Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.43.0 with an absolute barrel load of fixes and changes (plus a bit of telemetry)

If it feels like a while since there was an update to PowerToys, that's because the last significant release was a little over a month ago. But now Microsoft has broken the dry spell by pushing out PowerToys v0.43.0.

Sadly, there are no new utilities to play with in this particular release, but it remains important. In terms of bug fixes, improvements and changes, this is one of the biggest updates to the suite of tools in quite some time. There is also the slightly controversial addition of telemetry to one of the utilties.

See also:

• New variant of PrintNightmare exploit lets any user gain admin privileges in Windows
• Users already have problems with the Windows 11 beta
• Microsoft just made it even easier to install Windows Subsystem for Linux in Windows 11 (and 10)

After the addition of the new Awake PowerToy (the one which gains telemetry in this latest version), many people will be disappointed that there is nothing similarly exciting in this latest release. It is, however, not unexpected. Microsoft says: "Our goals for the v0.43 release cycle primarily centered around stability updates and optimizations, installer updates, general bug fixes, and accessibility improvements".

And there are a lot of changes, focused primarily on bug fixes, but there are also a few visible tweaks and improvements.

The full, fairly lengthy changelog reads as follows:

Change log

• Changed tooltip text for systray icon to be on a single line for Windows 11 compatibility.
• Fixed escape behavior on Color Picker so that only the fly-out is closed if active.
• Changed URI PowerToys Run plugin to launch HTTPS by default instead of HTTP. Thanks @chrisharris333!
• Added confirmation dialog when system commands are executed from PowerToys Run. Thanks @chrisharris333!

General

• New UI for sizes list view in Image Resizer settings. Thanks @niels9001!
• Fixed FileInUse errors during install/update scenarios.
• Fixed toggle switches on PowerToys run settings to display correctly.
• Fixed header text not updating when theme color is changed. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added Name/Alt text to GIF image
• Expanded the Report Bug tool to collect more robust diagnostic information.
• Fixed screen reader functionality to stop announcing hidden text in settings.
• Added Name and alt text properties to GIF images in Welcome to PowerToys window

Awake

• Fixed bug when right-clicking menu of Awake app icon. Thanks @dend!
• Fixed high CPU usage for timed keep awake. Thanks @dend!
• Fixed Awake icon spamming notification tray. Thanks @dend!
• Added telemetry to collect Awake settings and logs.

Color Picker

• Removed private Unicode Chars in element Name properties.
• No Class names in Name properties.
• Added non-null bounding rectangle property.
• Fixed color shade numbering for screen reader.
• Fixed focusable elements to have non-null name property.
• Distingushed name property and LocalizedControlType from elements and their parent.
• ControlType and LocalizedControlType are no longer both set to Custom.
• Fixed screen reader incorrectly naming Color Picker when launched.
• Fixed screen reader not announcing colors when navigating.

FancyZones

• Fixed bug causing multi-monitor spanning errors.
• Added minimum zone size limit to the settings.
• Fixed issue where re-opened windows don't appear in previously assigned zone.
• Fixed excluded apps setting to save on text change instead of when leaving focus.
• Fixed corrupt/outdated plugins load crash.
• Fixed issue with FancyZones not working after computer goes to sleep.
• Added screen reader confirmation to canvas editor when new zones are added.

Keyboard Manager

• Fixed screen reader usage bugs to increase intuitiveness.

PowerToys Run

• Fixed crashing bug due to missing image file app.dark.png.
• Fixed URI plugin bug with handling numeric input. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Improved launch performance of PowerToys run on first call. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

You can find out more over on GitHub and download the latest version of PowerToys here.