New Update Microsoft PowerToys

silversurfer

Super Moderator
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Staff Member
Malware Hunter
Aug 17, 2014
11,256
PowerToys 0.82 is now rolling out with stability, bug fixes, improvements, and a bunch of new features for existing modules. There are no new "toys" in today's release, but Microsoft promises to release something new in the next update under version 0.83.

 

silversurfer

Super Moderator
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Staff Member
Malware Hunter
Aug 17, 2014
11,256
Microsoft has released a new feature update for PowerToys, a set of various tools for Windows 10 and 11 users. Although the July 2024 update does not contain any new modules, it reworks the Awake tool (the tool that can prevent your computer from going to sleep) and adds improvements and fixes for other existing tools.

There is also some good news for those wanting something new for PowerToys. According to Clint Rutkas from the PowerToys team, some "bigger items" are currently in Microsoft's ovens for 0.84 and 0.85 releases, so stay tuned for those. Meanwhile, check out what is new in PowerToys 0.83

 

lokamoka820

Level 24
Mar 1, 2024
1,321
PowerToys 0.84.0
Sep 3, 2024
Highlights:
  • New utility: PowerToys Workspaces - this utility can launch a set of applications to a custom layout and configuration on the desktop. App arrangements can be saved as a workspace and then relaunched with one click from the Workspaces Editor or from a desktop shortcut. In the editor, app configuration can be customized using CLI arguments and "launch as admin" modifiers, and app window sizes and positions can be updated as desired. This is our first public version of Workspaces and we are excited for you to try it out for yourself! Make sure to file issues you encounter on our GitHub so the team can continue to improve the utility.
Known issues - the team is actively working on fixing these:
  • Apps that launch as admin are unable to be repositioned to the desired layout.
  • Border of "Remove" / "Add Back" app button in editor is not clearly visible on light themes.
  • Added Awake --use-parent-pid CLI argument to attach to parent process. Thanks @dend!
  • Added custom actions - user-specified pre-defined prompts for the AI model. Additionally, actions (both standard and custom) are now searchable from prompt box and Ctrl + number in-app shortcuts are now applicable for first 9 search results.
  • Ported all C++/CX code to C++/WinRT as part of a refactor and upgrade series aimed at enabling AOT (Ahead of Time) compilation for enhanced performance and reduced disk footprint.
General:
  • Added DSC support for ImageResizer resize sizes property.
Advanced Paste:
  • Added custom actions - user-specified pre-defined prompts for the AI model. Additionally, actions (both standard and custom) are now searchable from prompt box and Ctrl + number in-app shortcuts are now applicable for first 9 search results.
Awake:
  • Added --use-parent-pid CLI argument to attach to parent process and fixed issue causing tray icon to disappear. Thanks @dend!
Hosts File Editor:
  • Fixed save failure when the hosts file is hidden. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
File Explorer add-ons:
  • Fixed multiple preview form positioning issues causing floating, detached windows, CoreWebView2 related exception and process leak. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
Keyboard Manager:
  • Convert RemapBufferRow to a struct with descriptive field names. Thanks @masaru-iritani!
  • Fixed issue causing stuck Ctrl key when shortcuts contain AltGr key.
Peek:
  • Added long paths support. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
Quick Accent:
  • Moved number superscripts and subscripts from Portuguese to all languages definition. Thanks @octastylos-pseudodipteros!
PowerRename:
  • Updated the tooltip text of the replace box info button. Thanks @Agnibaan!
PowerToys Run:
  • Fixed window positioning on start-up introduced in 0.83.
  • Improved default web browser detection. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
  • Fixed volume ounces conversion to support both imperial and metric. Thanks @GhostVaibhav!
  • Fixed thread-safety issue causing results not to be shown on first launch.
Screen Ruler:
  • Added multiple measurements support for all measuring tools.
Settings:
  • Improved disabled animations InfoBar in Find My Mouse page. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
Workspaces:
  • New utility: PowerToys Workspaces - this utility can launch a set of applications to a custom layout and configuration on the desktop. App arrangements can be saved as a workspace and then relaunched with one click from the Workspaces Editor or from a desktop shortcut. In the editor, app configuration can be customized using CLI arguments and "launch as admin" modifiers, and app window sizes and positions can be updated as desired. This is our first public version of Workspaces and we are excited for you to try it out for yourself! Make sure to file issues you encounter on our GitHub so the team can continue to improve the utility.
Documentation:
  • Added ChatGPTPowerToys plugin mention to thirdPartyRunPlugins.md. Thanks @ferraridavide!
Development:
  • Ported all C++/CX code to C++/WinRT.
  • Moved Version.props import to Directory.Build.props.
  • Extracted self-containment related .csproj properties to src/Common.SelfContained.props.
  • Unused and obsolete dependencies cleanup. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
  • Extracted CSWinRT related .csproj properties to src/Common.Dotnet.CsWinRT.props.
  • Upgraded Microsoft.Windows.CsWinRT to 2.0.8 and updated verifyDepsJsonLibraryVersions.ps1 to unblock PRs.
  • Explicitly Set NuGet Audit Mode to Direct in Directory.Build.props to revert changes made with VS 17.12 update. Thanks @snickler!
  • Upgraded UnitsNet to 5.56.0.
 

