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Microsoft PowerToys is a set of free Microsoft Windows utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows experience for greater productivity. These utilities and shell enhancement tools are designed to help you customize Windows 10 and Windows 11 to suit your needs.
System requirements
PowerToys requires Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or later, or any version of Windows 11. It isn't supported on earlier versions of Windows. For a complete list of system requirements, see Installing PowerToys | Requirements.
Processor architecture support
- x64: Supported
- ARM64: Supported
PowerToys Utilities for Windows 10 and 11
The currently available utilities include:
Advanced Paste
Advanced Paste is a tool that enables you to paste the text from your clipboard into any format needed. It can be enhanced with an AI-powered option that is 100% opt-in and requires an OpenAI key.
Always On Top
Always On Top enables you to pin windows above other windows with a quick key shortcut (⊞ Win+Ctrl+T).
PowerToys Awake
PowerToys Awake is designed to keep a computer awake without having to manage its power & sleep settings. This behavior can be helpful when running time-consuming tasks, ensuring that the computer doesn't go to sleep or turns off its displays.
Color Picker
Color Picker is a system-wide color picking utility activated with ⊞ Win+Shift+C. It allows you to pick colors from anywhere on the screen, and the picker automatically copies the color to your clipboard in a specified format. Color Picker contains an editor that shows a history of previously picked colors and allows you to fine-tune the selected color and to copy different string representations. The code for this utility is based on Martin Chrzan's Color Picker.
Command Not Found
Command Not Found is a PowerShell 7 module that detects an error thrown by a command and suggests a relevant WinGet package to install, if one is available.
Command Palette
Command Palette allows you to easily access all of your most frequently used commands, apps, and development tools - all from a single solution that is fast, customizable to your unique preferences, and extensible to include your favorite apps. The Command Palette is intended to be the successor of PowerToys Run.
Crop And Lock
Crop And Lock is a utility that creates a new, fully-interactive window that's a crop or a thumbnail of another window.
Environment Variables
Environment Variables offers an easy and convenient way to manage environment variables. You can create profiles to manage a set of variables together.
FancyZones
FancyZones is a window manager that makes it easy to create complex window layouts and quickly position windows into those layouts.
File Explorer add-ons
File Explorer add-ons enable Preview pane and thumbnail rendering in File Explorer to display a variety of file types. To open the Preview pane, go to View in File Explorer and select Preview Pane.
File Locksmith
File Locksmith is a Windows shell extension to check which files are in use and by which processes. Right-click on one or more selected files in File Explorer and select Unlock with File Locksmith.
Hosts File Editor
Hosts File Editor is a utility that provides a convenient way to edit the 'Hosts' file in Windows that contains domain names and matching IP addresses, acting as a map to identify and locate hosts on IP networks.
Image Resizer
Image Resizer is a Windows Shell extension for quickly resizing images. With a right-click in File Explorer, instantly resize one or many images. The code in this extension is based on Brice Lambson's Image Resizer.
Keyboard Manager
Keyboard Manager allows you to customize the keyboard to be more productive by remapping keys and creating your own keyboard shortcuts.
Mouse utilities
Mouse utilities add functionality to enhance your mouse and cursor.
- Find My Mouse: Quickly locate your mouse's position with a spotlight that focuses on your cursor. This feature is based on source code developed by Raymond Chen.
- Mouse Highlighter: Displays visual indicators when basic mouse buttons are clicked.
- Mouse Jump: Allows a quick jump on large displays.
- Mouse Pointer Crosshairs: Draws crosshairs centered on the mouse pointer.
Mouse Without Borders
Use Mouse Without Borders to interact with multiple computers from the same keyboard and mouse, while seamlessly sharing clipboard contents and files between the machines.
New+
New+ enables you to create files and folders from a personalized set of templates in File Explorer.
Peek
Peek allows you to preview file content without the need to open multiple applications or interrupt your workflow. You can simply select a file and use the shortcut (Ctrl+Space).
