PowerToys Command Palette utility

PowerToys Command Palette is a quick launcher utility that you can use to access all of your most frequently used commands, apps, and development tools from a single, fast solution. This customizable and extensible tool is designed for Windows power users and serves as the successor to PowerToys Run.

You can enable or disable Command Palette and all other PowerToys on the PowerToys settings Home page. To use the Command Palette, select Win+Alt+Space and start typing! (You can change the keyboard shortcut in the settings window.)

Important

For this utility to work, the Command Palette must be enabled and running in the background.

Features

Command Palette features include:

• Search for applications, folders, or files
• Run commands by using > (for example, > cmd launches Command prompt, or > Shell:startup opens the Windows startup folder)
• Switch between open windows (previously known as Window Walker)
• Do a simple calculation by using calculator
• Add bookmarks for frequently visited webpages
• Execute system commands (e.g. restart computer, empty Recycle Bin)
• Open web pages or start a web search
• Access clipboard history
• Look up time and date information
• Manage Windows Services (start, stop, restart)
• Access Windows Terminal profiles and run commands
• Query and manage Windows Registry entries
• Connect to Remote Desktop sessions
• Monitor system performance metrics
• Access other PowerToys modules
• Pin frequently used commands to the Dock for quick access
• Customize appearance with themes, backdrop effects, and background images
• Use rich extensions to add additional commands and features easily

Using Command Palette

Command Palette is designed to be intuitive and easy to use for quick access to apps, commands, and tools with mouse or keyboard navigation support.

Here are some common tasks you can perform with Command Palette.

Launch apps

To launch an app, open Command Palette and start typing the name of the app you want to launch. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the desired app and press Enter to launch it.

Search the web

To search the web, open Command Palette, type ?? to start a web search, enter your search query, and press Enter. By default, Command Palette uses your default web browser and search engine to perform the search.

Run commands

To run a command, open Command Palette and type > followed by the command you want to run. For example, typing > cmd launches Command Prompt, while typing > notepad opens Notepad.

Search files and folders

To search for files and folders on your computer, open Command Palette and use the arrow keys to navigate to the Search files option or type file followed by a space. Type your search query, and Command Palette displays a list of matching files and folders.

Use the calculator

To perform a calculation, open Command Palette and type your mathematical expression directly (for example, 23*47 or sqrt(256)). Command Palette displays the result of the calculation. You can also start by typing = followed by a space to enter calculator mode.

Navigate to Windows Settings pages

To open a specific Windows Settings page, open Command Palette and type $ followed by the name of the settings page you want to open (for example, $ and display to open Display settings). Use the arrow keys to navigate to the desired settings page and press Enter to open it.

Find an app in WinGet

To find an app available in WinGet, open Command Palette, use the arrow keys to navigate to the Search WinGet option, type the name of the app you want to find, and press Enter. Command Palette displays a list of matching apps available for installation via WinGet.

Access clipboard history

To access your clipboard history, open Command Palette and navigate to the Clipboard History option. You can browse and paste from your recent clipboard entries.

Look up time and date

To look up time and date information, open Command Palette and navigate to the Time & Date extension. You can view the current time and date in various formats and perform date conversions.

Manage Windows Services

To manage Windows Services, open Command Palette and navigate to the Windows Services option. You can view the status of services and start, stop, or restart them directly from the Command Palette.

Access Windows Terminal profiles

To access Windows Terminal profiles, open Command Palette and navigate to the Windows Terminal option. You can quickly launch any of your configured Terminal profiles or run commands in a specific profile.

Usage tips

When you enter one of the preceding modes (for example, by typing > for commands or ?? for web search), you can press the Escape key to exit that mode and return to the home screen.

You can enable or disable extensions and assign or change the alias for any command or extension in Command Palette settings. You can also assign global hotkeys to specific commands or extensions to launch them directly when Command Palette is activated.

Command Palette supports fuzzy search with multi-language support, including diacritic-insensitive matching and Pinyin input for Chinese characters.

