Audio router for WindowsNo extra softwareRuns in the tray
Your sound stays where you put it.
Plug in headphones and Windows moves everything there. Anchr pins each app to its own output so games stay on speakers, calls stay on headphones, and nothing jumps when you plug something in.
v1.0.1 beta · Windows 10 (1809+) & 11 · 64-bit · Installs without admin rights · No account
01 How it works
Install it. Set your order. Forget it.
Install it
Run the installer. No admin password, no restart. Anchr lands in your own user folder and opens straight into your system tray.
Grant nothing at all
There's no permission prompt, because there's nothing to grant. Reading the device list and setting the system default are unprivileged Windows calls. Anchr chooses which microphone your other apps record from. It never opens one itself.
Set your order
Open a role (Playback, Microphone, or either Calls role) and list your devices in the order you'd reach for them. The first one that's connected wins; a role you haven't touched is one Anchr leaves alone entirely.
Flip the two switches
Never use a display's speakers and never use a Bluetooth headset as the microphone. Both are rules about the kind of connection, so they keep working on hardware you buy later.
02 Features
An ordered list, and two switches.
A device that isn't on your list is one Anchr has no opinion about: it will never route to it, and never route away from it either. An unconfigured Anchr does nothing at all, which is why it can ship switched on.
First one that's connected wins
Interface, then the PC's own speakers. Unplug the interface and Anchr falls through the list; plug it back in and it comes back. Separate ordered lists for every role.
Per role
Roles held independently
Listen on a Bluetooth headset while your microphone stays on your interface, so nothing ever opens a capture stream on the headset, and it never collapses out of high-quality audio into hands-free mode.
The trick
Windows' own roles, not macOS's
Four roles: Playback and Microphone (the "Default Device" you already know from Sound settings), plus Calls: playback and Calls: microphone, the separate "Default Communication Device" that Teams, Zoom and Discord honour. Windows has no separate system-sounds endpoint, so unlike the Mac build, Anchr doesn't invent one. Both Calls roles are off by default.
Four roles
Never use a display's speakers
HDMI and DisplayPort, including the monitor you buy next year. It's a rule about the connection, not a list of devices you have to keep feeding.
One switch
Never use Bluetooth as the mic
Covers every headset you own and every one you'll own. The single most common complaint about Windows Bluetooth audio, as a checkbox.
One switch
It never argues with you
Windows reports a person changing a device and a program stealing one identically, so when Anchr puts something back, it says so and offers a way out: choose that device again and Anchr keeps it. The offer sits in the window, in the tray menu, and in the notification: it doesn't only exist for people who leave notifications on.
The part that matters
Says when it's losing
If something keeps grabbing a device faster than a person could, Anchr stands down rather than loop against it forever, and tells you. A guard that quietly gave up is worse than no guard.
Stops, doesn't spin
Waits for the dust to settle
Windows needs this more than macOS does: a single Bluetooth headset can arrive twice over, once as A2DP and once as hands-free. Anchr waits for the burst to end and routes once, instead of clicking your speakers on and off.
One change, not five
Verifies every change actually stuck
Setting a default device goes through Windows' own undocumented policy interface, so Anchr never assumes success: it reads the default back after every change and reports a mismatch rather than looking like the broken thing.
Checks its work
No permissions. None at all.
Reading the device list and setting the system default are unprivileged, so there's no prompt and nothing to grant. In particular, no microphone access: Anchr picks which microphone your apps record from and has no code that could record one itself.
Nothing to grant
Everyday controls
Import and export your whole setup to carry it to another PC, an activity log of everything Anchr has moved, pause when you need to, re-apply now on demand, and launch at sign-in. Anchr can only hold your devices while it's running.
Import / export
Lives in your tray, quits on your terms
Closing the window hides it; quitting is a separate, explicit tray action. Anchr also updates itself in place: it downloads the new installer, verifies its signature and version, installs over itself and reopens.
Stays out of your way
13 languages, WCAG 2.1 AA
English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (BR), Dutch, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Korean. Every reorder is a real, named button (never drag-only) with Narrator labels, live announcements, and Windows High Contrast support.
372 tests
03 The roles Anchr holds
Playback
Microphone
Calls: playback
Calls: microphone
04 Beta
You're testing the first Windows build.
Anchr has been on the Mac for a while. This is the Windows port's first public build: same guarantees, rebuilt on Windows' own audio APIs and Windows' own roles. It passes its own 372-test suite.
What would help most
Real hardware, real chaos
Bluetooth headsets connecting mid-call, USB interfaces, HDMI or DisplayPort monitors with their own speakers, docking stations that bring three devices in half a second.
Living in your tray, day after day
Anchr is meant to run for weeks, through sleeps, wakes, docks and undocks. Tell me if it ever loses track, forgets a rule, or needs a restart to behave.
The install itself
Whether SmartScreen let you through, whether the shortcut and tray icon look right, whether uninstall leaves anything behind.
Anything that looks wrong
Clipped text, a scrollbar where there shouldn't be one, an odd translation, a dialog you couldn't reach with the keyboard.
06 Pricing
Free for everyone.
Every feature, every role, every rule. No key, no account, no nag screens. Free for personal use and commercial use alike.
