Release v0.55.0

The v0.55 release cycle continued our progress toward getting PowerToys ARM64 ready, fix some top issues and new utilities. Work from last month helped us enable us to upgrade the code base to .NET 5 and next month onward to .NET 6. This will provide stability and speed improvements.

We're also extremely excited to bring on 3 new PowerToy utilities.

• File Explorer add-on: Developer files for preview pane. This should add about 150 file extensions total. We are using the Monaco Editor to power this experience. Thanks @aaron-junker!
• File Explorer add-on: STL file format thumbnail generation! Since STL is a common 3D file format, this allows a quick visual check. Thanks @pedrolamas! Preview pane support is already in Windows.
• Mouse Utility: Crosshair over pointer via Ctrl+Alt+P. This feature was co-developed with the accessibility team at Microsoft. When the team told us about the idea and described trying to find your cursor by looking through a straw, we knew we could leverage code from the other mouse utilities to quickly enable this feature. Below is a quote from one of the testers with a rough validation build:

"This will change my life and allow me to use any PC without constantly losing the pointer. This is huge! I will be able to work at my normal speed again. It is a total game changer for people with visual field impairments!" – Joanna A.

Installer Hash

2241C78386D6347AAE2EDA9AD16A980DB00F596038FDE1A176838F24302A2D07

Change log

General

• .NET runtime is now on 5, our next release will be upgraded to .NET 6. Moving to .NET 5 and then 6 helped reduce our moving parts in a single release so we went this route. Why this is important is this is one of the major work items needed for ARM64 support. In addition, this should help provide a speed boosts once we are on .NET 6.
• @jsoref's spelling plugin help

Always on Top

• Fixed one of two borders showing incorrectly bugs.
• Border defaults to OS accent color now. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Reduced CPU / GPU activity. Not done improving, we know we can do better.

FancyZones

• Bug fixed to not lose zones after update
• Fixed editor margin issue for Chinese language. Thanks @niels9001

File explorer add-ons

• GCode thumbnails now have transparency. Thanks @pedrolamas
• New Utility - Developer files for File Explorer preview pane. This should add about 150 file extensions total. We are using the Monaco Editor to power this experience. Thanks @aaron-junker!
• New Utility - STL thumbnails added! Preview pane support is already in Windows. Thanks @pedrolamas!

Image Resizer

• Fixed bug with too much meta data. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper
• Fixed bug resizing bug for constant height while maintaining aspect ratio. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper

Mouse utilities

• New Utility - Crosshair over pointer via Ctrl+Alt+P. This feature was co-developed with the accessibility team at Microsoft. Thanks @niels9001 for helping with the icon!

PowerRename

• Files are sorted now how File Explorer sorts.

PowerToys Run

• Improved speed and fixed bugs with Window walker plugin. Thanks @htcfreek
• Window Walker will now show path of elevated apps. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Added UEFI command to system commands. Thanks @htcfreek
• Fixed crashing bug in EnvironmentHelper class. Thanks @htcfreek
• Fix URI plugin bug with ^:. Thanks @franky920920
• VS Code plugin not showing workspaces with latest Code version was corrected. Thanks @ricardosantos9521
• Fixed bug that caused plugins to not load. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Fixed crash in Uri plugin and Web search plugin. Thanks @cyberrex5!

Settings

• Fixed a regression with settings being reset when moving from admin to non-admin

Video Conference Mute

• Fixed crashing bug with Zoom and other clients. We found someone we could remotely debug with and identify the actual crashing part.
• Change of behavior: When leaving a meeting, VCM will now leave your microphone in the state it was. This mimics behavior of applications if VCM was not present.
• Change of behavior: When you exit PowerToys, your current microphone state will remain.

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.
@Aaron-Junker, @bdoserror, @CleanCodeDeveloper, @cyberrex5, @davidegiacometti, @edwinzap, @franky920920, @jay-o-way, @jsoref, @niels9001, and @ricardosantos9521

Release v0.53.3

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.53.3 we deemed important for stability based on user feedback. See v0.53.1 for full release notes.

