Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.41.3 with lots of improvements and a new utility

Microsoft has pushed out two new PowerToys builds in very quick succession, fixing lots of issues, making numerous improvements, and adding a brand new utility.

The bulk of the changes came in PowerToys v0.41.2, but this was followed mere hours later by PowerToys v0.41.3 because of a compatibility issue with BitDefender. The latest build is interesting not just because of the number of changes it includes, but also the arrival of the new tool called Awake.

See also:

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• You're not going to get a Windows 11 upgrade until next year
• WhyNotWin11 is a better Windows 11 compatibility checker

We only recently learned about the impending arrival of the Awake PowerToy. Once known as Espresso, Microsoft says of the utility: "Power-Users can now keep their computer awake on-demand without having to manage its power settings".

But while this is arguably the most interesting aspect of this latest release, it is far from being the only change. In fact, this is one of the busiest PowerToys releases in quite some time!

The full, fairly lengthy changelog looks like this:

Change log

• Shortcut guide removed support for long Win press to activate. Now supports Win + ? by default
• Turned off FancyZones canvas editor magnetic snapping to allow keyboard support
• Updated Color Picker GIF for OOBE. Thanks @niels9001!
• Removed outdated MSIX code
• Upgraded all projects to Modern WPF 0.94
• Dropped support for the module interface API to save settings
• Removed Winstore dependency

General

• Improved auto-update experience in PowerToys Settings
• Updated general bug report information to be more robust
• Improved settings layout for radio button groups. Updated images and menu for OOBE. Thanks @niels9001!
• Localization updates

Awake

• New Awake utility added! Power-Users can now keep their computer awake on-demand without having to manage its power settings. Huge thank you to @dend

Color Picker

• Improvements to Color Picker’s zoom functionality. Thanks @DoctorNefario
• Prevent duplicate colors from appearing in selection history
• Improved UX to better support keyboard navigation. Thanks @niels9001!
• Fixed OOBE hotkey description. Thanks @coc0a

FancyZones

• Full keyboard support for canvas editor's main window and context. Thanks @niels9001
• New support for faster layout selection by double clicking a desired layout from the editor to automatically apply it and dismiss the editor.
• New zone activation behavior allows users to snap a window to the zone who's center is closest to the cursor. Thanks @ulazy1!
• Added process icon for FancyZones.
• Fixed issue with zoning minimized windows.
• Fixed a bunch of accessibility bugs
• Now an independent exe, detached from the runner process.

File Explorer Add-Ons

• Adjusted Markdown newline behavior to be less strict so the add-on behaves more like GitHub implementations
  Image Resizer
• Fixed bug with custom size option where leaving a height/width value blank caused the output to be a 1 x 1 square pixel. Now the blank value automatically adjusts to the height/width that was set.

Image Resizer

• Fixed bug where specifying a width but no height generated a 1x1 px image instead of auto-adjusting the height. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

PowerRename

• Fixed File Explorer crash when running PowerRename

PowerToys Run

• Multiple crashing bugs resolved.
• New Unit Converter plugin! Activate in the query prompt with the default activation phrase %%. Ex: %% 10 ft in m. Thanks @jsoref and @ThiefZero!
• New Windows Settings plugin! Search for specific Windows settings from PowerToys Run by utilizing the default activation phrase $ followed by the desired setting. Ex: $ Add/Remove Programs or $ Device:. Thanks @TobiasSekan and @htcfreek.
• Updated the URL plugin to enable quickly launching the default browser with the action keyword, which defaults to //.
• Added remainder/modulo support for Calculator plugin via % operator.
• Faster launching from improved Win32 program indexing. Thanks @royvou!
• Search text results now highlight matched characters from input. Thanks @niels9001!

Settings / Welcome to PowerToys

• Fixed Color Picker’s key-binding information

Shortcut Guide

• Customize key-binding from settings menu
• Took Shortcut guide out of the runner process to remove unnecessary interdependencies

Installer

• Updated .NET Core dependency to 3.1.15
• Reduced the network traffic by making the updater not download files when they're already cached

The latest version of PowerToys is available to download here.