Two and a half years after Microsoft announced that it was rebooting the PowerToys, the utilities are available in the Microsoft Store.

“Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows 10 experience for greater productivity,” the Store description notes. The version in the Store is 0.45, so it’s still considered pre-release; this version is mostly about an updated Settings menu and some stability and optimization improvements and is the same version you can get as a standalone download.

Only the x64 version of the PowerToys is available from the Microsoft Store. Versions for x86 (32-bit) and ARM are currently “in development,” Microsoft says (though the need for the former has to be declining).

The following set of tools are available in the Microsoft PowerToys:

PowerToys Awake. 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 does not go to sleep or turns off its screens.

Color Picker. ColorPicker is a system-wide color picking utility activated with Win+Shift+C. Pick colors from any currently running application, the picker automatically copies the color into your clipboard in a set format. Color Picker also contains an editor that shows a history of previously picked colors, allows you to fine-tune the selected color and to copy different string representations. This code is based on Martin Chrzan’s Color Picker.

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 rendering in File Explorer to display SVG icons (.svg) and Markdown (.md) file previews. To enable the preview pane, select the “View” tab in File Explorer, then select “Preview Pane”.

Image Resizer. Image Resizer is a Windows Shell extension for quickly resizing images. With a simple right click from File Explorer, resize one or many images instantly. This code 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. This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.

PowerRename. PowerRename enables you 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. This code is based on Chris Davis’s SmartRename.

PowerToys Run. PowerToys Run can help you search and launch your app instantly – just enter the shortcut Alt+Space and start typing. It is open source and modular for additional plugins. Window Walker is now included as well. This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.

Shortcut Guide. Windows key shortcut guide appears when a user presses Win + ? and shows the available shortcuts for the current state of the desktop.

Interestingly, Microsoft also plans a future utility called Video Conference Mute, but this is supposed to be a feature of Windows 11 as well.

You can download the Microsoft PowerToys from the Microsoft Store in Windows 11 (and, I assume, in Windows 10).

Tagged with PowerToys