Microsoft releases PowerToys 0.64.0 packed with bug fixes and two incredible new utilities

It is finally time for not only a new build of PowerToys, but also for the arrival of a pair of completely new utilities. Microsoft has released PowerToys 0.64.0 complete with two new tools, File Locksmith and a HOSTS file editor -- as well as the option to backup PowerToys settings.

These are both utilities that we learned about relatively recently, and it seems that the PowerToys development team has been busy working to bring them to users as a soon as possible. So, what are the new tools all about?

See also:

• Microsoft is bringing a search feature to Task Manager in Windows 11 -- but you can enable it now
• Microsoft is not investigating Windows 11 2022 Update gaming performance issues, but AMD is
• Microsoft warns that October 2022 security updates can cause problems joining domains in Windows 11 and older

The newly added ability to backup and restore PowerToys settings is something that will please many users. It will make life easier when reinstalling Windows, and makes it possile to transfer settings between computers. But while this is a welcome addition, it is the new utilities that will generate the most interest.

First up is File Locksmith which Microsoft describes as allowing users to see which processes are currently using the selected files. It also makes it possible to close those processes, freeing up a file for editing or deletion. The second new utility is Hosts File Editor which enables you to edit your hosts file in an Editor UI.

A notable change to the popular FancyZones tool means that you can now set defaults for horizontal/vertical screens to get better intended behavior for new screens and cases where a monitor ID resets.

There is also a lengthy list of bug fixes and tweaks; the full changelog reads as follows:

Known issues

• The Text Extractor utility fails to recognize text in some cases on ARM64 devices running Windows 10.
• After installing PowerToys, the new Windows 11 context menu entries for PowerRename and Image Resizer might not appear before a system restart.
• There are reports of users who are unable to open the Settings window. This is being caused by incompatibilities with some applications (RTSS RivaTuner Statistics Server is a known examples of this). If you're affected by this, please check the linked issue to verify if any of the presented solutions works for you.

Always on Top

• Detect and put a window on top again if it's no longer on top.

Color Picker

• Added the hexadecimal integer format. Thanks @marius-bughiu!

FancyZones

• Added a way for users to configure default layouts for horizontal and vertical screens.
• Replaced remaining Number Boxes in FancyZones Editor with Sliders, to improve accessibility for screen readers.
• Fixed an issue breaking window switching shortcuts.

File Locksmith

• Added a new utility: File Locksmith.
• Thanks @niels9001 for the design on the UI!

Group Policy Objects

• Group Policy Objects settings for force disabling and enabling PowerToys utilities.
• Thanks @htcfreek for your help in reviewing to make sure the shipped settings conform to system administrators expectations!

Hosts File Editor

• Added a new utility: Hosts File Editor. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Thanks @niels9001 for the design help on the UI!
• Thanks @davidegiacometti for fixing the bugs found and adding features up until release!
• Thanks @AtariDreams for consolidating the packages comparing to the rest of the project!
• Thanks @htcfreek for adding a scrollviewer to the entry editor!

Keyboard Manager

• Fixed a delay that was not being cancelled properly. Thanks @AtariDreams!

Mouse Utilities

• Changed the opacity setting to the 1-100 range. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

PowerToys Run

• Changed image loading to release the images in PowerToys Run main executable. This is a try to fix the "app.dark.png" missing issues received after a PowerToys update.
• Fixed the PowerToys Run hiding after the default action failed. Thanks @hlaueriksson!
• Fixed the PowerToys Run allows showing after a context menu action succeeded. Thanks @hlaueriksson!

Quick Accent

• Corrected "Dutch" word to "German". Thanks @damienleroy!
• Added the Portuguese language accents. Thanks @pcanavar!
• Fixed positioning of toolbar on scaled desktops.

Screen Ruler

• Improved the acrylic brush used in the menu. Thanks @niels9001!

Settings

• Added a feature to backup/restore settings to/from a file. Thanks @jefflord!
• Fixed an issue causing shortcuts shown in OOBE not updating to new values when the window was re-opened.
• Fixed the "Documents" folder usage in the backup/restore feature. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Text Extractor

• Added a warning about how to install languages for OCR recognition.
• Fixed the overlay not focusing after the first activation.
• Added spaces between CJK and non-CKJ words. Thanks @maggch97!

Video Conference Mute

• Added a setting to hide the Video Conference Mute overlay when muted. Thanks @akabhirav!
• Added a warning about deprecating Video Conference Mute in the future (v0.67), please check #21473 for more information.

Installer

• Added some missing files that were causing Settings and PowerRename to not function correctly on some configurations.
• Updated the .NET dependency to 6.0.10.

Development

• Consolidated nuget packages and removed a few unused packages.
• Updated the Windows.CppRT to the latest version. Thanks @AtariDreams!
• Removed the cxxopts dependency, which was no longer used. Thanks @AtariDreams!
• Updated the cziplob dependency to 0.25. Thanks @AtariDreams!
• Updated the System.IO.Abstractions dependency. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Turned on C++ code analysis and incrementally fixing warnings.
• Added the install method to the issue template on GitHub, since some issues seem to be related to specific installation methods.
• Automated installer hash creation in the release CI.
• Simplified use of .First() on ImageResizer. Thanks @AtariDreams!
• Improved and clarified the issues templates. Thanks @Jay-o-Way!
• Fixed a PTRun unit test to be more compatible with .NET 6. Thanks @AtariDreams!

You can download PowerToys v0.64.0 here, or simply update the version you have installed at the moment by checking for new releases from within the app.