analytics, and no built-in sharing: Workspace Navigator doesn't send your projects, documents or notes to other people or other computers.
- Web Browsing opens the websites you save, and those websites receive what a web browser normally sends them. The first time you use Web Browsing it opens Google Search, so Google receives that too; nothing is contacted before then. Choosing External Browser, a link you confirm, or Get Current Version passes the address to your usual web browser.
This describes how the 0.5.1 Beta behaves. It isn't a complete privacy policy.
Source code and licences
Open-source components.
Workspace Navigator includes open-source components. Their licences and notices are installed with the app, in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt in its installation folder, and are also published with the release, in the source archive below.
The complete corresponding source code for the LGPL-licensed components in this version — FFmpeg, Nsis7z and StdUtils — is published on the GitHub release page alongside the installer, as one ZIP archive with a README describing each file: workspace-navigator-v0.5.1-beta.1-corresponding-source.zip (20 MB (20,581,925 bytes); SHA-256 bbcf5ee70ef11a50b6b5f27442cf32499d53dcde008e256f998892fc570500b1). The source will remain available for at least three years after this version is last offered for download.
No account or licence agreement is needed to download or use this beta. Nothing on this page restricts the rights those open-source licences give you, including the right to modify those components and to reverse-engineer for debugging such modifications.
Feedback and support
Tell us what you find.
This is a free beta. Support and response times aren't guaranteed.
Report problems and suggest improvements in the Workspace Navigator feedback repository on GitHub. Issues there are public, so don't include personal information, passwords or private files.
To report a security vulnerability, don't open a public issue. Use the repository's private vulnerability reporting instead (a GitHub account is required).