This article is only relevant for the Windows version of the Online Bible.


After installing, and especially after updating the Online Bible some users notice that their Bibles are missing, while all unlock codes have been applied. The cause is nearly always the "desktop" and the settings in that desktop.


The Online Bible allows multiple desktops. In each the favorite translations and other titles are recorded, the screen layout, the open titles and much more. If therefore a desktop is lost, all thee settings are also lost. 

When installing the Online Bible the desktop is set to "Online Bible Desktop". This standard desktop, with a number of standard settings is also refeshed when updating the software. 


You can see which desktop you are using in the line at the bottom of the screen:



Between square brackets you see the desktop. The problem wih using the standard (Online Bible DeskTop) is that is will be replaced by a new standard with default settings during any update, wiping out all changes. 

We therefore advise creating your own desktop (or multiple ones). After an update, you simply change the standard one to your own, and all your own settings are back again. 


To create a desktop, press F6, or go to View in the menu and choose Manage Desktop. If you see multiple names then you had already created a desktop previously. To create a new one, select the tab Create. 

In the screen that appears, type a new name and press OK.
That has now become the new desktop, and any changes you make to settings will be stored in it. When you next update the software, all you have to do is to change from the standard to your own desktop and all your settings are back to the way you had them.


Why multiple desktops?

Desktops contain many of the own settings. A summary of the main ones:

  • The favourites (visible Bibles, Commentaries, Dictionaries etc.).
  • The open screens last from your last session, and the layout of the screens.
  • A verse list if you have created one.
  • The colours, both background and font, fonttype and other settings
  • The screen size and position if not full screen, also when using multiple displays
  • And much more.

Note: Own Notes and Annotations are not stored in the desktops. They are visible independent of the desktop. 


On rare occasions the desktop can get damaged (same as any file on a computer). Without your own desktop, this means the programs has to be re-installed. Having a copy of your own desktop will ensure you have not lost the main settings. 

A good use of multiple desktop is when the Online Bible is used for different purposes at the same time. I have one desktop to try out things and answer questions, another for my own study, and a third for a series of articles I am writing. I can switch from one to the other depending on the purpose I have at that point in time for using the Online Bible. The available translations and the standard Bible vary in each. 


To change desktop, press F6 (or go to View in the menu and choose Manage Desktop) and in the tab Load choose the relevant one.