microsoft / powertoys

Windows system utilities to maximize productivity

Microsoft PowerToys

How to use PowerToys | Downloads & Release notes | Contributing to PowerToys | What's Happening | Roadmap

Build status

Architecture	Solution (Main)	Solution (Stable)	Installer (Main)
x64
ARM64

About

Microsoft PowerToys 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!

	Current utilities:
Advanced Paste	Always on Top	PowerToys Awake
Command Not Found	Color Picker	Crop And Lock
Environment Variables	FancyZones	File Explorer Add-ons
File Locksmith	Hosts File Editor	Image Resizer
Keyboard Manager	Mouse utilities	Mouse Without Borders
Peek	Paste as Plain Text	PowerRename
PowerToys Run	Quick Accent	Registry Preview
Screen Ruler	Shortcut Guide	Text Extractor
Video Conference Mute

Installing and running Microsoft PowerToys

Requirements

• Windows 11 or Windows 10 version 2004 (code name 20H1 / build number 19041) or newer.
• x64 or ARM64 processor
• Our installer will install the following items:
  • Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime bootstrapper. This will install the latest version.

Via GitHub with EXE [Recommended]

Go to the Microsoft PowerToys GitHub releases page and click on Assets at the bottom to show the files available in the release. Please use the appropriate PowerToys installer that matches your machine's architecture and install scope. For most, it is x64 and per-user.

Description	Filename	sha256 hash
Per user - x64	PowerToysUserSetup-0.81.0-x64.exe	E62B1EE81954A75355C04E7567B1C9AAD6034AA0C61AD22587F8746D0DC488C8
Per user - ARM64	PowerToysUserSetup-0.81.0-arm64.exe	75330A2DB4F9EF9B548B3B58F8BF3262C8C67E680042639BBBBC87EA244F24E2
Machine wide - x64	PowerToysSetup-0.81.0-x64.exe	29F151B01FE3C94D4FD75F2D6E8F09A6C0F0962385B83A5A733F6717312F639D
Machine wide - ARM64	PowerToysSetup-0.81.0-arm64.exe	FCE636220E1FB854771258D9558E07B7532728AD4C722A7920338DEE60DEECF7

This is our preferred method.

Via Microsoft Store

Install from the Microsoft Store's PowerToys page. You must be using the new Microsoft Store which is available for both Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Via WinGet

Download PowerToys from WinGet. Updating PowerToys via winget will respect current PowerToys installation scope. To install PowerToys, run the following command from the command line / PowerShell:

User scope installer [default]

winget install Microsoft.PowerToys -s winget

Machine-wide scope installer

winget install --scope machine Microsoft.PowerToys -s winget

Other install methods

There are community driven install methods such as Chocolatey and Scoop. If these are your preferred install solutions, you can find the install instructions there.

Third-Party Run Plugins

There is a collection of third-party plugins created by the community that aren't distributed with PowerToys.

Contributing

This project welcomes contributions of all types. Besides coding features / bug fixes, other ways to assist include spec writing, design, documentation, and finding bugs. We are excited to work with the power user community to build a set of tools for helping you get the most out of Windows.

We ask that before you start work on a feature that you would like to contribute, please read our Contributor's Guide. We would be happy to work with you to figure out the best approach, provide guidance and mentorship throughout feature development, and help avoid any wasted or duplicate effort.

Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you grant us the rights to use your contribution and that you have permission to do so.

For guidance on developing for PowerToys, please read the developer docs for a detailed breakdown. This includes how to setup your computer to compile.

What's Happening

PowerToys Roadmap

Our prioritized roadmap of features and utilities that the core team is focusing on.

0.81 - Build 2024 Update

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

Highlights

• New utility: Advanced Paste - This is an evolution based on feedback of the Paste As Plain Text utility to do more. It can paste as plain text, markdown, or json directly with the new UX or with a direct keystroke invoke. These are fully locally executed. In addition, it now has an AI powered option as well if you wish with the free form text box. The AI feature is 100% opt-in and requires an Open AI key. This new system will allow us to have more freedom in the future to quickly add in new features like pasting an image directly to a file or handle additional meta data types past just text.
  • Thanks @craigloewen-msft for the core functionality and @niels9001 for the UI/UX design!
• Command Not Found now uses the PowerShell Gallery release and now supports ARM64. Thanks @carlos-zamora!
• Fixed most accessibility issues opened after the latest accessibility review.
• Refactored, packaged and released the main Environment Variables Editor, Hosts File Editor and Registry Preview utilities functionality as controls to be integrated into DevHome. Thanks @dabhattimsft for validating and integrating into DevHome!