Anchr for Windows
Free forever
Personal and commercial use included
- Ordered preferences for Playback, Microphone and both Calls roles
- Never use a display's speakers · never use Bluetooth as the mic
- Pick-it-again to overrule, with no exception lists to maintain
- Settings import and export
- No permissions, no microphone access, no usage analytics
- Free updates forever
- Personal and commercial use, no license required
07 Download & install
Get set up in about a minute.
Run the installer and Anchr lands in your own user folder: no admin password, no UAC prompt, nothing else to install.
Version 1.0.1 beta · Anchr-Setup.exe · about 16 MB · Free updates forever
Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) or Windows 11 · 64-bit
Everything Anchr needs is inside the installer: no Python, no runtime to chase down. It does use the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime to draw its interface, which ships with Windows 11 and reaches almost every Windows 10 machine through Windows Update. On the rare PC without it, Anchr will say so on launch and Microsoft's free installer is a one-click fix.
No admin rights needed
Anchr installs per-user into
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Anchr, so there's no UAC prompt and no argument with your IT department. Uninstall from Settings → Apps → Installed apps like anything else.Windows may warn you the first time. Here's the honest story.
Anchr is Authenticode-signed, so the publisher shows as a real, verified name rather than "Unknown publisher." But signing alone does not switch SmartScreen off: Microsoft builds reputation per file, and a brand-new build starts with none. Until this exact file has been downloaded enough times, you may still see a blue "Windows protected your PC" box.
- Click More info
- Check the publisher name shown
- Click Run anyway
08 FAQ
Common questions.
Is Anchr really free?
Personal use is free forever: every role, every rule, no key, no account, no trial timer, no nag screens. If you use Anchr at work, free for commercial use at work too, with no license to buy.
Does this actually make my Bluetooth headset sound better?
Indirectly, and not by processing anything. Windows ties your microphone to your headphones by default; the moment an app records from the default input, the headset switches out of its high-quality listening codec into hands-free mode. Keeping the default microphone somewhere else means nothing asks the headset to be a microphone, so it never switches. Anchr doesn't touch the audio itself: there's no EQ and no processing.
Will it fight me when I change a device on purpose?
No, and this is the part most of the design went into. Windows reports a person changing a device and a program stealing one with the identical notification (
IMMNotificationClient::OnDefaultDeviceChanged fires the same way for both), so Anchr resolves it by asking you in the only currency you already have: a second click. It puts the device back and says so; choose that device again and it keeps it for the session. A program can't fake the answer, because the second choice has to arrive at human speed.What if I've configured nothing?
Then Anchr does nothing at all. A device that isn't on one of your lists is one it has no opinion about: it won't route to it, and won't route away from it either. That's why it can ship switched on without being presumptuous.
Does it need microphone access?
No, and it never will. Enumerating audio devices and setting the system default are unprivileged Windows calls; capturing audio is the thing that needs permission, and Anchr contains no capture code. It chooses which microphone your other apps use and never opens one itself.
What happens when I dock, undock, or my headset reconnects?
Hardware arrives in bursts, and on Windows a single Bluetooth headset can arrive twice, once as its high-quality A2DP profile and once as its hands-free profile. Anchr waits for the burst to settle and then routes once, rather than clicking your speakers on and off for every endpoint that shows up. If the hardware never settles it still routes eventually, rather than waiting forever.
What if two apps keep fighting over a device?
Anchr counts. When something changes the same role faster than a person could, several times in a few seconds, it stops rather than loop against it, and tells you, in the window and in a notification. It will not sit there burning a core arguing with another program, and it will not quietly pretend it's still guarding something.
Does it replace Windows' own Sound settings?
It replaces the need to keep going there, not the ability to. There's an "Open Windows sound settings" button right in Anchr's window.
Is it accessible?
WCAG 2.1 AA, with the parts that can be asserted covered by the 372-test suite rather than eyeballed. The ordering is never drag-only: every reorder is a real button that names the device it moves, like "Move Blue Yeti up," not just "Move Up." No state is signalled by colour alone, and Anchr's own changes are announced live for Narrator.
Why did Windows show a blue "protected your PC" warning?
Because the file is new, not because it's unsigned. SmartScreen builds trust per file over downloads and time, and a fresh build starts from zero. Code signing gives you a verified publisher name in the dialog but does not skip it. Click More info → check the publisher → Run anyway. See the install section for the full explanation.
How do I update Anchr?
It updates itself. Anchr checks periodically and badges the update button when there's something new. Click it and Anchr downloads the new installer, verifies its signature and version before running anything, installs over itself and reopens. If any of those checks fail it deletes the download and sends you here instead. Your settings carry over.
How is this different from the Mac version?
Same product, same guarantees: the engine was rebuilt on Windows' own audio APIs rather than macOS's CoreAudio. The biggest visible difference is the role list: macOS has three roles (output, input, system sounds); Windows has four (Playback, Microphone, and separate "Calls: playback" and "Calls: microphone" roles for apps like Teams and Zoom), because those are the roles Windows itself actually exposes. Windows has no separate system-sounds endpoint, so Anchr doesn't pretend to hold one. Both builds update themselves in place, and a business license key works on either.
Where do my settings live, and what does uninstalling remove?
Preferences and your activity log sit in your own user profile; uninstalling removes the app from
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Anchr and the sign-in shortcut if you enabled it. Nothing is written outside your user account, and nothing goes in the registry beyond the uninstall entry and the optional sign-in entry.