Microsoft PowerToys: Utilities to customize Windows | Full Guide

Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows experience for greater productivity. Windows 10 received PowerToys four years after its release. On 3 December, 2019, Microsoft relaunched PowerToys and made them open-source on GitHub.The first preview release was available in September 2019, which included FancyZones and the Windows key shortcut guide.

Processor support : x64: Supported ,ARM64: Supported

Microsoft PowerToys Consist :

1. 1. Always on Top
2. 2. PowerToys Awake
3. 3. Color Picker
4. 4. FancyZones
5. 5. File Explorer add-ons
6. 6. Image Resizer
7. 7. Keyboard Manager
8. 8. Mouse utilities
9. 9. PowerRename
10. 10. Quick Accent
11. 11. PowerToys Run
12. 12. Screen Ruler
13. 13. Shortcut Guide
14. 14. Text Extractor
15. 15. Video Conference Mute

 

1. Always on Top -

This feature is used to always keep the selected window on top it means enables you to pin windows on top of other windows with the activation / deactivation shortcut (default: ⊞ Win+Ctrl+T), the targeted window will be placed above all non-topmost windows and should stay above them, even when the window is deactivated.

 

2. Powertoy Awake -

PowerToys Awake is designed to keep a computer awake without having to manage its power & sleep settings. This behavior can be helpful when running time-consuming tasks, ensuring that the computer does not go to sleep or turns off its screens.

 

3. Color Picker -

Microsoft PowerToy has a system-wide color picking utility activated with Win+Shift+C. Pick colors from any currently running application, the picker automatically copies the color into your clipboard in a set format. Color Picker contains an editor that shows a history of previously picked colors, allows you to fine-tune the selected color and to copy different string representations. This code is based on Martin Chrzan's Color Picker.

How To Activete

1. 1. To start using Color Picker, enable it in the PowerToys Settings (Color Picker section).
2. 2. Once enabled, you can choose one of the following three behaviors to be executed when launching Color Picker with the activation shortcut (default: Win+Shift+C).

 

Select color
After the Color Picker is activated, hover your mouse cursor over the color you would like to copy and left-click the mouse button to select a color. If you want to see the area around your cursor in more detail, scroll up to zoom in.

 

4. FancyZones

FancyZones is a window manager that makes it easy to create complex window layouts and quickly position windows into those layouts. FancyZone activated with Win+Shift+`

First, drag the window. By default, you will also need to press and hold the Shift key (This setting can be disabled via Settings). You'll see the zones appear. As you move your mouse, hovering over a zone will highlight that zone.

You can use Win+[arrows] to expand the window to multiple zones. However, you must first set Override Windows Snap to enabled in the FancyZones settings.

Window switching-
When two or more windows are snapped in the same zone, you can cycle between the snapped windows in that zone by using the shortcut Win+PgUp/PgDn.

 

5. File Explorer add-ons

File Explorer add-ons enable Preview pane rendering in File Explorer to display SVG icons (.svg), Markdown (.md) and PDF file previews. To enable the Preview pane, select the "View" tab in File Explorer, then select "Preview Pane".
File Explorer add-ons currently include:

    Preview Pane rendering for:
        1. SVG icons (.svg)
        2. Markdown files (.md)
        3. Source code files (.cs, .cpp, .rs, ...)
        4. PDF files (.pdf)
        5. G-code files (.gcode)
    Thumbnail preview for:
        1. SVG icons (.svg)
        2. PDF files (.pdf)
        3. G-code files (.gcode)
        4. STL files (.stl)

 

6. Image Resizer

Image Resizer is a Windows Shell extension for quickly resizing images. With a simple right click from File Explorer, resize one or many images instantly. This code is based on Brice Lambson's Image Resizer.

7. Keyboard Manager

Keyboard Manager allows you to customize the keyboard to be more productive by remapping keys and creating your own keyboard shortcuts.

