Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.70.1 to fix a laundry list of issues

It's not long since Microsoft unleashed PowerToys v0.70.0 to an excited userbase, complete with two exciting new utilities. Just a week later, it's time for yet another release.

This time around there are, sadly, no new toys to play with, but that does not mean PowerToys v0.70.1 is not significant. Described as a patch release, it addresses a large number of problems that have been found in the software as well as making various improvements.

See also:

• Microsoft releases new Windows Backup app for Windows 11
• New Microsoft Mac Admins community now available for IT pros using Microsoft products on Apple devices in the enterprise
• Microsoft is installing incompatible AMD GPU drivers in Window 10 and Windows 11

Many of the ever-growing utilities that make up PowerToys are affected by this update, but the majority of the fixes relate to the new Peek and Mouse Without Borders tools. It is worth noting a warning that Microsoft has issued about the latter module: "service mode in Mouse Without Borders might be disabled after upgrading and will need to be activated again".

The full list of changes is as follows:

• #26142, #26439 and #26525 - UX improvements in the Peek and Mouse Without Borders settings pages.
• #26152 - The new PowerToys Run plugin for opening other PowerToys was missing some files in the installer and should work properly now.
• #26235 - Peek and Mouse Without Borders process crashes in event viewer should now be reported correctly on Bug Reports.
• #26150 - The Peek shortcut is now only captured if the active window is the Desktop, Explorer or Peek.
• #26192 - Users can now use the Settings to specify host name and IP correlation in Mouse Without Borders, to account for VPN scenarios.
• #24047 - Fixed a cause for possible leaks and/or infinite cycles in C# utilities that use events.
• #26137 - The Peek windows can be closed using the Escape key.
• #26181 - Created a setting for Peek to always run not elevated, so that it handles files in network shares correctly.
• #26318, #26373 and #26431 - Peek and dev file preview now support showing Visual Studio project common files and .ini compatible files.
• #26419 - Fixed a blinking issue when loading code files in Peek.
• #26160 - Fixed a playback notification that would stick when using Peek on video files.
• #26243 - Peek now tries to appear on the same monitor as the File Explorer window that triggers it.
• #26133 - Fixed small Peek UI on high DPIs.
• #26361, #26162 and #26478 - Reduced Peek memory usage and possible leaks.
• #26246 - Fixed Mouse Without Borders layout always resetting to one row after some time.
• #26366 - Added a setting to close the Peek window after it loses focus.
• #26338 - Fixed the mouse activating thumbnails on top of the screen when switching to another machine in Mouse Without Borders.
• #26470 - Fixed a silent Peek crash when trying to open it from File Explorer with no files selected.
• #26261 - Fixed an issue causing Mouse Without Borders to prevent other connected machines from going to sleep.
• #26454 - Disabled a deprecated shortcut in Mouse Without Borders that was interfering with other software.
• #26517 - Don't remove the Mouse Without Borders service on upgrade. This issue will still affect users upgrading from 0.70.0 to a newer version, but it's fixed going forward.
• #26521 - When Mouse Without Borders detects the service doesn't exist, it will still try to operate in the "no service" mode.
• #26524 - Fixed a bug causing Mouse Without Borders to click a window on the current machine when switching to another machine.
• #26259 - Added a winget-cli configuration file for PowerToys.

You can download the update from GitHub or by using the update option from within the version of the app you already have installed.