Windows 11 is known for being Microsoft’s most advanced operating system, but did you know that there are even more features available through an optional app called Microsoft PowerToys? This app offers a variety of useful capabilities that can enhance your Windows experience beyond what comes standard.
Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of utilities designed to improve productivity and make using Windows a bit easier. While it used to be accessible only through a custom installer from GitHub, you can now download it directly from the Microsoft Store or use the Windows Package Manager for installation.
Some of the popular PowerToys features include Image Resize, Keyboard Manager, Text Extractor, Peek, and Screen Ruler. However, there are several other lesser-known features that are just as valuable and worth exploring.
One of these features is Advanced Paste, which allows you to paste text as plain text, Markdown, or JSON. You can also use AI to add additional formatting if you have an OpenAI API key. Additionally, Advanced Paste includes a clipboard history that shows you a list of all the things you’ve copied before.
If you have a window that you need to keep on top at all times, you can use the Always On Top feature. This feature allows you to select a window and make it stay on top of everything else on your screen, ensuring it remains visible no matter what.
Color Picker is another handy tool that lets you grab the exact color of any pixel on your screen. Similar to the dropper tool in photo editing apps, Color Picker provides you with hex, RGB, and HSL color codes for the selected pixel.
FancyZones is a feature that allows you to create custom layouts for your on-screen windows, providing more flexibility than the built-in Snap Layouts feature in Windows 11. You can design your own window configurations to suit your specific needs.
PowerToys also offers File Explorer add-ons that enable preview support for additional file types such as SVG, Markdown, and source code formats like CPP, JSON, PY, and XML. You can also enable PDF file previews in both the Preview Pane and thumbnails.
If you often struggle to locate your mouse cursor, the Find My Mouse feature in PowerToys can help by highlighting the cursor when you tap the Ctrl key twice. This feature is especially useful if you have multiple monitors or if your cursor is difficult to see.
PowerRename is a feature that simplifies the process of renaming multiple files at once. By selecting the files you want to rename and using the PowerRename option in the extended context menu, you can quickly rename files with ease.
Windows Search can sometimes fall short when it comes to launching apps, but PowerToys Run offers a more effective alternative. By pressing Alt + Spacebar, you can quickly run applications with PowerToys Run, which provides better search results than Windows Search.
Overall, Microsoft PowerToys offers a range of valuable features that can enhance your Windows 11 experience and improve your productivity. From advanced text pasting options to customizable window layouts, PowerToys provides a variety of tools to optimize your workflow and make using Windows more efficient.