Settings

To create mappings with Keyboard Manager, open the PowerToys Settings. Inside PowerToys Settings, on the Keyboard Manager tab, you will see options to:

    Launch the Remap Keys settings window by pressing Remap a key
    Launch the Remap Shortcuts settings window by pressing Remap a shortcut

 

8. Mouse utilities

Mouse utilities add functionality to enhance your mouse and cursor. With Find My Mouse, quickly locate your mouse's position with a spotlight that focuses on your cursor. This feature is based on source code developed by Raymond Chen. Mouse Highlighter displays visual indicators when the left or right mouse buttons are clicked. Mouse Pointer Crosshairs draws crosshairs centered on the mouse pointer.
the collection consists of:
    Find my mouse
    Mouse highlighter
    Mouse pointer crosshairs

 

9. PowerRename

PowerRename enables you to perform bulk renaming, searching and replacing file names. It includes advanced features, such as using regular expressions, targeting specific file types, previewing expected results, and the ability to undo changes. This code is based on Chris Davis's SmartRename.

PowerRename is a bulk renaming tool that enables you to:

    1. Modify the file names of a large number of files, without giving all of the files the same name.
    2. Perform a search and replace on a targeted section of file names.
    3. Perform a regular expression rename on multiple files.
    4. Check expected rename results in a preview window before finalizing a bulk rename.
    5. Undo a rename operation after it is completed.

 

10. Quick Accent

Quick Accent is an alternative way to type accented characters, useful for when a keyboard doesn't support that specific accent with a quick key combo.

How to activate

Activate by holding the key for the character you want to add an accent to, then press the Activation Key (space key or left and right arrow keys). If you continue to hold, an overlay to select the accented character between multiple characters will appear.

How to change the accent key

With the dialog enabled, just keep pressing your Activation Key. If you have arrows enabled, left / right, it will go to the appropriate direction.

11. PowerToys Run
PowerToys Run can help you search and launch your app instantly - just press the shortcut Alt+Space and start typing. It is open source and modular for additional plugins. Window Walker is now included as well.

PowerToys Run features include:

    1. Search for applications, folders or files
    2. Search for running processes (previously known as Window Walker)
    3. Clickable buttons with keyboard shortcuts (such as Open as administrator or Open containing folder)
    4. Invoke Shell Plugin using > (for example, > Shell:startup will open the Windows startup folder)
    5. Do a simple calculation using calculator
    6. Execute system commands
    7. Get time and date information
    8. Convert units
    9. Open web pages or start a web search

 

12. Screen Ruler

Screen Ruler allows you to quickly measure pixels on your screen based with image edge detection. Just press ⊞ Win+Shift+T to activate. This was inspired by Pete Blois's Rooler.

How to activate

Just press  Win+Shift+M to activate and then select which tool you want to measure with. To exit, just hit Esc or click the toolbar.

How to use

    1. Bounds (Dashed square symbol): This is a bounding box. Click and drag with your mouse. If you hold Shift, the box will stay until you cancel the interaction
    2. Spacing (+ symbol): This will measure horizontal and vertical spacing at the same time. Click the symbol and move your mouse to your target location.
    3. Horizontal (- symbol): This will measure only horizontal spacing. Click the symbol and move your mouse to your target location.
    4. Vertical (| symbol):This will measure only vertical spacing. Click the symbol and move your mouse to your target location.
    6. Cancel interaction: Esc or mouse click

 

13. Shortcut Guide

Windows key shortcut guide appears when you press  Win+Shift+/ (or as we like to think, Win+?) and shows the available shortcuts for the current state of the desktop. You can also change this setting and press and hold ⊞ Win.

14. Text Extractor

Text Extractor is a convenient way to copy text from anywhere on your screen. This code is based on Joe Finney's Text Grab.

How to activate

With the activation shortcut (default: Win+Shift+T), you'll see an overlay on the screen. Click and hold your primary mouse button and drag to activate your capture. The text will be saved to your clipboard. 

15. Video Conference Mute

Video Conference Mute is a quick way to globally "mute" both your microphone and camera using ⊞ Win+Shift+Q while on a conference call, regardless of the application that currently has focus.
The default shortcuts to use Video Conference Mute are:

    Win+Shift+Q to toggle both audio and video at the same time
    Win+Shift+A to toggle microphone
    Win+Shift+O to toggle camera

 

Download Link :  Click To Download

 

Currently, PowerToys is available in the following languages: Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Turkish.