Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.80.0 with new Winget-powered Desired State Configuration feature

It is time for a new PowerToys release, and with version 0.80.0 Microsoft has a lot in store. Across the suite there are loads of changes and fixes, but there is also what everyone hopes for with a PowerToys update -- new features.

One of the highlights this time around is the arrival of Desired State Configuration support. This is a feature that makes it possible to configure PowerToys using a Winget configuration file. Other new additions include new file type support in the Peek module, and a significant update to the popular FancyZones.

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In addition to Desired State Configuration support, Microsoft also points out that automated UI testing for FancyZones Editor has been added to CI. Users of the Peek file preview module will find there is now support for WebP/WebM files as well as audio formats. The company says that the Windows App SDK dependency was updated to 1.5.1, and this should address many underlying UI issues.

In the release notes, Microsoft says that "the next release is planned to be released during Microsoft Build 2024 (late May)" -- so make the most of this version for now.

The full list of changes for PowerToys v0.80.0 is as follows:

General

• Added a Quick Access entry to access the flyout from PowerToys' tray icon right click menu. Thanks @pekvasnovsky!
• Added support for Desired State Configuration in PowerToys, allowing the use of winget configure to configure many settings.

Awake

• Fix an issue causing the "Keep screen on" option to disable after Awake deactivated itself.

Color Picker

• Fixed a UI issue causing the color picker modal to hide part of the color bar. Thanks @TheChilledBuffalo!

Command Not Found

• Now tries to find a preview version of PowerShell if no stable version is found.

FancyZones

• Fixed a crash loading the editor when there's a layout with an empty name in the configuration file.
• Refactored layout internal data structures and common code to allow for automated testing.
• The pressing of the shift key is now detected through raw input to fix an issue causing the shift key to be locked for some users.

File Explorer add-ons

• Fixed a crash occurring in the Monaco previewer when a file being previewed isn't found by the code behind.
• Fixed an issue in the Markdown previewer adding a leading space to code blocks. Thanks @Aaron-Junker!
• Fixed wrong location and scaling of preview results on screens with different DPIs.
• Added better clean up code to thumbnail handlers to prevent locking files.

File Locksmith

• Allow multiple lines to wrap when viewing the modal with selected file paths. Thanks @sanidhyas3s!

Installer

• Fixed the final directory name of the PowerToys Run VSCode Workspaces plugin in the installation directory to match the plugin name. Thanks @zetaloop!
• Used more generic names for the bootstrap steps, so that "Installing PowerToys" is not shown when uninstalling.

Keyboard Manager

• Fixed an issue that would clear out KBM mappings when certain numpad keys were used as the second key of a chord.
• Added a comment in localization files so that translators won't translate "Text" as "SMS".

Peek

• Added support to .WebP/.WebM files in the image/video previewer. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Added support for audio files. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed an issue causing the open file button in the title bar to be un-clickable. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed an issue when previewing a folder with a dot in the name that caused Peek to try to preview it as a file. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

PowerToys Run

• Added a setting to the Windows Search plugin to exclude files and patterns from the results. Thanks @HydroH!
• Fixed an issue showing thumbnails caused by a hash collision between similar images.
• Added the "checkbox and multiline text box" additional property type for plugins and improved multiline text handling. Thanks @htcfreek!

Quick Accent

• Added the Schwa character to the Italian character set. Thanks @damantioworks!

Registry Preview

• Allow alternative valid names for the root keys. Thanks @e-t-l!
• Fixed an issue causing many pick file windows to be opened simultaneously. Thanks @randyrants!

Screen Ruler

• Updated the measure icons for clarity. Thanks @Aaron-Junker and @niels9001!

Shortcut Guide

• Updated the Emoji shortcut that is shown to the new Windows key + period (.) hotkey.

Text Extractor

• Fixed issues creating the extract layout on certain monitor configurations.

Video Conference Mute

• Added enable/disable telemetry to get usage data.

Settings

• Added locks to some terms (like the name of some utilities) so that they aren't localized.
• Fixed some shortcuts not being shown properly in the Flyout and Dashboard. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Updated image for Color Picker and outdated animations for utilities in OOBE. Thanks @niels9001!

Documentation

• Added FastWeb plugin to PowerToys Run thirdPartyRunPlugins.md docs. Thanks @CCcat8059!
• Removed the old security link to MSRC from the create new issue page, since security.md is already linked there.
• Added clarity regarding unofficial plugins to the PowerToys Run thirdPartyRunPlugins.md docs.

Development

• Updated System.Drawing.Common to 8.0.3 to fix CI builds after the .NET 8.0.3 upgrade was released.
• Adjusted the GitHub action names for releasing to winget and Microsoft Store so they're clearer in the UI.
• Upgraded WinAppSDK to 1.5.1, fixing many related issues.
• Consolidate the WebView2 version used by WinUI 2 in the Keyboard Manager Editor.
• Unified the use of Precompiled Headers when building on CI. Thanks @dfederm!
• Added UI tests for FancyZones Editor in CI.
• Added a GitHub bot to identify possible duplicates when a new issue is created. Thanks @craigloewen-msft!
• Updated the WiX installer dependency to 3.14.1 to fix possible security issues.
• Changed the pipelines to use pipeline artifacts instead of build artifacts. Thanks @dfederm!
• Added the -graph parameter for pipelines. Thanks @dfederm!
• Tests in the pipelines now run as part of the build step to save on CI time. Thanks @dferderm!

As ever, you can get the latest version of PowerToys from GitHub or the Microsoft Store, or by using the update checker in the version you have installed already.