Microsoft PowerToys for Windows 10

Microsoft had promised Windows 10 to get PowerToys, and they are finally here! The first preview version includes a Windows key shortcut overlay and a window manager that allows you to go beyond simple 2 × 2 capture.

You can download PowerToys from GitHub – choose the PowerToysSetup.msi file. They are free and open-source!

Once you have downloaded and installed the PowerToys, a PowerToys logo appears in your notification area. Click it to open the PowerToys Settings window.

Unlike the old PowerToys for Windows XP, these downloads are not separate. You download and install a large PowerToys package. You can choose which PowerToys are enabled in the settings window.

The Shortcut Guide provides context-sensitive help on Windows keyboard shortcuts. To turn it on, hold down the Windows key on your keyboard for a moment. An overlay showing which Windows keyboard shortcuts you can use appears. For example, numbers appear above the icons of your applications in the taskbar. You can press Windows + 1 to activate the first shortcut on the taskbar, as if you clicked it.

These keyboard shortcuts are available all the time, but the PowerToy provides an easier way to discover them when you use Windows without reading them online first.

FancyZones allows you to create a window layout and quickly assign windows to that layout. Do you want three windows side by side on your screen? The normal capture feature of Windows 10 will not help, but FancyZones can.

You can configure it from the FancyZones section in the PowerToys settings. Click the "Edit Zones" button or press Windows + ~ (tilde) to open it.

To make it easier to arrange windows, you can enable the "Hold Shift to Activate Zones While Moving" option, and then hold down the Shift key while dragging the windows on your screen for quickly align in the areas you have chosen.

This is the first preview version of the new PowerToys. They seemed good for us, but you may have problems. For example, FancyZones still does not work well if you have multiple monitors.

Microsoft will enhance these PowerToys and add more in the future, so stay tuned.

Here is the Microsoft demo video from the FancyZones configuration screen: