Portable Microsoft PowerToys v0.74.1 (x64)

Last updated Oct 4, 2023 8,220

powertoys-portable

Microsoft PowerToys Portable is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows experience for greater productivity. For more info on PowerToys overviews and how to use the utilities, or any other tools and resources for Windows development environments, head over to learn.microsoft.com!

If you happen to be one of Windows 95’s many power users, you’ll feel a great deal of nostalgia because Microsoft recently brought back an undeniably useful collection of PowerToys utilities.

For those of you who don’t know, PowerToys was a suite of utilities that helped users streamline and streamline their Windows experience and increase their productivity. Like the original project, this reboot app offers several effective ways to customize the Windows 10 shell to suit your needs. You can also perform various tasks such as: Arranging windows, getting keyboard shortcuts, etc.

Microsoft PowerToys Portable is a set of software utilities designed to enhance the functionality and productivity of Windows 10/11. With a range of useful tools, PowerToys offers users new ways to customize their experience and streamline their workflows.

One of the most popular features of PowerToys Portable is its customizable keyboard shortcuts. Users can assign keystrokes to launch applications, open websites, or perform custom actions, saving time and effort in day-to-day tasks. With the ability to create multiple profiles, users can switch between different sets of shortcuts depending on their needs.

Another powerful tool in PowerToys Portable is the FancyZones feature, which allows users to divide their desktop into customizable zones for better organization and multitasking. Users can create templates for different layouts, such as side-by-side windows or grids, and then assign applications to each zone with hotkeys or drag-and-drop.

PowerToys also includes a suite of tools for manipulating and managing windows. The Window Walker feature lets users quickly navigate through open windows using a search bar, while the WindowManager feature offers advanced window snapping and resizing options. Users can snap windows to specific positions, resize them by percentage, and even tile multiple windows at once.

For users who frequently work with text, PowerToys offers the PowerRename tool, which enables bulk renaming of files and folders with advanced filtering and preview options. Additionally, the PowerToys Run feature provides a quick launcher for applications, files, and settings, with integrated search and history tracking.

PowerToys also includes several tools for customizing the appearance and behavior of Windows 10. The Color Picker tool lets users easily sample and copy colors from any part of their screen, while the Image Resizer enables batch resizing of images with presets for common sizes and formats. The File Explorer Preview Pane extension adds support for previewing Markdown, SVG, and other file types directly within the explorer window.

Perhaps one of the most exciting recent developments of PowerToys is the introduction of PowerToys Video Conference Mute. With more and more people working remotely, video conferencing has become a ubiquitous part of modern work life. However, it can be frustrating when background noise or interruptions disrupt a meeting. PowerToys Video Conference Mute makes it easy to quickly mute and unmute your microphone during video calls with customizable hotkeys or an overlay interface.

PowerToys is also open source, meaning that developers can contribute to its ongoing development and add their own custom utilities. This community-driven approach ensures that PowerToys continues to adapt and evolve with the changing needs of Windows users.

In summary, Microsoft PowerToys Portable is a powerful set of software utilities that can enhance productivity and streamline workflows on Windows 10. With customizable keyboard shortcuts, advanced window management tools, and a suite of customization options, PowerToys offers users new ways to customize their experience and get more done in less time. Whether you’re a power user looking for advanced features, or simply looking to simplify your workflow, PowerToys is well worth checking out.

Might be for power users, but the app is super easy to use

The installation process is pretty straightforward, but keep in mind that your computer must be running at least Windows 10 build 17134 or newer. The app has four main sections named as follows:
General Settings, FancyZones, PowerRename, and Shortcut Guide. Other sections of the app are more extensive, but the general settings section is fairly basic.You can enable or disable three main features, and configure the app to start automatically when you log in to your system. or choose between two color settings (dark and light themes).

PowerToys lives up to its name with powerful tools

His first addon, FancyZones, essentially lets you create custom grids on your desktop. This custom grid automatically resizes the window to fit perfectly in the specified layout. This feature is extremely useful for those who work with many open apps side by side, offering a unique way to keep them organized and always at hand. Next, the PowerRename function is self-explanatory. This is a Windows shell extension for advanced batch renaming with a find and replace workflow. The power of PowerRename is its ability to find, replace, and rename based on simple and advanced expression matching. Another benefit is that as you enter data in the search and replace fields, the resulting item names are displayed in the preview area.

Finally, there is the Shortcut Guides addon. It provides a neat screen overlay with dynamic shortcuts for active windows or apps when you hold down the Windows key. It’s great for people new to Windows as a variety of apps and operating system, as it allows them to quickly learn all the keyboard shortcuts they need and ultimately improve their workflow.

Current PowerToy Utilities

Awake

PowerToys Awake is a utility tool for Windows 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 turn off its screens.

Color Picker

Color Picker is a simple and quick system-wide color picker with Win+Shift+C. Color Picker allows to pick colors from any currently running application and automatically copies it in a configurable format to your clipboard. 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 and Niels Laute’s UX concept.

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 will enable SVG icon rendering and Preview Pane additions for File Explorer.

Preview Pane is an existing feature in the File Explorer. To enable it, you just click the View tab in the ribbon and then click “Preview Pane”. PowerToys will now enable two types of files to be previewed: Markdown (.md) & SVG (.svg)

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 is a Windows Shell Extension for advanced bulk renaming using search and replace or regular expressions. PowerRename allows simple search and replace or more advanced regular expression matching. While you type in the search and replace input fields, the preview area will show what the items will be renamed to. PowerRename then calls into the Windows Explorer file operations engine to perform the rename. This has the benefit of allowing the rename operation to be undone after PowerRename exits. This code is based on Chris Davis’s SmartRename.

PowerToys Run

PowerToys Run is a new toy in PowerToys that can help you search and launch your app instantly with a simple Alt+Space and start typing! It is open source and modular for additional plugins. Window Walker is now inside too! This PowerToy requires Windows 10 1903 (build 18362) or later.

Shortcut Guide

Windows key shortcut guide appears when a user holds the Windows key down for more than one second and shows the available shortcuts for the current state of the desktop.

Video Conference Mute

Video Conference Mute is a quick and easy way to do a global “mute” of both your microphone and webcam via Win+N. Just set your webcam in the target application to the PowerToys VideoConference camera.

0.74 – September 2023 Update

In this release, we focused on releasing new features and improvements.

Highlights

Upgraded to Windows App SDK 1.4.1, increasing stability of WinUI3 utilities.
Text Extractor was upgraded to its version 2.0, with a new overlay, table mode and more Quality of Life improvements.
Improved FancyZones stability, fixing some layout resets and improving handling of newly created windows on Windows 11.
Fixed many silent crashes that were reported to Watson and the user’s event viewer.