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Two and a half years after Microsoft announced the restart of PowerToys, the utilities are available in the Microsoft Store.
“Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows 10 experience for greater productivity,” the store’s description notes. The version in the Store is 0.45, so it is still considered a pre-release; this release is mainly about an updated Settings menu and stability and optimization improvements. This is the same version that you can get as a standalone download.
Only the x64 version of PowerToys is available on the Microsoft Store. The x86 (32-bit) and ARM versions are currently “in development,” Microsoft says (although the need for the former is expected to decrease).
The following set of tools are available in Microsoft PowerToys:
PowerToys Awake. Awake is designed to keep a computer awake without having to manage its power and sleep settings. This behavior can be useful when performing time-consuming tasks, ensuring that the computer does not go to sleep or turn off its displays.
Color picker. ColorPicker is a system-wide color picker utility enabled with Win + Shift + C. Pick colors from any running application, the picker automatically copies the color to your clipboard in a defined format. Color Picker also contains an editor that displays a history of previously selected colors, allows you to refine the selected color and copy different representations of strings. This code is based on Martin Chrzan’s color picker.
FancyZones. FancyZones is a window manager that makes it easy to create complex window layouts and quickly position windows in those layouts.
Add-ons to File Explorer. File Explorer add-ons allow the preview pane to be rendered in File Explorer to display SVG icons (.svg) and Markdown file previews (.md). To activate the preview pane, select the “View” tab in the file explorer, then select “Preview pane”.
Image resizer. Image Resizer is a Windows Shell extension for quickly resizing images. With a simple right click from the file explorer, instantly resize one or more images. This code is based on Image Resizer by Brice Lambson.
Keyboard manager. Keyboard Manager lets you customize the keyboard to be more productive by remapping keys and creating your own keyboard shortcuts. This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.
PowerRename. PowerRename allows you to rename, find, and replace filenames in bulk. It includes advanced features, such as using regular expressions, targeting specific file types, previewing expected results, and the ability to revert changes. This code is based on Chris Davis’ SmartRename.
PowerToys Run. PowerToys Run can help you find and launch your app instantly – just enter the Alt + Space shortcut and start typing. It is open source and modular for additional plugins. Window Walker is now also included. This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.
Shortcut guide. Windows keyboard shortcut guide appears when a user presses Win +? and displays the shortcuts available for the current state of the desktop.
Interestingly, Microsoft is also planning a future utility called Video Conference Mute, but this one is also said to be a feature of Windows 11.
You can download Microsoft PowerToys from the Microsoft Store on Windows 11 (and, I guess, Windows 10).
Tagged with PowerToys
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