Articles about PowerToys

It is only a few days since we learned that Microsoft is working on a great new PowerToys utility called File LockSmith. This particular tool is not quite ready yet but in the meantime we have PowerToys v0.63 to enjoy.

For the v0.63 release cycle, the PowerToys development team says that it is "focused on stability and improvement". While this may not sound overly enticing, the release of PowerToys v0.63 is an important one. In addition to introducing a large number of fixes, this latest update not only makes steps towards eliminating the UAC prompt during installation, but also greatly reduces the size of the installer.

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Brace yourself for a new PowerToys utility. Microsoft's developers are busy working away on a new tool called File Locksmith which will be welcomed by anyone who has ever been greeted by a message informing them that a file cannot be deleted because it is being used.

File Locksmith will add a new entry to the context menu in Windows 11 -- "What's using this file?". The tool will then reveal which processes are using the file in question.

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The last update to Microsoft's PowerToys utility collection was a big one, adding no fewer than three new tools. Now there is a smaller, but still significant, update available in the form of PowerToys v0.62.1.

Although this particular release may not be quite as exciting as its predecessor, the fact that it addresses various issues with the software means that it is still well worth downloading.

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Recent updates to PowerToys have focused on fixing bugs and improving stability, but now it is finally time for some new features. With the release of PowerToys v0.62.0, Microsoft has added not one, not two, but three new utilities.

If you have been following PowerToys news, you will probably be aware of the Text Extractor tool which can be used to grab text from images, and has been in development for a little while. Likewise, the self-explanatory Screen Ruler utility is one you may have heard of. Completely new, however, is Quick Accent which makes it quick and easy to type accented characters.

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It is something pretty much all of us have needed to do at one time or another -- copy text from an image so it can be used in another document. Search online for how to extract text from an image, and you will be pointed in the direction of various OCR tools, but Microsoft is working on a solution of its own.

The ability to copy text from an image is coming to PowerToys. The developers are working on a new utility that will make the process very simple. Called PowerOCR, the unreleased PowerToys utility is undergoing testing right now.

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The last few PowerToys updates have been slightly disappointing (but only slightly) in as much as they have been largely bug-fixing releases, and have not included any new toys to play with. This is about to change.

Microsoft has a new utility in the pipeline, and its name gives you a very good idea of what it does: Screen Ruler. Perfect for all sorts of design work, the tool will let you measure the distance between two points on your screen in a number of ways.

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It is only a few days since Microsoft unleashed PowerToys v0.61.0 , bringing a slew of "quality of life improvements" to the much-loved collection of utilities. Now the company has released version 0.61.1 which will be of particular interest to Windows 11 users.

Despite lacking new features per se, PowerToys v0.61.1 remains an important release because of the issues that it addresses. Users might be longing for new features, but this development cycle is about improving what's already in place before more is added.

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It is time for a new build of everyone's favorite Windows utility collection, PowerToys. Microsoft has just released version 0.61.0 of the tools, with the company saying that the v0.61 release cycle is focused on stability and improvements.

But don't let this somewhat self-deprecating description put you off -- there's actually quite a lot to this update. Key changes include updates to the ever-popular FancyZones, as well as Always on Top and PowerToys Run, and updates to the Windows 11 context menu.

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Microsoft has released PowerToys v0.60.0, and while the company says that this is a release cycle that focuses on stability and improvements, this does not really convey how significant an update it is -- particularly for Windows 11 users.

Among some of the biggest changes and additions are a new zone identification technique for FancyZones, and rounded corner support for AlwaysOnTop. There are also new entries in the Windows 11 context menu for PowerRename and Image Resizer, making these utilities even easier to access. But things do not end there.

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After something of a quiet period, Microsoft released the first update in a while for PowerToys last week. Now the company has issued what it describes as a "patch release", taking the popular utility collection up to PowerToys v0.59.1.

As this is a patch release, there are no new tools to explore, and no major new additions. But the release remains significant thanks to the bugs it addresses -- including fixes for problems with FancyZones and PowerToys Run.

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If you were thinking that it has been a while since Microsoft updated PowerToys, you'd be right -- it's over a month since the last update was released. But now the company has pushed out PowerToys v0.59.0, and it's a significant release.

There are many things worthy of mention in this latest version of the utility collection, not least of which is the completion of adding ARM64 support. This is far from being all that PowerToys v0.59.0 has to offer though, there are also important changes and improvements to many individual components including Keyboard Manager, Power Rename and the much-loved FancyZones.

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After what seems like an age -- in reality just shy of four weeks -- it is time for a new version of PowerToys! Microsoft has released PowerToys v0.58.0, complete with a lengthy list of fixes and improvements to numerous utilities. Many of the changes will be of particular interest to Windows 11 users.

Under the hood, native ARM64 support is progressing, and NET Core 3.1 has been ditched in favor of .NET 6. More interestingly, there are also important change to FancyZones, File Explorer, PowerToys Runs, Mouse Utility and more.

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Earlier this week we learned about a prototype PowerToys utility called Peek which is set to bring a macOS-style Quick Look feature to Windows 11. There is no word on when this handy tool will be added to the PowerToys suite but in the meantime, there is a new update to install.

With the release of PowerToys v0.57.2, Microsoft introduced an important number of tweaks, changes and new settings for utilities including PowerToys Run and AlwaysOnTop. There is also a key change to FancyZones for Windows 11 users.

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Imitation, it is said, is the sincerest form of flattery. If this is true, then Microsoft is clearly fawning over macOS as the PowerToys development team are busy borrowing ideas from Apple's operating system.

Just last week we were treated to a big PowerToys update, but it seems that there is even more to look forward to in the future. Influenced heavily by the Quick Look feature of macOS, a new utility called PowerToys Peek is in the pipeline, giving a way to quickly preview files without having to open them.

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Microsoft has released the latest update to its PowerToys utility collection, complete with a massive changelog. Taking the software up to version 0.57.0, the latest release makes numerous improvements to PowerToys Run as well as the ever-popular FancyZones.

With PowerToys v0.57.0, Microsoft has taken steps to address an issue with Outlook PDF previews. There are also updates for ColorPicker, Always on Top, Video Conference Mute and much more.

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