silversurfer

Super Moderator
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Staff Member
Malware Hunter
Aug 17, 2014
11,256
PowerToys v0.84.1
This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.84.0 we deemed important for stability based on incoming rates. See v0.84.0 for full release notes.

Highlights
  • #34558 - Fixed an issue causing Workspaces not correctly detecting popular applications like Discord or Steam.
  • #34556 - Improved UI to more clearly show button outlines in the Workspaces Editor.
  • #34588 - Fixed a broken link in Workspaces OOBE page.
 

silversurfer

Super Moderator
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Staff Member
Malware Hunter
Aug 17, 2014
11,256
PowerToys might soon get a new powerful utility for automating Windows settings. Since the project is open-source, every developer is welcome to suggest new modules and improvements, and Joseph Finney (@thejoefin) has one.

Called "Settings Scheduler," the module offers a simple way to schedule Windows settings changes based on a timer or a custom schedule. For example, you can set it to toggle between dark and light modes (apparently, no AI can help Microsoft make theme switching a native feature), turn off Wi-Fi for the rest of the day, mute volume in the morning, etc.

1726491543_2.jpg
 

silversurfer

Super Moderator
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Staff Member
Malware Hunter
Aug 17, 2014
11,256
In the v0.85 release cycle, we focused on new features, stability, and improvements.

Highlights​

  • New utility: New+ - allows setting a personalized set of templates to quickly create files and folders from a File Explorer context menu. Thanks @cgaarden!
  • Language selection - it's now possible to select which UI language should be used by PowerToys utilities.
  • Lots of quality fixes for Workspaces, improving the number of supported applications.
  • Reduced Peek memory usage by fixing image leaks. Thanks @daverayment!
 

lokamoka820

Level 24
Mar 1, 2024
1,321
PowerToys 0.85.1
Oct 7, 2024
This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.85.0 we deemed important for stability based on incoming rates. See v0.85.0 for full release notes.

Highlights:
  • Fixed an issue causing Workspaces to launch the wrong project through a shortcut.
  • Fixed a crash when opening the New+ templates folder through the Settings application.
 

silversurfer

Super Moderator
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Staff Member
Malware Hunter
Aug 17, 2014
11,256
Microsoft admits that PowerToys needs some organization, so it is working on grouping utilities. It also wants to hear what you think about it.

A pull request to group items in the navigation pane inside PowerToys is not new—it was first opened almost two years ago when PowerToys had fewer utilities than it does today. It looks like developers are finally addressing the area with a bunch of mockups suggested on GitHub.
 

lokamoka820

Level 24
Mar 1, 2024
1,321
PowerToys 0.86.0
Nov 4, 2024

Highlights​

  • Advanced Paste has new abilities: Image to text, and paste to file (text / png / html).
  • In settings, we've adjusted the left navigation to group the utilities. As the number of utilities shipped with PowerToys keeps growing, we felt this was a needed adjustment. Thanks everyone for your feedback!
  • Workspaces received many bug fixes, including the proper launching of many instances of the same application in the same workspace. Note, we are still actively looking at how to properly handle PWA detection.
  • We've added a telemetry opt-in option in the Settings General tab. As it is off-by-default, we encourage users to turn it on as that helps direct our development efforts and their journeys. More information about the data we collect can be found in the PowerToys Data and Privacy documentation and what each event does.