• #15364 - PowerToys Run perf regression due to disabling list virtualization to improve scroll speed on some computers
• #15305 - PowerToys Run Uri plugin had an exception with a bad format.
• #15344 - PowerToys Run crashes due to duplicate key. This was due to community driven plugin having the same name as one of our plugins.

Installer SHA256 Hash

4CA9B08C66AF900C062956EDE0887DE804CD8DCF0F561BC2FC1CB73038883132

Release v0.53.1

The v0.53 release cycle was designed for a maintenance sprint but with some amazing community support, it is loaded with greatness. We're still working on improving the installer but this should drastically improve things. 3 things you will want to check out are G-code support in file explorer preview pane and thumbnails, the new web search plugin from PowerToys Run via ?? action phrase, and the new Always on Top utility via Win+Ctrl+T.

Installer Hash

D7D37972E7C9C090779671B04AA9894AFFC29A8429F26987DF493BFE5F1520D4

Change log

Things to be aware of

• The new installer currently has a visual quirk when upgrade if you have a custom install path. It will show the default install path but it will actually overwrite the current location. We are investigating how to fix this.

Always on Top

• Welcome to the family! With a quick Win+Ctrl+T, the window in focus is toggled to be on top. Toggle again, and it reverts back to normal.

ColorPicker

• HEX input improvements for adjust color menu including support for hex code without hashtag and short hex code like #CF0. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Better bottom right screen detection for overlay

FancyZones

• Increased negative space margin
• Fix for not snapping child windows
• Fix for clearing keyboard focus on editor launch
• Fix to improve overlays to reduce brightness and hide numbers. Thanks @davidegiacometti

File Explorer

• Added G-code support for thumbnails and preview pane. Thanks @pedrolamas

Image Resizer

• Fixed regression from Metadata tag removal of ColorSpace. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper

PowerRename

• Row highlighting + preview support now implemented. Thanks @niels9001
• Fixed AltGR input issue
• Improved folder renaming support
• Opens on active monitor

PowerToys Run

• Web searching has been added! ?? What is the answer to life will go to your favorite search engine via your browser. You can change the default action key too! Thanks @cyberrex5 for primary implementation and @franky920920 and @htcfreek for supporting
• VS Code workspace improvements. Thanks @ricardosantos9521
• Binary and Hex number support. Thanks @gsuberland
• Ability to use factorials in calculations
• PT Run will not show in Window Walker results anymore. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Fix log / ln calculations
• Fix to make previous results clear
• Fix to detect symlinks and prevent recursive loops
• Fix for trackpad scrolling being too fast
• Removed unneeded nuget package. Thanks @ChaseKnowlden
• Better detection for if a packaged app can be elevated
• Improve crash resiliency for Program plugin. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Improved Windows setting results. Thanks @htcfreek
• Fixed a bug where some similar activation phrases aren't working as expected. Thanks @htcfreek and @cyberrex5.

Video conference mute

• Disabled by default as this requires elevation to register the virtual camera.
• Changed (default) hotkey for mute camera & microphone from Win+N to Win+Shift+Q to not conflict with a Windows 11 keyboard shortcut

Settings

• Multiple accessibility, layout, image, string and icons fixes. Thanks @niels9001

Runner

• Improved mutex support to prevent multiple PT Run instances from running

Installer

• NOTE: The new installer currently has a visual quirk when upgrade if you have a custom install path. It will show the default install path but it will actually overwrite the current location. We are investigating how to fix this.
• Large progress toward user based installing vs machine wide. Upgrade scenario still needs additional work.
• Removed custom bootstrapper and now are using a WiX bundle.
• Removed unused image assets that were still being shipped. Thanks @niels9001

ARM64 support

• Setting WinUI3 proof-of-concept and validate we do need at least one more feature, elevation support from WinUI 3 unpackaged applications.

