Articles about PowerToys

It is a month since Microsoft added Mouse Jump and Paste As Plain Text utilities to PowerToys, and now there is yet another new toy to play with -- Registry Preview.

We first heard about this new registry editing and visualization module last week, and now it has been officially released as part of PowerToys v0.69.0. Microsoft says that the v0.69 release cycle focuses on new features, stability and improvements, and the company gives early notice for v0.70 which is due for release next month.

Continue reading →

This year has seen the addition of a veritable smorgasbord of tools to the PowerToys utility collection -- and the pace shows no sign of slowing. Recent arrivals include Mouse Jump and Paste As Plain Text, and next in line is a handy registry utility.

PowerToys developers are currently working on a new tool called Registry Preview. Designed with power users in mind, this upcoming module will make it possible to preview the effects of importing a .reg file into the registry as well as providing registry editing options.

Continue reading →

Just last week, Microsoft released PowerToys v0.68.0 complete with not one but two new utilities --  Mouse Jump and Paste As Plain Text.

Now a few days have passed, the company has released a small but important update, taking the collection of utilities up to version v0.68.1. Among the changes are a new default shortcut for Paste As Plain Text to avoid a conflict with Windows 11's new volume mixer.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has released PowerToys v0.68.0, an update that sees the utility collection expanding with two new modules. We heard about both Mouse Jump and Paste As Plain Text only recently when we learned of their impending arrival.

Mouse Jump is designed with large displays or multi-monitor setups in mind, making it easy to quickly move the mouse cursor to a particular location. Paste As Plain Text is a tool that makes it possible to paste text with all formatting stripped away.

Continue reading →

PowerToys developers are currently working on a new utility that will make it possible to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Win + V to paste text and strip away formatting.

Users of Microsoft Word -- and, indeed, other word processors -- will be familiar with the ability to copy and paste text either with or without the original formatting being retained. But this is not something that is supported by all apps, hence the need for the PastePlain PowerToys module.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has released an update for PowerToys that fixes a slew of bugs as the company strives for stability in its utility collection.

The release of PowerToys v0.67.1 comes within a week of the last major update to the much-loved software which saw the addition of a new quick access system tray launcher. This time around, there are big fixes for FancyZones, Power Toys Run and more.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has updated the PowerToys utility collection, adding the first new module of 2023. Although there have been various updates for PowerToys over the last few months, and we've heard about upcoming new features such as Mouse Jump, it is a while since we've had new toys to play with.

But this changes with the release of PowerToys v0.67.0 which sees the addition of the quick access system tray launcher which we first heard about late last year. A new taskbar menu provides easy access to your favorite PowerToys tools and settings, without the need to navigate through the main app interface.

Continue reading →

Anyone with a very large or ultra-wide display, or even a multi-monitor configuration, will be aware of the problem of moving the mouser cursor across what can feel like miles of screen space. For fans of the PowerToys collection of utilities there is a solution on the horizon in the form of Mouse Jump.

Mouse Jump is a tool that's based on an existing (non-PowerToys) utility called FancyMouse, and it speeds up the process of getting your cursor across a large area by "teleporting" it with the help of a keyboard shortcut to quickly move it long distances. Sounds good? Well, work is well underway to integrate the utility into PowerToys, but you can even try out the incredible capabilities right now.

Continue reading →

We're less than a week into the new year, but Microsoft has already started to push out new software. Having released a new build of Windows 11, the company has also rolled out a significant PowerToys update.

With the release of PowerToys v0.66.0, Microsoft has added a self-contained .NET 7, eliminating the need to add .NET as part of the installer. In addition to a batch of significant fixes, this latest update also includes new options and settings for the Quick Accent and Text Extractor modules.

Continue reading →

PowerToys gets quite a lot of coverage here on BetaNews, and that's because it's one of the most useful and exciting pieces of software out there. We already know that there are plans for a great new quick launcher utility, and while we wait for development to finish, we have the newly released PowerToys v0.65 update to explore.

Although this update does not include any new utilities, it is still an important upgrade because of the number of tweaks and new features that have been added to individual modules. On top of this,  the entire codebase has been upgraded to work with .NET 7.

Continue reading →

Some of the most exciting software developments associated with Microsoft are to be found in PowerToys. Here it is possible to see inspired developers innovating as they create new tools for Windows 11 and Windows 10.

There has been a large number of new utilities added over the course of the last year, and there's another exciting one on the way. What's promised is a "quickaccess systemtray launcher", and it will make it easier than ever to launch your most frequently used PowerToys modules.

Continue reading →

The last update to PowerToys was a hugely significant one, adding two great new utilities in the form of a HOSTS file editor and the File Locksmith tool. Just a week on, it is time for another update.

The newly launched PowerToys v0.64.1 is described as a patch release and it includes a number of updates for several utilities. Among the tools receiving attention are FancyZones, Color Picker and File Locksmith.

Continue reading →

For Windows users of a certain age, the name PowerToys summons to mind utilities such as TweakUI. In the age of Windows 11, Microsoft saw fit to resurrect and update the much-loved utility collection, and the suite of tools goes from strength to strength as it is developed and updated.

The have been a number of incredible utilities added to PowerToys in recent months, as well as some handy new settings, and you may well have spent some considerable time setting things up to your liking. To save having to do all of that hard work again, here's how to backup and restore your PowerToys settings, and how to transfer settings to another PC.

Continue reading →

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?

Continue reading →

In the latest version of PowerToys released by Microsoft earlier in the month -- version v0.63 -- perhaps the most notable change was the fact that the size of the installer had been dramatically reduced. While this was a welcome step, what most people are looking for is new features and options!

We already know that the PowerToys development team is working away on a new utility called File LockSmith that will reveal which processes are locking a files, but there is much more in the pipeline. What is there to look forward to? In addition to a tool for editing the HOSTS file, Microsoft is also planning to introduce the ability to backup PowerToys settings.

Continue reading →