General​

  • Added a setting for telemetry opt-in (off by default, however, see above for why we encourage you to opt-in!) and user controls to view data.
  • Improved exception logging by adding the type of Exception and InnerException. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Advanced Paste​

  • Added new built-in actions: Image to text, and paste txt, png or html as a file.

Mouse Jump​

  • Refactored the common classes into a separate project. Thanks @mikeclayton!
  • Brought back the telemetry events that were deleted across previous refactoring efforts.

Mouse Without Borders​

  • Refactored the Logger common classes. Thanks @mikeclayton!

New+​

  • Fixed the telemetry event for when the modules is enabled or disabled. (This was a hotfix for 0.85)
  • Fixed bug when creating folders or files that contain Unicode characters. Thanks @cgaarden!
  • Fixed bug when the name of a new folder collided with an already existing folder. Thanks @cgaarden!
  • Updated the New+ icons to the fluent style.

Peek​

  • Folder preview enumeration of size and number of files is now more responsive and faster. Thanks @daverayment!

PowerToys Run​

  • Handled a culture not found error when checking for right-to-left languages.
  • Fixed the WebSearch plugin results title being trimmed in the UI. Thanks @octastylos-pseudodipteros!
  • The Unit Converter plugin will now show more significant digits. Thanks @PesBandi!
  • Improved error handling when copying to the clipboard results in an error. Thanks @PesBandi!

Quick Accent​

  • Added support for the Serbian Cyrillic character set. Thanks @Sirozha1337!

Registry Preview​

Settings​

  • Fixed a crash when trying to access a non-existing templates folder from the New+ page. (This was a hotfix for 0.85)
  • Added a navigation tree to group utilities in the left navigation menu.
  • Sorted the list of languages in the language selection combo box in the General tab. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
  • Fixed the state of the info bar about templates not being backed up to not close and react to the module's enabled state in the New+ page. Thanks @htcfreek!
  • Fixed a crash caused by a dangling thread.
  • Clicking a notification about there being an update available should now correctly open the Settings application in the General tab.
  • Fixed a UI freeze when trying to access the Diagnostic Data Viewer files. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Workspaces​

  • Fixed launching the incorrect workspace when launching many workspaces quickly through shortcuts. (This was a hotfix for 0.85)
  • Fixed launching many instances of the same application in a workspace.
  • Fixed a crash when a previously captured monitor ID no longer existed.
  • Fixed an issue causing the wrong coordinates to be saved for minimized applications.
  • Fixed an issue causing a crash when stress testing workspace launching.
  • Fixed application launching when UAC is off and every application always runs elevated.

Documentation​

Development​

  • Fixed the CI precheck action to take into account the recent changes in CI actions.
  • Added the new Microsoft org issue types to the issue templates. Thanks @Aaron-Junker!
  • Updated System.Text.Json to 8.0.5 and System.Runtime.Caching to 8.0.1 and related dependencies to the latest to address security reports. Thanks @snickler!
  • Updated WinAppSDK to 1.6.1 and CsWinRT to 2.1.5. Thanks @snickler!
  • Upgraded the WpfUI dependency to 3.0.5.
  • Updated MessagePack to 2.5.187 and StreamJsonRpc to 2.19.27 to address security reports.
  • Removed some of the hacks that are no longer needed that tried to force same dependency versions in .csproj files.
  • Removed the Markdown file exclusions from the conditions that trigger a full CI test.
  • CI fails again when there are XAML style errors in a PR.
  • Fixed CI actions that were not failing when one of the powershell scripts they tried to run was failing.
  • Fixed analyzer violations to allow fully building PowerToys on Visual Studio 17.12. Thanks @snickler!
 

lokamoka820

Level 24
Mar 1, 2024
1,321
PowerToys 0.87.0
Dec 16, 2024

Highlights​

  • Advanced Paste has a new feature called "Advanced AI" that uses Semantic Kernel to allow setting up the orchestration of sequential clipboard transformations.
  • Workspaces supports Progressive Web Applications.
  • Workspaces has a new feature to move existing windows instead of creating new ones.
  • Mouse Jump added new settings to allow customization of screens pop-up. Thanks @mikeclayton!
  • New+ now works on Windows 10. Thanks @cgaarden!
  • Quick Accent allows selecting the character sets that should appear on the UI. Thanks @Sirozha1337!

Advanced Paste​

  • Added a new optional feature allowing using AI to set up the orchestration of sequential clipboard transformations.

Awake​

  • Initialization, logging and tray icon setup improvements. Thanks @dend!

