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Free Microsoft PowerToys for Windows 10 and Windows 11

Updated March 4, 2024

Microsoft developers have always liked to create handy system utilities that add more functionality to the Windows operating system. They call them PowerToys and are released as a stand-alone program with File Explorer add-ons. And as always, these programs are entirely free.

Free Microsoft PowerToys for Windows 10 and Windows 11

It is kind of like Déjà vu for me with the PowerToys for Windows 10 / Windows 11. I hate to admit it, and I'm going to show my age here, but I have used the two (2) previous versions of PowerToys. The first version was PowerToys for Windows 95. The second version was PowerToys for Windows XP. TweakUI (Windows 95 / Windows XP) and Command Prompt Here (Windows 95) / Open Command Windows Here (Windows XP) were two (2) of my favorites.

PowerToys have always been a cool collection of handy utilities that you wonder why they were not part of Windows to begin with. In fact, some of the functionality of the PowerToys do get built into later releases of Windows.

The latest version, PowerToys for Windows 10 / Windows 11, currently has twenty-five (25) utilities (as of 3/4/24) included, and there are plans to add even more. As more features are added, I will update this article.

Note: Microsoft PowerToys requires Windows 11 or Windows 10 20H1 (version 2004).

And since the Windows 10 / Windows 11 PowerToys are all inside one program, updates, and new features will be easy to install. There is even an update button that takes you to the website so you can check for new releases.

Screen capture of the PowerToys General Settings for Windows 10 / Windows 11

The PowerToys General Settings includes all the options for all the actual PowerToys. This means there is only one place to enable/disable and configure the settings for the various programs.

Now you have to keep in mind that the PowerToys is an open-source project, and the code is freely available. That is why the installer is over on the developer website GitHub, which, by the way, Microsoft owns.

The following is a list of the PowerToys for Windows 10 versions, the date released, and the utilities included. They are:

v0.12 - Released on 10/29/19

FancyZones - This is a utility that allows you to create zones (predefined areas for program windows) on your desktop for the various programs you run.
Screen capture of the FancyZones PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11
For example, you can create a layout that has a separate zone for your e-mail program, word processor, and spreadsheet, all neatly arranged on your desktop. This program is beneficial if you have multiple monitors and want to keep all of your running programs organized.

PowerRename - This utility does just what its name implies; it renames files. But it has so many options that it can be used in so many different ways.
Screen capture of the PowerRename PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11
You change just the file names or only the file extensions. You can exclude files, folders, and sub-folders. It is the swiss army knife of file renaming.

Shortcut Guide - This cool little utility shows you what Windows logo key Windows logo key shortcuts you can use at any given time.
Screen capture of the Shortcut Guide PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11
You just hold down the Windows logo key Windows logo key for a preset amount of time, and the screen appears with the available shortcuts you can use. If you find these shortcuts handy, we have a complete list of Windows logo key shortcuts for Windows 10.

v0.16 - Released 3/31/20 - Revised 12/4/23

File Explorer add-ons - This is a collection of valuable add-ons for File Explorer that extends the functionally of the Preview Pane and Icon Preview. There are currently six (6) Preview Pane and five (5) Icon Preview File Explorer add-ons.
Screen capture of the File Explorer Preview Pane PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11
The current file types that can be rendered in the Preview Pane are: Markdown (.md), SVG (.svg), Developer files (.cpp, .py. etc.), PDF (.pdf), G-code (.gcode) and QOI (.qoi).

File Explorer Preview Pane add-ons

The current file types that can have Icon thumb previews are: SVG (.svg), PDF (.pdf), G-code (.gcode), STL (.stl) and QOI (.qoi).

File Explorer Icon thumb preview add-ons

Image Resizer - This utility is similar to the one for Windows XP, but this version has way more features. Right-click on one or more images, and you will get a context menu. Left-click on Resize pictures, and you get the Image Resizer screen.
Screen capture of the Image Resizer PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11
There are several picture sizes to choose from, or you can create a custom size. Left-click on the Settings link, and you get even more options for resizing your images. A must-have for anybody that does photo editing.

v0.18 - Released 5/19/20

Keyboard Manager - This utility allows you to remap a single key on your keyboard to another. You can also map current keyboard shortcuts to different key combinations.
Screen capture of the Keyboard Manager PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11
Keep in mind that when remapping keyboard shortcuts, you are limited to a combination of two keys.

PowerToys Run - This utility can perform all sorts of different functions. Type a couple of letters, and PowerToys Run will display a list of programs, folders, and files with the letter(s) in their name(s).
Screen capture of the PowerToys Run for Windows 10 / Windows 11
It can also search for running processes, run shell commands, and do simple math calculations.

v0.20 - Released 7/31/20

Color Picker - This utility will display the color of anything you place your mouse cursor over in both HEX and RGB values. You can copy the color value to the clipboard by left-clicking on the object.
Screen capture of the Color Picker PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11
You can change the hotkey shortcut used to bring up Color Picker, and the values (HEX or RGB) copied to the clipboard. And if you have a scroll wheel on your mouse, you can use it to bring up a magnifier window to get an even more detailed color pick.

v0.41.2 - Released 6/28/21

Awake - This utility will keep your Windows 10 computer from going asleep. This is really handy when you are doing updates and upgrades. No more do you have to create a special power plan to keep your computer awake.