Keyboard shortcuts

Command Palette provides the following keyboard shortcuts for common actions when a result is selected:

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Shift+E	Open file location
Ctrl+Shift+C	Copy file path
Ctrl+Shift+R	Open in console
Ctrl+Shift+Enter	Run as Administrator
Ctrl+Shift+U	Run as different user
Ctrl+P	Toggle pin state

Note

Not all keyboard shortcuts are available for every result. The available shortcuts depend on the type of result selected.

Extensibility

Command Palette supports building extensions that you can use to add new functionality and commands. You can create extensions by using .NET. PowerToys provides a sample extension project to help you get started.

You can also create a new extension project directly from within Command Palette by running the Create extension command, which generates a ready-to-go solution with the necessary project structure.

Extensions can provide several types of content pages, including:

• List pages — Display a searchable list of selectable items.
• Detail pages — Show rich content with sections, tags, and links.
• Form pages — Present user input fields for interactive workflows.
• Markdown pages — Render formatted markdown content.
• Grid pages — Display items in a gallery or grid layout.

Each extension can define top-level commands (shown on the home page), fallback commands (triggered when no other results match a query), and context menu items. Extensions can also provide their own settings pages for per-extension configuration.

For more information, see Extensibility overview.

Settings

Use the Settings button in the Command Palette to open the settings page:

The Command Palette settings page provides the following options.

General

Setting	Description
Activation key	Define the keyboard shortcut to show or hide the Command Palette.
Use low-level keyboard hook	Enable this option to use a low-level keyboard hook for activation key detection. This setting can help improve responsiveness but might cause compatibility issues with some software.
Ignore shortcut in fullscreen mode	When enabled, the Command Palette activation shortcut is ignored when an application is in fullscreen mode.
Auto-go-home interval	Configure how long Command Palette waits before automatically returning to the home page. Options include Infinite (never), immediate, or a set interval (10, 20, 30, 60, 90, 120, or 180 seconds).
Highlight search on activate	The previous search text is selected when you open the Command Palette.
Keep previous query	Retain the last search query when reopening the Command Palette.
Preferred monitor position	Choose the preferred monitor for the Command Palette to open on. Options include Monitor with mouse cursor, Primary monitor, Focused window monitor, In place, or Last position.
Escape key behavior	Configure how the Escape key behaves: clear search first then go back, always go back, always dismiss, or always hide.
Show app details	App details automatically expand when displaying an app as a result.
Backspace goes back	Typing Backspace takes you back to the previous page.
Single-click activation	Activate list items with a single click. When disabled, single clicking selects the item and double clicking activates it.
Show system tray icon	Show or hide the Command Palette icon in the system tray.
Disable animations	Disable animations in the Command Palette interface.
Enable external reload	Allow external processes to request a reload of Command Palette with the x-cmdpal://reload command.

Appearance

Setting	Description
Theme	Choose the Command Palette theme: Light, Dark, or Default (follows system settings).
Backdrop style	Select the window backdrop effect, such as Mica or Acrylic.
Backdrop opacity	Adjust the opacity of the backdrop effect (0–100).
Colorization mode	Customize how the Command Palette theme color is applied.
Custom theme color	Set a custom RGB color for the Command Palette theme.
Custom theme color intensity	Adjust the intensity of the custom theme color (1–100).
Background image path	Set a custom background image for the Command Palette window.
Background image opacity	Adjust the opacity of the background image (0–100).
Background image tint intensity	Adjust the tint overlay intensity on the background image (0–100).
Background image blur amount	Set the blur effect applied to the background image.
Background image brightness	Adjust the brightness of the background image.
Background image fit	Choose how the background image is scaled to fit the window.

Dock

Setting	Description
Enable Dock	Enable or disable the Dock persistent toolbar feature.
Dock side	Choose which screen edge to dock to: Left, Top, Right, or Bottom.

Install PowerToys

This utility is part of the Microsoft PowerToys utilities for power users. It provides a set of useful utilities to tune and streamline your Windows experience for greater productivity. To install PowerToys, see Installing PowerToys.

Related content

• PowerToys Run
• Command Palette Dock
• Extensibility overview
• Extension samples