General

• Fixed crashes on older CPUS by updating .NET to 8.0.4. (This was a hotfix for 0.80)

Advanced Paste

• New utility: Advanced Paste - This is an evolution based on feedback of the Paste As Plain Text utility to do more. It can paste as plain text, markdown, or json directly with the new UX or with a direct keystroke invoke. These are fully locally executed. In addition, it now has an AI powered option as well if you wish with the free form text box. The AI feature is 100% opt-in and requires an Open AI key. This new system will allow us to have more freedom in the future to quickly add in new features like pasting an image directly to a file or handle additional meta data types past just text.
  • Thanks @craigloewen-msft for the core functionality and @niels9001 for the UI/UX design!

AlwaysOnTop

• Enable border anti-aliasing. Thanks @ewancg!

Color Picker

• Improved accessibility by making the Settings and Copy to clipboard buttons focusable.
• Improved accessibility by supporting picking a color using the keyboard.

Command Not Found

• Upgraded the Command Not Found to use the new PowerShell Gallery release and support ARM64. Thanks @carlos-zamora!

Environment Variables Editor

• Refactored, packaged and released the main Environment Variables Editor functionality as a control to be integrated into DevHome. Thanks @dabhattimsft for validating and integrating into DevHome!

FancyZones

• Fixed window wrap around behavior when overriding Windows key and arrow shortcuts on single monitor scenarios. Thanks @DanRosenberry!
• Improved accessibility of the editor by listing the keyboard shortcuts in the Canvas Editor.

File Explorer add-ons

• Updated Monaco to 0.47 and added the new sticky scroll setting for DevFiles viewer. Thanks @Aaron-Junker!
• Added the new font size setting for DevFiles viewer. Thanks @Aaron-Junker!
• Added support for .srt (subtitle) file previewing in DevFiles viewer. Thanks @PesBandi!

Hosts File Editor

• Refactored, packaged and released the main Hosts File Editor functionality as a control to be integrated into DevHome. Thanks @dabhattimsft for validating and integrating into DevHome!

Image Resizer

• Supported narrator announcing the checkboxes in the UI and the sizes combobox. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Improved accessibility by increasing contrast in the text color of combobox items.

Installer

• Fixed some install failures when the folders the DSC module is to be installed in isn't accessible by the WiX installer. (This was a hotfix for 0.80)
• Detecting install location for DSC now uses registry instead of WMI to improve performance. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed an error causing the machine scope installer to not install correctly in machines where the documents folder is in a UNC network path. We're still working in a fix for the user scope installer.

Keyboard Manager

• Fixed startup crashes in the editor when the Visual C++ Redistributable wasn't installed. (This was a hotfix for 0.80)
• Fixed an accessibility issue where the first button wasn't focused after adding a new row in the editor.
• Environment Variables are now expanded in arguments of programs started through a shortcut. Thanks @HydroH!

Paste as Plain Text

• Paste as Plain Text was removed as a separate utility, since its functionality is now part of the Advanced Paste utility.

Peek

• Updated icons, tweaked UI and refactored internal code. Thanks @Jay-o-Way!
• Updated Monaco to 0.47 and added the new sticky scroll setting for DevFiles viewer. Thanks @Aaron-Junker!
• Added the new font size setting for DevFiles viewer. Thanks @Aaron-Junker!
• Upgrade the SharpCompress dependency to 0.37.2 and fixed archive parsing. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed aliasing in the image viewer.
• Added support for .srt (subtitle) file previewing in DevFiles viewer. Thanks @PesBandi!

Power Rename

• Fixed the descriptions that were mixed up in the regex helper (\S and \w).

PowerToys Run

• Added support for UNC paths starting with // in the Folder plugin. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed the plugin load failed message to list the failed plugins. Thanks @belkiss!
• Icons for MSIX packages are now updated when a package update is detected. Thanks @HydroH!
• Use Mica backdrop instead of Acrylic to fix random crashes caused by the Windows composition being momentarily turned off.
• Improved accessibility in the results list action buttons by improving contrast of hovered/focused buttons.

Quick Accent

• Added support for the Esperanto character set. Thanks @salutontalk and @ccmywish!
• Added the ǽ and ϑ characters. Thanks @PesBandi!

Registry Preview

• Refactored, packaged and released the main Registry Preview functionality as a control to be integrated into DevHome. Thanks @dabhattimsft for validating and integrating into DevHome!

Text Extractor

• Fixed an issue causing the Settings page to not be opened when clicking the Settings button in Text Extractor's overlay. (This was a hotfix for 0.80)

Settings

• Improved UI ordering of the File Explorer add-ons. Thanks @niels9001!
• Applied fixes to theme overriding and cleaned up unneeded code. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed misspells in references to the Hosts File Editor utility. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Improved accessibility of the Select Folder button in the Settings Backup UI.
• Improved accessibility by improving focus and tab navigation in the ColorPicker page. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Added a description to the fallback encoder setting in the Image Resizer page. Thanks @Kissaki!
• Refactored and improved performance in the PowerToys Run plugins UI in the Settings page. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed a crash when a user cleared the contents of a Number Box in the PowerToys Run plugins additional options. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Update the PATH environment variables with the user scope PATH when entering the Command Not Found page to improve PowerShell detection.

Documentation

• Added the WebSearchShortcut plugin to PowerToys Run thirdPartyRunPlugins.md docs. Thanks @Daydreamer-riri!
• Updated COMMUNITY.md with the project managers that are part of the core team.
• Improved the DSC samples.
• Added the 1Password plugin to PowerToys Run thirdPartyRunPlugins.md docs. Thanks @KairuDeibisu!
• Added the UnicodeInput plugin to PowerToys Run thirdPartyRunPlugins.md docs. Thanks @nathancartlidge!

Development

• Updated System.Drawing.Common to 8.0.5 to fix CI builds after the .NET 8.0.5 upgrade was released.
• Fixed file permissions when doing a build using cache on PR CI. Thanks @dfederm!
• Removed the Test SDK reference on ARM64 to fix local building for ARM64. Thanks @dfederm!
• Replaced make_pair with RemapBufferRow in Keyboard Manager internal code. Thanks @masaru-iritani!
• Added CODEOWNERS file to protect sensitive parts of the repo. Thanks @htcfreek for the help in figuring out how to make the spellcheck folder an exception!
• Added comments in code. to make it clear what the error badge in PowerToys Run plugin list in Settings means. Thanks @Jay-o-Way!
• Enabled caching by default in the PR CI pipelines. Thanks @dfederm!
• Disabled caching for PR started from forks, since those were failing. Thanks @dfederm!
• Removed baseline files for policy checking and turned on the "TSA" process in the release pipelines instead.
• Added caching of nuget packages in the PR CI pipelines. Thanks @dfederm!
• Updated the release CI pipelines TouchdownBuildTask to v3.
• Moved the release CI pipelines to ESRPv5.
• Added a policy for GitHub Copilot Workspaces for the repo on GitHub. Thanks @Aaron-Junker!

What is being planned for version 0.82

For v0.82, we'll work on the items below:

• Stability / bug fixes
• Language selection
• New module: File Actions Menu

PowerToys Community

The PowerToys team is extremely grateful to have the support of an amazing active community. The work you do is incredibly important. PowerToys wouldn’t be nearly what it is today without your help filing bugs, updating documentation, guiding the design, or writing features. We want to say thank you and take time to recognize your work. Month by month, you directly help make PowerToys a better piece of software.

Code of Conduct

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct.

Privacy Statement

The application logs basic telemetry. Our Telemetry Data page (Coming Soon) has the trends from the telemetry. Please read the Microsoft privacy statement for more information.

powertoys's Issues

Save window size and position when using window gestures and desktop edges

Normally when you close a program, next time you open it, it will be shown in the same position and with same size as last time.

That doesn't work though when you use the desktop edge gestures for some reason (such as resizing the bottom to the lower edge and the top automatically goes all way up)

This is the only reason I keep this feature off. Would be great to see that being implemented. Might actually be a bug on Windows instead of a non-feature, but I believe that it could be developed faster here than waiting for a fix in the main code

Minimize to tray

Minimize to tray by right clicking the minimize button

SyncToy and Robocopy

Please bring back Synctoy for a Robocopy like function....and/or open source Robocopy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SyncToy

X Clipboard (select to copy, middle click to paste)

Select to copy, middle click to paste

Support multiple mice.

I've always thought it would be useful for windows to support multiple, distinct mice -- each with their own programmable cursor. it would at least be useful for multi-player games. I'm thinking it could also be used for collaboration.

Full window manager including specific layouts for docking and undocking laptops

This was mentioned in the README so I'm creating the issue as it sounds like a neat idea to me

I'm assuming this would allow for more flexible window arrangements than the current quadrant snapping, etc.

Maximize a window to center with aspect ratio 4:3

My whish

Maximize a window to center with aspect ratio 4:3

Key combination to pin windows to stay on top of others

It's an incredibly simple feature, but sooo useful. I've had a utility installed to do this for a few years now and I never go on a new windows install without it. When I use other people's PCs as well, I really miss the ability to keep a specific window in front.

How it works:

As I have it at the moment, pressing Ctrl+Space on any desktop window will toggle the always on top state of that window. When that's done, they effectively stay in front, even when focus changes to another window after that.

What it's for:

Doing that allows me to put some content I want to see (a video, browser tab, some instructions, or notes) on my display whilst I work/type into a different window.

When I'm done I just focus my pinned window and use Ctrl+Space to return it to normal.

What I'd change:

Admittedly, the Ctrl+Space key combination is sometimes problematic when gaming, where I might need the same combination for something else. That's why I suggest changing it to some combination with the Win key instead.

Win+Space is (annoying) used to switch keyboard layouts, so it might have to become something like Win+Alt instead.

It would also help, though, to allow the user to configure the shortcut, as well as a visible button to pin/unpin windows similar to the "Maximize to new desktop widget".

Hi everybody! May you add a Creative Commons License for logo?

Hello to all!

May you add a Creative Commons License for logo?
(obviously I can't make a pull request for it, I am not the owner)

With all due respect for indierawk2k2, just for edit the corresponding article at Wikipedia, we "need" one of this licenses:

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
or
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

(the MIT license is for code, we talk about artistic elements)
Thanks for your attention!

Note: if you feel that our request is inappropriate please let us know and we will remove our commentary, no hard feelings for that!

Change size of task bar and alt tab thumbnail previews

My greatest motivation for this is because I'd like the previews of the app windows that you get when you hover over the taskbar or hit alt+tab to be big enough for me to see what's going on in that window without actually clicking on it (for example, to have task manager open behind a maximized window, and let the thumbnail be big enough for me to read what's taking up all my CPU time without bringing task manager in front of that maximized window).

In Windows 7, there were a lot of "desktop tweaker" programs that altered a reg key that did this for the task bar thumbnails (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband!MinThumbSizePx), but it doesn't work on all machines, and does nothing for max size, and does nothing for alt+tab.

Tabbing Features

With the release of the new command line system for W10 I think this kind of feature is a no brainier. Here is another solution for reference: TidyTabs

Profiles for Network Cards

Could we get Profiles for Network Cards?
Would be great to change from Manual Assigned IP to DHCP with Keyboard Shortcuts or Shortcuts in the Taskbar.

Image Resizer

One of my favourite power toys of the past was Image Resizer.

It was great to be able to give clients a tool in explorer to resize images as needed.

I can't remember what it could do but my wishlist would be:

• Resize to the specified size
• Resize so that the long axis is X (maintaining ratio)
• Resize so that the specified axis is X (maintaining ratio)
• Fit within the given space, centred with the short axis matched to the content box.

The old power toy could do this with a whole folder of images if needed.

Manage right-click - Customize context menu

Easily manage the right click actions to edit, open at. Right now this is all over the place, different applications add right-click extensions and it is a mess. You can somehow change the default open application. But it would be great to be able to manage other actions to for example edit e.g Tiff file, HTML file, compile, etc.

Customizable DPI/Monitor Scaling

Windows only allows display scaling down to 100%. It would be nice if we could adjust that lower to fit more on a screen. Similar to how Linux (Mate desktop) allows adjusting DPI, effectively making everything a bit smaller so more fits on the same resolution.

"Quick resolution swaps in taskbar" (QuickRes)

I guess I'll go first wirh this one...

Wouldn't it be great to way to bring QuickRes into the 21st century by not merely being able to quickly change resolution like the QuickRes of old but actually to quickly change the layouts of multiple monitors and virtual desktops.

With mobile users docking into different monitor setups between home and work and in between it's always a hassle to keep readjusting the monitor positions each time. Perhaps even have various triggers available such as Wi-Fi network or a specific network dongle being plugged in to know what kind of layout your'e plugging into and set the layout for you.

Deploy the layouts over Azure AD so each desk in your organisation already has the layout preconfigured.

I have used Multi-Monitor programs before but none of them have been able to set layouts which move the taskbar onto the non-primary monitor for you - you have to drag and drop it back yourself after changing layouts.

It would be like the WIN+P Projector menu on steroids.

typo: "to suugest new ideas"

Fast switching between complete display options (HDR, night mode,...)

Please make the function available to not only quickly change the resolution, but also the additional output options such as HDR on/off, night mode on/off, 3D mode on/off.

For example, I want to quickly switch between the three following configurations:

• Mode 1 - UHD mode: 4k resolution, HDR on, night mode off, 3D mode off, refresh rate 30 Hz
• Mode 2 - 3D mode: FHD resolution, HDR off, night mode off, 3D Mode on, refresh rate 24 Hz
• Mode 3 - PC mode: FHD resolution, HDR off, night mode on, 3D Mode off, refresh rate 60Hz

So far I haven't found a program or tool that could do that.

Add Collapse/Expand button to Title Bars

Add Collapse/Expand button (as seen in the title bar of the in-box Xbox UWP app) to all windows for quick toggling between wide and narrow/portrait view.

Copy the functionality already present in the Xbox app. From left to right, the titlebar of the app contains:

1. Back button
2. Refresh button
3. Expand/Collapse Button
4. App Name/Window Title
5. Minmimize
6. Maximize/Restore
7. Close

It is the #3 item that I wish every app had.

Desktop Widgets

I propose that we add back the desktop Widgets with more productivity in mind. Like a analog clock, or the news from CNN, or a mini command prompt. I think this would help developers and people get more done with the system. I've never done C# or C but I'd love to learn!

Always on Top

crutkas: Should look at #49 also for additional feature implementation idea

And #641 for transparency

Set window to ignore virtual desktops

I have a few windows where I'd like to have them follow me to whatever virtual desktop I go.

I usually place them in my second monitor but having to go every time back to the virtual desktop where they are is time consuming.

There should be a button near the minimize/maximize/close to activate/deactivate this behavior on that window whenever I want.

This could also be useful for moving several windows across different virtual desktops to a single one as I'd simply go about "pinning" all of them, then go to the desired virtual desktop and "unpinning" them.

Full window manager, including layouts

I really want a full window manager with pre-set layouts ... particularly if it can preserve icon layouts when switching to primary desktops with different resolution.

Right now I'm using a combination of NirSoft and Stardock tools like MultiMonitorTool and SoundVolumeView and Fences but setting them up is complicated and I have to save config files for each one, and then call them in a script...

I would love a window manager that allowed me to not only remember desktop screens and apps automatically when an external monitor is connected, but could remember specific monitors and support custom configuration for them.

For bonus points:

1. Black-list certain apps from ever being put on certain screens (e.g. make sure I never put KeePass on a projector)
2. Switch audio to the external audio when projecting ... that is, include setting where audio is going (and coming from) based on the options available and/or named configs
3. Be able to switch in and out of projection mode (turning off external projector) without disconnecting the external projector
4. Be able to disable the event for connecting external monitors (I have a TV connected that makes all my other monitors blink whenever the TV is turned on, even though it's disabled for output).

Moving a program with you to another virtual desktop

One of the thing I've found lacking ever since I started using the virtual desktops is the ability to move a window with you while moving to another virtual desktop.

Currently, we can move to another desktop using the shortcut ctrl + win + left/right, I feel like a shortcut along the lines of ctrl + win + alt + left/right could be used to make the current active window move with you to the next desktop

I have no idea if this fits as a powertoy, please tell me if it doesn't !

Independent virtual desktops per monitor

Yet another virtual desktop request. Currently switching virtual desktops switches windows on all monitors. It would be great to make this independent per monitor.

Eg. I always have Outlook on monitor 1, but want to switch between multiple sets of apps on monitor 2 and 3 without losing whats on monitor 1.