Dev improvements

• New YAML based pipeline for building our signed installer. This will allow us to consolidate our CI to use same file. This was critical for us to unblock ARM64 and .NET 6 migration.
• Our submodules will no longer auto fetch to prevent locking issues. If you want a refresher on how to do this, head to our dev docs
• Localization system shifted to Touchdown from CDPx. This should remove many of the loc issues.
• Consolidated a lot of the naming of EXEs and DLLs along with projects
• Update to spell checker. Thanks @jsoref
• /dup response has been added
• /reportbug /bugreport will ask for a "report bug" zip

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.
@Aaron-Junker, @ChaseKnowlden, @CleanCodeDeveloper, @cyberrex5, @davidegiacometti, @franky920920, @gsuberland, @jay-o-way, @jsoref, @niels9001, and @ricardosantos9521

Release v0.51.1

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.51.1 we deemed important for stability based on user feedback. See v0.51.0 for full release notes.

• #13214 - FZ losing layouts due to VirtualDesktopManager init
• #14701- PT Run due to duplicate older plugins

Installer SHA256 Hash

CDD2C65A30017DA05A0BF5A8B144DB8E523E17225FD180FFC3BD4C8B81F72994

Release v0.51.0

The v0.51 release cycle introduces some new things regarding our mouse utilities. First is we've added in a presentation mode helper to highlight your mouse when you click. We've also added additional settings toward Find my mouse to enable more customization.

Next we've been focusing work on "Always on Top" system to help make any window you want to be the top most. A lot of thought is currently going into interaction models to make sure it 'feels' right for toggling as well as visualizing.

Last, we've been working on our engineering systems this month and into next. This work will improve our localization integration and our 'build farm' match our CI system far more. Behind the scene work but very important work for working faster.

Installer Hash

D815FA165A39ADE56848E2ADC5A21AD8B2F639D6FD075B60120E10BCC9DF1BAC

Change log

Things to note

• We shifted our localization internal service and are working on adding automated integrations back in.

PowerToys Awake

• System tray and settings use same language for turning things on.

Color Picker

• New formats added to copy colors as a float or decimal value.
• Adjust color window now accepts lower-case HEX codes.

FancyZones

• New window switching functionality! Now users can assign multiple windows to a zone and cycle between them using the Win + PgDn/PgUp commands by default. Thanks @FLOAT4!
• Added functionality for zones to adopt system accent color and theme. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Added visual preview of zone appearance in settings menu. Thanks @niels9001!
• Fixed bug where FancyZones crashes on launch.

Image Resizer

• Fixed bug where resizing images creates empty folders.
• Added option to remove non-essential metadata. Helps significantly reduce the size of files. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper!
• Fixed bug caused by Image Resizer receiving an unexpected property type or value. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper!

Mouse utilities

• Find My Mouse: Improved functionality to activate when user double click time configuration is set above 100ms.
• Find My Mouse: Fixed display on all virtual desktops as opposed to only the virtual desktop where it was created.
• Find My Mouse: New settings to enable a lot more customization based on your feedback.
• Minor UI tweaks for fluent icons, appearance, Ctrl usage, and utility descriptions. Thanks @niels9001!
• New Mouse Highlighter PowerToy! When enabled, activate mouse highlighting with Win + Shift + H by default to begin displaying visual cues on your display when either the left or right mouse buttons are clicked. There is a much more powerful tool called SysInternal ZoomIt that is very helpful as well.

PowerRename

• Improved rename performance! This is now at parity (or better) with the prior version based on multiple tests.
• Added keyboard accelerators with Enter and Ctrl + Enter to execute rename. Thanks @niels9001!
• UI tweaks to now add number of items selected, grid-lines for improved readability, reduced font sizes & margins, and improved window resizing.
• Fixed UI focus issues. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added default window width and height. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added PowerRename event logging for BugReportTool

PowerToys Run

• New entries added for settings plugin. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Added support for application URI handling like mailto: and ms-settings:. Thanks @franky920920!
• Added DevContainer workspaces to search results of the VSCode Workspaces Plugin. Thanks @JacobDeuchert!
• Fixes for crashing issues.

