Articles about PowerToys

If you're a fan of utilities, you've very probably installed PowerToys for Windows 10. Long an essential software collection for older versions of the operating system, Microsoft gave the beloved tools a reboot for Windows 10 a couple of years ago, and it has gained an enthusiastic following.

And this is not surprising; the utility collection includes some incredible tools, and there's the promise of more great additions in the future. But it's not just us users who think PowerToys is great, the developers behind Windows 11 also appear to be fans. So much so that they decided to steal a few ideas from PowerToys and integrate them into Windows 11.

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If you think it feels like a long time since PowerToys received any significant updates, you're not wrong -- it has indeed been a while. But that's about to change as Microsoft is preparing to add a new utility to the collection.

Briefly known as Espresso (in a nod to the 'caffeinate' command in macOS), the new tool is called Awake. Coming to PowerToys v0.39, this is a keep-awake utility that can be used to stop Windows from going to sleep.

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It feels like it has been a while since the last PowerToys update, but today that changes. Microsoft has released PowerToys v0.37.2 bringing a couple of key changes to the suite of utilities for Windows 10.

Anyone hoping to see the appearance of the Video Conference Mute tool will remain disappointed. As this is only a minor version number increase, however, it is not really surprising that there are no major additions.

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The development of PowerToys continues, and this widely appreciated labor of love is gradually gaining more and more utilities. The latest instalment in the tool's story sees Microsoft releasing PowerToys v.0.37.0.

For now, this is primarily a bug fixing and improvement-introducing release, and some important changes have been made to some of the individual utilities. As of this release, PowerToys now requires at least Windows 10 version 1903 (because of future adoption of WinUI 3). While this requirement will not represent much of an issue for many people, the fact that the eagerly anticipated Video Conference Mute is missing is a disappointment.

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While there have been new PowerToys builds released over the last few months, it has been a while since a new tool was added. Now, with the launch of PowerToys Experimental v0.36.0, this changes.

The latest release of the much-loved Windows 10 utility collection now features the Video Conference Mute tool, giving users the ability to quickly mute their microphone and turn off their camera with a keyboard shortcut.

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It seems like it has been a while since there was a new version of PowerToys for Windows 10, but Microsoft has now pushed out a new release in time for Easter.

We've now made it up to PowerToys v0.35.0, and while this is not a major upgrade from the previous version, it is still significant thanks not only to the number of bug fixes and improvements, but also the number of new features. FancyZones, PowerToys Run and Color Picker are among those gaining new options.

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It has been a little while since there was a PowerToys update, but Microsoft has today rectified this with the release of version 0.33.1 of the suite of Windows 10 utilities.

There are a number of notable changes in this particular release, including improvements to plugins in PowerToys Run, and the editor UX in FancyZones. PowerToys v0.33.1 also features a new 'First time load' experience which serves to introduce new users to what is available in the software.

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It is only a few days since Microsoft released PowerToys 0.31.1, but there is already a new version for you to install.

While there are no major changes in the latest release of the utility suite, does include important bug fixes. Microsoft detected issues with the FancyZones PowerToy, and deemed them significant enough to push out this patch release.

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Microsoft has released a new version of its PowerToys utilities collection for Windows 10, bringing improvements to FancyZones and PowerToys Run. The latest update also includes numerous bug fixes.

Included among the new arrivals in PowerToys 0.31.1 are a new dark mode option and an enhanced interface for FancyZones.

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Just days ago, Microsoft pushed out PowerToys v0.29 as the last release of 2020 -- now it's time for the first release of 2021.

Skipping over versions 0.29.1 and 0.29.2, the company has unleashed PowerToys v0.29.3. So, what is there to look forward to in this first release of the new year?

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We might be in the middle of the holiday season, but that doesn't mean that software developers stop working. As we approach the end of 2020, Microsoft has pushed out one final version of PowerToys for the year.

PowerToys v0.29 lays the groundwork for big changes and additions that are planned for 2021. There are quite a lot of fixes and improvements in this releases, but it is the promise of what's to come that is arguably of greater interest.

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Having released the experimental PowerToys v0.28 earlier this week complete with the video conference mute feature, Microsoft has now released an update to the stable version of its Windows 10 utility collection.

We were not expecting to see an update to PowerToys v0.27 just yet, but Microsoft has produced one out of the blue. The company says it deemed the release "important" as it addresses a number of issues.

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With the recent release of PowerToys v0.27, Microsoft managed to both excite and disappoint users. While there was a lot to explore and enjoy in that build, the newly released PowerToys v0.28 is even more impressive.

What is there to look forward to? Well, the arrival of the lauded video conference mute feature is something that people have been waiting for for a while... and now it's finally here.

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Four-hundred-and-fifteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Microsoft Store in the past seven days.

New features could soon be introduced independently of feature updates on Windows 10. Microsoft plans to use the Windows Feature Experience Pack to deliver (smaller) feature updates to Windows 10 devices that install just like any other update.

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Only yesterday we wrote about some of the exciting changes coming in PowerToys v0.27.0. Microsoft had teased upcoming improvements to the much-loved utilities but gave no hint of just when this particular build would be released.

As it turned out, we did not have to wait long. PowerToys v0.27.0 is now available to download and in includes not only numerous bug fixes, but also various improvements and enhancements. Oh... and if you were wondering if you'd somehow managed to miss a build, Microsoft explains "we skipped 0.26's release for higher priority work". And this is the result.

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