Bonus points if the virtual desktops are all shared so I can cycle through them on each monitor eg 5 virtual desktops, 3 monitors.
Start with:
1=1, 2=2, 3=3
Cycle 3 (to virtual 4):
1=1, 2=2, 3=4
Cycle 2 (to virtual 5):
1=1, 2=5, 3=3
Cycle 3 "down" (to virtual 2):
1=1, 2=5, 3=2

Shortcuts for numbered virtual desktops

Desktops are already numbered, would be useful to have some sort of indicator of the current desktop number in the taskbar and to add a shortcut to jump between desktops, something like WinKey + Ctrl + 1..9 to go to desktop 1... all the way to 9

Disable Sticky Corners in aero snap

When moving the mouse from one monitor to the other it gets stuck because of the "sticky corners".

So for example, if you want to close a window in the right monitor but your mouse is on the left monitor, you end inadvertently closing the window of the left monitor as the mouse gets stuck in the close button.

The problem is described in detail here https://superuser.com/questions/947817/how-to-disable-sticky-corners-in-windows-10

A workaround https://github.com/patricknelson/win10-sticky-mouse

Detailed Error Info

So when you get an error in windows like a failed to open file error what if there was a feature where you could select a more info button and be able to see how to fix it and what's wrong.

Apps remember virtual desktops between reboots and location

Preserve application and virtual desktop layout between reboots! :)

Win+R replacement

Currently, in Windows 10 (1903), when clicking Win+R, it opens the "Run" window command.

This functionality is very limited - the user must remember the exact command, or the exact file. No auto-correct, and if the user is wrong, it only brings an error message that says the file or command was not found.

Can you please add a tool which improves this window, at least with auto-correct?

crutkas edits:

• https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/wiki/Launcher is the spec
• remember to xref #51 as it was listed as a dup

Pin applications to the second monitor taskbar

I want to pin application to non-primary monitor taskbar.

Assign Applications to Specific Desktops

Currently, very easy to open multiple versions of an app, that if on the wrong desktop, creates chaos. This especially true for apps such as Microsoft Outlook. Also not being able to assign a specific desktop for VMWare Horizon Client can cause strange behavior.

This should persist across docking and undocking a laptop. Would be a nice tie in to the other laptop related ones.

Window auto-alignment/snap/magnet to other windows and screen edges

When window is moved or resized, the edge should auto-align/snap when it gets within X pixels of an existing window or screen edge.

Edit: To clarify, I'm talking about snapping capability like the old "AllSnap" program. This has nothing to do with layouts or window management.

Battery tracker/charge manager

Utility to allow monitoring battery, but more importantly ability to control the charge level of the battery (allow setting thresholds for battery charging and discharging). E.g. Charge battery until 85%, then stop charging until it drops to 50%. Avoiding 100% charge on a battery can prolong its life, and there is currently nothing that can do this.

Vertical Monitor Enhancements

I use two 4k monitors in portrait mode; works great when coding or writing documents.

I would like to see the Windows+Left/Right shortcuts altered when Windows detects the monitor is in portrait mode, and snap the windows to the top half, or bottom half, of the screen, similar to how it works in landscape mode.

Extended Multiple Desktop Functionality

Would love to have a bit of extended functionality added to multiple desktops.

1. Individual Wallpapers - not the solution to where it checks current desktop and switches the wallpaper every x seconds

2. Naming each desktop - right click on one in the task switcher and rename

I have a bit of C# experience but never have modified windows itself and would love to learn.

If anyone has some good documentation, walkthroughs or tutorials I can go from there.

Scripting API for Window Manager

Just through out an idea. If you guys create a customizable window manager, I'd welcome a way to interact with it via some scripting language or the commandline.

In Linux, i3 comes with a commandline utility i3-msg which allows you to reorganize windows via scripts.

Generate/Verify checksums from file

Without a additional tool you can´t fastly verfiy files with a checksum. You can only use the cmd:

eg. CMD:
certutil -hashfile SHA256

Possible algorithm:
MD2 MD4 MD5 SHA1 SHA256 SHA384 SHA512

It would be great to have these settings in a new tab "Checksum" by right clicking on a file, where all checksums listed (which can be calculated by certutil) .

There should be a field where you can copy in an existing checksum and compare it with the calculated ones. If it matches, the matching hash could be marked.