File Explorer add-ons​

  • Preview Pane extensions now use the PerMonitorV2 DPI mode to fix errors on different scales. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Keyboard Manager.​

  • Added labels to the IME On, IME Off keys. Thanks @kit494way!
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Shift key to remain stuck if a numpad key was mapped to the Shift key.

Monaco Preview​

  • Added support for .ahk files to be shown as a plaintext file in Peek and File Explorer add-ons. Thanks @daverayment!
  • Added support for .ion files to be shown as a plaintext file in Peek and File Explorer add-ons. Thanks @octastylos-pseudodipteros!
  • Added support for syntax highlighting for .srt files in Peek and File Explorer add-ons. Thanks @PesBandi!

Mouse Jump​

  • Allow customizing the appearance of the UI of the Mouse Jump pop-up. Thanks @mikeclayton!

New+​

  • Added support for Windows 10. Thanks @cgaarden!
  • Fixed an issue causing the renaming of new files to not trigger some times. Thanks @cgaarden!
  • Updated the New+ icons. Thanks @niels9001!

Peek​

  • Peek now checks local capabilities to decide what image formats Image Previewer is able to support. Thanks @daverayment!
  • Fixed an issue causing the Code Files Previewer to not load correctly under certain conditions. Thanks @daverayment!
  • Refactored, improved and fixed logging when loading the user settings file. Thanks @daverayment!

PowerToys Run​

  • Added a scoring function for proper ordering of the WindowWalker plugin results. Thanks @andbartol!
  • Added UUIDv7 support to the ValueGenerator plugin. Thanks @frederik-hoeft!
  • The calculator plugin now allows scientific notation numbers with a lowercase 'e'. Thanks @PesBandi!
  • Ported the UI from WPF-UI to .NET 9 WPF, to fix "Desktop composition is disabled" crashes.

Quick Accent​

  • Added a setting to allow selecting which character sets to show. Thanks @Sirozha1337!

Screen Ruler​

  • Added a Setting to also allow showing measurements in inches, centimeters or millimeters. Thanks @Sophanatprime!

Settings​

  • Fixed an issue causing all the links to milestones in the "What's new?" OOBE page to point to the same milestone.
  • Removed extra space from the Welcome page. Thanks @agarwalishita!
  • Updated left navigation bar icons. Thanks @niels9001!
  • Fixed accessibility issues in the dashboard page. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Workspaces​

  • Added support for Progressive Web Applications to Workspaces.
  • Implemented a feature to move existing windows instead of creating new ones.
  • Fixed a crash when opening the workspaces editor that was caused by passing incorrect encoder parameters when saving Bitmap files.
  • Workspaces editor position is now saved so that we can start it at the same position when we open it again.
  • Fixed an issue causing many instances of the same application to be put in the same position instead of the intended position due to timer issues.
  • Fixed detection of exact application version when many versions of the same application are installed.

Documentation​

  • Improved language in CONTRIBUTE.md. Thanks @sanskaarz!
  • Added Bilibili plugin mention to thirdPartyRunPlugins.md. Thanks @Whuihuan!
  • Added CanIUse and TailwindCSS plugins mention to thirdPartyRunPlugins.md. Thanks @skttl!
  • Added HttpStatusCodes plugin mention to thirdPartyRunPlugins.md. Thanks @grzhan!
  • Updated COMMUNITY.md with more contributors.

Development​

  • Upgraded to .NET 9. Thanks @snickler!
  • Fixed building on Visual Studio 17.12.
  • Upgraded the System.IO.Abstractions dependency to 21.0.29. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
  • Upgraded the WindowsAppSDK dependency to 1.6.241114003. Thanks @shuaiyuanxx!
  • Upgraded the MSTest dependency to 3.6.3. Thanks @Youssef1313!
  • Upgraded the check-spelling CI dependency to 0.0.24 and fixed related spell checking issues. Thanks @jsoref!
  • Removed duplicate names from the spellcheck allowed names file. Thanks @htcfreek!
  • Improved logging of asynchronous methods call stacks when logging an error.
  • Created a MSBuild props file to be imported by other projects to enable AOT support.
  • Made the Peek utility source code AOT compatible.
  • Updated .editorconfig rules to relax squiggly IDE errors in Visual Studio 17.12. Thanks @snickler!
  • Moved Xaml.Styler from the root to the src folder.
 

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top