Shortcut Guide

• Added rounded corners to keys and tooltips, and system accent colors for desktop backdrop. Thanks @niels9001!

Settings

• Fixed default settings window size to prevent it from opening offscreen. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Video Conference Mute

• Minor UI tweaks for icon, clear button, and overlay image selection #14248. Thanks @niels9001!

Prototype work

• Always on top prototype of being actively worked on. Right now you hit a key-combo and it enables it. We are investigating ways to highlight the window in some form as well.

Installer

• Investigated how to fully shift to WIX bootstrapper and remove custom boot strapper
• Investigated how to fully shift to HKCU vs HKLM.

Random helping out

• Spell check fix - Thanks @franky920920!
• Fix a URL - Thanks @JeffersonQin!

Development relevant

• Focusing on cleaning up backlog of issues and developing a method to aid in prioritizing. @Dend and @crutkas are partnering to see if we can develop one signal to see what we are calling 'centers of gravity'.
• Our primary dev branch is now named Main.
• Adjusting plugin folder structure for PT Run #10796
• Working on shifting our release pipeline onto same system that Windows Terminal uses.
• Improvements to environment variable usage/update process in PT Run. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Update .NET to 3.1.20.
• Centralized process list in the BugReportTool.
• Registry handling improvement for MSI and File Explorer add-ons.

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.

@AnonymousWP, @Aaron-Junker, @CleanCodeDeveloper, @davidegiacometti, @FLOAT4, @franky920920, @htcfreek, @JacobDeuchert, @Jay-o-Way @JeffersonQin, @niels9001, and @rdeveen.

Release v0.49.1

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.49.0 we deemed important for stability based on user feedback. See v0.49.0 for full release notes.

• #14063 - After updating, the settings are not localized
• #14044 - [FindMyMouse] False positive on activation
• #14058 - Typo: the word english isn't capitalized
• #14009 - Typo in logging

Installer SHA256 Hash

31962E9947318F00086269B903E3B53B4613C9E9ABE32A71D1128E3437222B2C

Release v0.49.0

The v0.49 release cycle introduces exciting new updates primarily centered around modernizing PowerRename's UI, adding a brand new mouse utility, and merging Video Conference Mute into the stable releases!

PowerRename's new UI brings a refreshed experience that reflects the modern UI theming of Windows 11, along with helpful regular expression guidance and file formatting tips.

With the new mouse utility, PowerToys introduces functionality to quickly find your mouse position by double pressing the left ctrl key. This is ideal for large, high-resolution displays and low-vision users, with additional features and enhancements planned for future releases. Special thanks to Raymond Chen for providing the base code PowerToys used to develop this feature. To learn more, check out our Mouse Utilities documentation on Microsoft Docs!

As Video Conference Mute becomes available in the stable releases, there are still known bugs that we are actively working to address. These bugs are tracked on our GitHub, and we welcome any and all feedback as we work to isolate and resolve the cause.

Additionally, Color Picker's HEX format will no longer have the # character. This addresses issues with various color inputs that only accept six characters cutting off the last value. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes as we understand it impacts users who may prefer having # included. However, we believe this is the best solution while the custom string functionality (#8305) is in development.

Additional work in this release include stability updates and optimizations, installer updates, general bug fixes, and accessibility improvements.

Installer Hash

6E8F1C3BFBA3374FF1AEACC15519D27B5AC32C07F1B96DECFC38A95B32FDDD7E

Change log

General

• Find My Mouse utility added! Utilize the functionality to quickly locate the cursor on your displays! Learn more on our Mouse Utility docs.
• Accessibility and minor UI improvements to the settings page. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added deep links to the Settings menus for various utilities within their respective editors. Thanks @niels9001!
• Settings improvements to improve clarity for various options. Thanks @niels9001!
• Improved settings window to adjust size and position as needed when multi-monitor conditions change. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

PowerToys Awake

• Screen reader improvements for accessibility.

