Free Folder Monitor 8.1.0
Windows 10 version 1809+ / Windows 11 x64, .NET Framework 4.7.2 WPF. No separate .NET Desktop Runtime download is required.

Open Application/FreeFolderMonitor.exe. Choose a local folder and whether to include subfolders. Start monitoring to see real create/change/delete/rename Windows notifications. Pause stops observation; Resume starts it again. Events during any stopped or paused gap cannot be reconstructed. Filter by event/name/relative path; CSV export saves all retained rows, including warning rows.

The actual backend is watchdog 6.0.0 WindowsApiObserver/ReadDirectoryChangesW, running on a bundled official CPython 3.13.9 x64 runtime. No system Python installation is required or changed. Monitoring does not read file contents or alter files. This build rejects UNC paths; Windows notifications on remote/cloud/virtual filesystems are not guaranteed.

Events are queued and sent in batches. Windows may combine repeated notifications or produce multiple events for one operation. The UI retains the latest 5,000 rows; older rows are dropped from the retained export. Native buffer overflow, output-queue overflow, invalid roots and unexpected watcher failure produce explicit warnings. This is a useful activity view, not a forensic audit log, and does not identify a process or person responsible for a change. Changing a folder's own root is not equivalent to watching its parent.

brand.ini controls [Brand] Name, Tagline, WebsiteUrl and [Appearance] DefaultTheme. Dark ships by default; Settings offers dark/light and saves preference in LocalAppData/FreeFolderMonitor/ui-settings.json. Setup can use Local\FreeFolderMonitor.8.Running while this app is active. Closing stops and waits for the worker process.

Developer validation: FreeFolderMonitor.exe --selftest <new-report.json>
Creates only generated isolated fixtures below the report's Fixtures folder; records real Unicode file changes, renames/deletions, pause/resume, recursion, a 1,000-file event flood, export and watcher-root removal error behaviour. Actual Windows native overflow is not deterministically forced; this limitation is explicitly reported.

Screenshot validation: FreeFolderMonitor.exe --export-screenshot <new.png> --theme light --fixture <new-empty-folder>
Repeat with dark. Generates genuine file activity and renders the actual WPF window at 2x (2240x1580). No screenshots are fabricated or modified, and existing PNGs are not overwritten. Fixtures must be empty or bear this product's generated-fixture marker.

Source is in src/; engine/monitor_bridge.py is the integration adapter. Complete unmodified watchdog source and official runtime ZIP are in upstream/. RESEARCH.md records the choice; BUILD.ps1 builds the net472 frontend; use -Offline with the complete packages/ folder. SOURCE-RECIPE.txt identifies exact source URLs and archive rules. The app build does not install Python, create an installer, execute RK or sign files.