Be able to disable deskop composition without using fullscreen

Currently, if not using fullscreen in games/rendering applications with fullscreen optimisations disabled, DWM.exe force tripple buffering on every monitor which increase a lot the latency experienced by the user. Using every app in fullscreen isn't practical and is a pita for dual monitors users. The only way I'm aware of disabling the composition in windows 10 is by disabling DWM.exe, which can (and will) cause many crashes, bsod and stange bugs everywhrere in the os. Being able to disable desktop composition like it was in windows 7 would be great.

Shortcut to connect to VPN

Windows VPN connection is available only through the settings dialog. This cannot be automated with Powershell or something else. I want to have an icon on the taskbar that connects my computer to the VPN, adds my routes and launches my favorite music.

Win+R Window Replacement

Instead of having just the textbox for run what if we made it like the open file window and had a list of directories in a default library and users could select from there. I have never made anything for windows but I think I might try.

Tiling windows manager like i3 or chunkwm

Support for 3rd parties app or built in functionality to support a tiling windows manager instead of floating. Something similar to i3 or chunkwm.

Keyboard shortcut manager

I would love a good, lightweight shortcut key manager.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to remap some of the new windows hotkeys (like putting Win+F back to "find" (which is now Win+S for "search") instead of the new "Feedback").

Bonus points if you can tell me who registered which hotkeys, so I can find and kill OneNote when it clobbers the PrtScn button...

I think it would also be awesome if it could kick off executables or scripts like PowerShell or WSF scripts.

---

saahmedm update:
the beta version of keyboard manager is in the latest release (0.18)!!! 😎 here is the readme for more info: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/tree/master/src/modules/keyboardmanager

"Jump to target" in Open/Save dialogs on Drop

Just like the MacOS handles it...
For those who never experienced it: dragging a file into an open/save file dialog will jump to the enclosing folder and select the dropped file/folder.
Its one of those features missing that gets (Ex-) Mac users crazy...

Disable first click handling in inactive window

instead only bring the window to front.
Example of problem to be solved: only a piece of a browser window is visible. Clicking onto a link (by accident) to bring it into the foreground will also change the page shown within that browser window.
As long this isn't going to be a official Windows mouse settings option it would be nice to have an option via PowerToys..
But its more tricky to implement then it sounds: the first click should be handled if that Window is completely visible...

Edit right-click shell extensions

A user friendly way to edit the right-click menu would be useful
Like this: https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html but easier, and which allow the user to add custom commands

Request to add a key to Windows Shortcut Guide

Hi,

Thought I'd mention a Win key combo that's missing from the image of the ShortcutGuide:

Win+. for the Emoji popup (1903)
Win+; for the Emoji popup (1809 or higher)

Thanks!

Apps launch on screen where they were invoked

When clicking on a shortcut or Start Menu item in Monitor 1 I'd like it to launch in Monitor 2. Vice-versa for Monitor 2. If we could teach Windows which apps we like in which monitor over time, and any snap-to preferences while in each monitor that would be awesome!

Window moving, resizing, bring to top, send to back by grabbing any part of the window

Back when I used FVWM2 it had some super flexible key + mouse bindings that made working with windows amazingly efficient . It'll be good to see something similar in Windows 10. The ones that were particularly useful were:

1. Shift keys + click any part of a window to bring it to top.
2. Shift keys + click any part of a window to send it to back.
3. Shift keys + click-drag any part of the window to move it.
4. Shift keys + click-drag near the window edges to resize it.

The shift keys (ctrl, alt, shift and/or win) were configurable as well as the mouse button. Personally I found it useful to have the same shift key combinations and the left mouse button for all of these actions, except (2) used the right mouse button. The grab area in (4) was configurable, so one could grab any pixel within 10 pixels from the edge or 100 pixels from the edge to resize the window.

What make these actions useful for working efficiently is that one can keep their focus on working when they shuffle around the windows. It may not feel like it takes a lot of effort to resize a window, but trying to grab just the right pixel in the middle of concentrating on work is just annoying enough that it can break one's concentration. Sending window to the back is especially great if one is working with a maximized window and need to quickly reference another window "somewhere in the upper-left corner in the the back of the maximized window among lots of other windows". I found it more visually intuitive than alt-tab when looking for the window that I know is placed in a certain position in the back.

Manage FileMgr view defaults by folder, file type, etc. and prevent re-set w/o permission.