Color Picker

• Color Picker's HEX format was changed to remove the # character. Thanks @niels9001!
• Accessibility improvements for screen reader and UI to distinguish colors from the border when matching. Thanks @niels9001!

FancyZones

• Fixed Color Picker and OOBE windows from being snapped by FancyZones. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed regression with layouts not being changed via shortcuts.
• Fixed crashing issue with FancyZones editor.
• Fixed zone layouts resetting after screen locking.
• Accessibility improvements for screen reader in editor.

Keyboard Manager

• Fixed crashing issue when the editor is opened at high zoom on 4k monitors.

PowerRename

• New UI update! We hope you enjoy the modern experience and take advantage of new tool-tips to describe common regular expressions and text/file formatting. Thanks to @niels9001 for all the support on this redesign!

PowerToys Run

• Windows Terminal Plugin added. Open shells through Windows Terminal via _ activation command by default. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Added environment variables to Folder plugin search. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed certain schemas that were overwritten with HTTPS. Thanks @franky920920!
• Fixed issue with program plugin getting caught in infinite loops as certain file paths are recursively searched.

Video Conference Mute

• VCM added to stable releases of PowerToys!

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.

@Aaron-Junker, @davidegiacometti, @franky920920, @htcfreek, @Jay-o-Way, @martinchrzan, @niels9001, @pritudev, and @TobiasSekan

Experimental v0.48.1

This experimental release contains our Video conference mute feature plus everything in our v0.47.1 release. We know we have some issues and we have a main tracking issue - #6246.

This version includes the following updates:

• Fixed an issue with the first hotkey input in the settings being focused when the page loads. Prevents unintentional shortcut reassignment. Thanks @niels9001!

To find out more about the Video conference mute utility, head over to our Video Conference Mute overview.

Installer hash

E42962E29DB3D201558E2B0D76800EAA13D791FD247E1F74A68C730A3F480CD6

Current known issues and limitations:

• With some webcams, there is an incompatibility with Teams and the overlay image is not rendered, instead a corrupted frame is shown. If your camera has this quirk, please let us know the model in the [main tracking issue - #6246]
• The application preview (Teams, Meet, etc.) may show the overlay image flipped horizontally but that is expected, the image will show correctly to the other people on the call.
• In order to enable/disable the VCM, PowerToys should run as administrator
• Changes to some of the VCM settings require the application to restart to pick up the new values such as a new overlay image.
• In some cases, the overlay image can be shown flipped vertically (the workaround is to edit the image and flip it before selecting it).
  (#6246)
• If the PowerToys Video Conference Mute webcam doesn't show up in the video conference app, try restarting the app and if still doesn't show up try restarting Windows.

Things to note

• This release will not be on WinGet. We are evaluating if this is something people would be interested in.
• This release is on the "Experimental" train, so only prerelease versions will be prompted for updates.

Release v0.47.1

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.47.0 we deemed important for stability based on user feedback. See v0.47.0 for full release notes.

• #13516 - [Shortcut Guide] After releasing Win key, the start menu pops up
• #13517 - [PowerToys Run] Not working with Win + Space combo
• #13536 - [PowerToys Run] Not working with Shift + CapsLock combo
• #13585 - [FancyZones] Shortcuts not changing layout
• #13211 - [FancyZones] Auto-resizing windows breaks with certain applications
• #13625 - [FancyZones] Layouts not being remembered after computer locks

Installer SHA256 Hash

E49B5AA3A5D6E215A66E7C325D21220C6B3846E4659EB90ED71CA9C430C5154F

Release v0.47.0

Our goals for the v0.47 release cycle primarily centered around stability updates and optimizations, installer updates, general bug fixes, and accessibility improvements.

Notably, based on the community feedback received, PowerToys has re-introduced the highly-requested ability to activate Shortcut Guide via holding the Win key. PowerToys also now allows various commands in PowerToys Run to be used in either the universal English phrasing or system-localized translation. The great feedback the community provides is invaluable in helping PowerToys continually grow and improve as a product.