PowerRename
Use PowerRename to perform bulk renaming; searching and replacing file names. It includes advanced features, such as using regular expressions, targeting specific file types, previewing expected results, and the ability to undo changes. The code in this utility is based on Chris Davis's SmartRename.
PowerToys Run
PowerToys Run can help you search and open your apps instantly. To open Run, use the shortcut Alt+Space and start typing. It's open source and modular, and it supports additional plugins.
Quick Accent
Quick Accent provides an alternative way to type accented characters. It's useful when a keyboard doesn't support a specific character with a quick key combo.
Registry Preview
Registry Preview is a utility to visualize and edit Windows Registry files.
Screen Ruler
Use Screen Ruler to quickly measure pixels on your screen based on image edge detection. To activate, use the shortcut ⊞ Win+Shift+M. This tool was inspired by Pete Blois's Rooler.
Shortcut Guide
Windows key shortcut guide appears when you press ⊞ Win+Shift+/ (or as we like to think, ⊞ Win+?) and shows the available shortcuts for the current state of the desktop. You can also use it by pressing and holding ⊞ Win.
Text Extractor
Text Extractor is a convenient way to copy text from anywhere on your screen. To activate, use the shortcut ⊞ Win+Shift+T. This code is based on Joe Finney's Text Grab.
Workspaces
Workspaces is a desktop manager utility for launching a set of applications to custom positions and configurations with a single click. Open the editor by selecting "Launch editor" from settings or by using the shortcut ⊞ Win+Ctrl+`.
ZoomIt
ZoomIt is a screen zoom, annotation, and recording tool for technical presentations and demos. It's one of the most popular Sysinternals utilities, and it's now available in PowerToys.
Languages
PowerToys is available in the following languages: Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Ukrainian.
PowerToys video walk-through
In this video, Clint Rutkas (PM for PowerToys) walks through how to install and use the various power user productivity tools available. He also shares some tips, information about how to contribute, and more.
PowerToys known issues and troubleshooting
You can search known issues or file a new issue in the Issues tab of the PowerToys repository on GitHub. If you don't find the issue you are experiencing, you can Report a Bug on the PowerToys product repo.
How to contribute to PowerToys open source project
PowerToys welcomes your contributions! The PowerToys development team is excited to partner with the power user community to build the best Windows utilities that help users get the most out of their workflows. There are a variety of ways to contribute:
- Write a tech spec
- Submit a design concept or recommendation
- Contribute to documentation
- Identify and fix bugs in the source code
- Code new features and PowerToy utilities
Before starting work on a feature that you would like to contribute, read the Contributor's Guide. The PowerToys team will be happy to work with you to figure out the best approach, provide guidance and mentorship throughout feature development, and help avoid any wasted or duplicate effort.
You can consult the PowerToys Developer Documentation for more information on how to get started with PowerToys development and work through any issues you may encounter. These docs have recently been updated to provide development and debugging guidance for the various PowerToys utilities, including how to set up your development environment, build the code, and run the utilities.
PowerToys release notes
PowerToys release notes are listed on the install page of the GitHub repo. For reference, you can also find the Release checklist on the PowerToys wiki.
PowerToys history
Inspired by the Windows 95 era PowerToys project, this reboot provides power users with ways to squeeze more efficiency out of the Windows shell and customize it for individual workflows. An overview of the original PowerToys can be found here: Using Windows 95 PowerToys.
PowerToys roadmap
PowerToys is a rapid-incubation, open source team aimed at providing power users ways to squeeze more efficiency out of the Windows shell and customize it for individual workflows. Work priorities will consistently be examined, reassessed, and adjusted with the aim of improving our users productivity.
Deprecated PowerToy utilities
These utilities have been deprecated and removed from PowerToys:
Video Conference Mute (Deprecated and removed on PowerToys 0.88)
Video Conference Mute is a quick way to globally "mute" both your microphone and camera using ⊞ Win+Shift+Q while on a conference call, regardless of the application that currently has focus.
Collaborate with us on GitHub
The source for this content can be found on GitHub, where you can also create and review issues and pull requests. For more information, see our contributor guide.
Windows developer