An experimental version of PowerToys (v0.48) will be released the week of October 4th, introducing improvements to our Video Conference Mute utility! All updates from the v0.47.0 release will still apply in v0.48.

Installer Hash

58EF4AE2F24080DCFAABC1CC03BE05F8637AD41D3DD6D66EC6AC8AC5037389BC

Change log

• Upgraded WinUI to 2.7.0.
• Reduced installer size by compressing GIFs. Thanks @niels9001!
• Replaced ShortcutTextContorl with MarkdownTextblock. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added functionality to invoke SHCangeNotify SHCNE_ASSOCCHANGED when thumbnail providers are turned on/off. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Consolidated nuget packages. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Additional logging and error handling added to PowerToys Run. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Moved away from the legacy windevbuildagents pool.
• Added support for embedded MSIX apps in PowerToys.
• Replaced ListView with ComboBox for Image Resizer. Thanks @niels9001!
• Build error fixes.

General

• Fixed issue with new updates changing the PowerToys install location.
• Fixed settings with NumberBox elements overlapping the delete button.
• Fixed issue with the bug report tool not generating .zip files.
• Updated the shortcut configuration experience in Settings. Thanks @niels9001!
• Fixed inconsistent width of sidebar icons. Thanks @niels9001!
• Fixed sidebar UI not scaling for longer text strings in certain localizations. Thanks @niels9001!
• Fixed issue with settings not displaying invalid keystroke assignments. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added user defined shortcuts when set to the "Welcome to PowerToys" instead of the default shortcuts.

Color Picker

• Accessibility issues addressed. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added CIELAB and CIEXYZ color formats. Thanks @RubenFricke!
• Fixed bug where changing RGB values manually doesn't automatically update the color displayed. Thanks @martinchrzan!

FancyZones

• Fixed regression where restarting computer resets user defined layouts to the default selection.
• Fixed issues with Grid layout editor not showing the "Save" and "Cancel" buttons.
• Fixed accessibility issue where users could not add or merge zones using the keyboard.
• Added a flyout describe the prerequisites for the "Allow zones to span across monitors" option.
• Fixed various crashing bugs.

File Explorer add-ons

• Added PDF preview and thumbnail provider for Windows Explorer. Thanks @rdeveen!

Image Resizer

• Added default values for newly added sizes. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Fixed regression where spaces in the filename format settings couldn't be registered.
• Corrected scaling issues with Image Resizer Window. Thanks @niels9001!
• Fixed issue where PowerToys crashes when json settings are not formatted properly. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Keyboard Manager

• Fixed crash when adding a shortcut.
• Fixed issue with Re-mappings window not displaying.
• Fixed issue when remapping a shortcut to Alt+Tab breaks the Alt+Tab navigation with arrow keys.

PowerToys Run

• Improvements on subtitle layout for Settings plugin. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Added path filters for Settings plugin via > key. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Translation improvements for Settings plugin. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Added translation support for Settings Plugin. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Fixed issue with PowerToys Run not being in focus when launched.
• Fixed crash on empty/deleted environment variables when updating variables after a change. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Corrected Registry Plugin query results.
• Fixed crash in Registry plugin queries.
• Fixed crash when Windows shuts down.
• Added better description in the global results settings for plugins. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added a confirmation box before running system commands. Thanks @chrisharris333 and @davidegiacometti!
• Added option to use system localization our universal terminology for system commands. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Shortcut Guide

• Re-added the long Win key press to activate utility.

Video Conference Mute

• Fixed an issue with the first hotkey input in the settings being focused when the page loads. Prevents unintentionally shortcut reassignment. Thanks @niels9001!

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.

@Aaron-Junker, @chrisharris333, @davidegiacometti, @dend, @franky920920, @htcfreek, @Jay-o-Way, @jsoref, @martinchrzan, @niels9001, @rdeveen and @RubenFricke