Screen capture of the Awake PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11

Remember that if your computer goes to sleep, anything it was doing, like performing a Windows 10 Feature update, will be paused. So when you need to prevent your computer from going asleep, Awake can be the perfect solution.

v0.49.0 - Released 10/28/21

Video Conference Mute - This utility lets you turn off your camera and mute your microphone with a single keystroke. This utility has finally made it to the stable release of PowerToys, as it was previously categorized as experimental in previous releases.

Screen capture of the Video Conference Mute PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11

There are three (3) keyboard shortcuts that the Video Conference Mute utility uses. The first one will mute the camera and microphone, the second will mute just the microphone, and the third will mute just the camera. And these shortcuts can be customized to a user's preference.

Mouse utilities - This is a collection of useful apps that extends and enhance the functionality of the mouse and cursor in Windows 10 / Windows 11. Currently, there are two (2) utilities in the collection: Find My Mouse and Mouse Highlighter.

Screen capture of the Find My Mouse PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11

Find My Mouse is a simple utility that displays a spotlight on the mouse cursor when the left control key is pressed twice. Quite handy when you are using multiple screens.

Screen capture of the Mouse Highlighter PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11

Mouse Highlighter is another simple utility that highlights the mouse cursor when clicking either mouse button. You can choose which color is displayed for each mouse button (left or right), the opacity, radius, fade delay, and fade duration.

Screen capture of the Mouse Pointer Crosshairs PowerToy

Mouse Pointer Crosshairs is another simple utility that, when activated, shows crosshairs across the entire screen to indicate the mouse pointer's location.

v0.53.1 - Released 1/6/22

Always on Top - This utility will keep a program that is running on top of all of the rest of the open program windows. This PowerToy can be helpful if you have a program that you want to always be in front of all other app windows.

Screen capture of the Always on Top PowerToy for Windows 10 / Windows 11

Along with putting a particular app window in front of the others, you can also have a border around that window. You can select the color and thickness of the border. You can also have Always on Top play a sound when you activate it.

v0.62.0 - Released 9/6/22

Quick Accent - This utility makes inserting accented characters simple. Once you activate this PowerToy, you must press the character key to which you want to add an accent and the Activation Key (either the space key, left/right arrow, or both).

Screen capture of the Quick Accent PowerToy

If you hold down the keys for more than 200 milliseconds, an overlay appears that allows you to scroll through all of the available accents. You can select which keys you want to use for Activation Keys and the default input delay that triggers the accent overlay.

Screen Ruler - This utility allows you to measure any place on your screen in pixels. Just activate Screen Ruler with the shortcut keys, and you can measure anything you can display on your screen.

Screen capture of the Screen Ruler PowerToy

Some advanced features include changing the color of the measured lines, changing the edge detection tolerance, and customizing the activation shortcut. If you do any graphic design, this is a must-have app!

Text Extractor- This utility can extract text from any legible text on your screen. Similar to the Snipping Tool, this program captures a selected area on your screen, uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to convert any text it recognizes, and then puts the output to the Clipboard.

Screen capture of the Text Extractor PowerToy

From there, you paste the output from the Clipboard into a word processor, spreadsheet, email, etc. This utility is so handy that you will wonder how you were ever able to work without it.

v0.64.0 - Released 11/2/22

File Locksmith - This utility is a shell extension that allows you quickly find out what process is using a particular file. This can be useful when you want to close a file, and get a warning about it being used by another program.

Screen capture of the File Locksmith PowerToy

Once you enable File Locksmith, all you have to do is right-click on the file in question in File Explorer and left-click on What's using this file? from the context menu that appears. File Locksmith then appears with a list of programs that are currently accessing the file. It gives you the option of ending that particular task.

Hosts File Editor - This utility allows for easy editing of Hosts file inside of Windows. The Hosts file is the first place Windows goes to resolve domain names, like geeksinphoenix.com, to IP (Internet Protocol) addresses.

Screen capture of the Hosts File Editor PowerToy

The Hosts File Editor can come in handy when you want to test out a new website. All you have to know is the Host (domain) name and the IP address, and you can redirect your network traffic to specific locations.

v0.68.0 - Released 3/1/23

Paste as Plain Text - This utility will take off the format of text placed in the Clipboard and paste just plain text. Nothing worse than pasting unwanted formatting into a document.

Screen capture of the Paste as Plain Text PowerToy

Paste as Plain Text can be convenient if you copy and paste text from emails or websites formatted in HTML. You will no longer have to paste text into Notepad to strip off the formatting.

Mouse jump (one of the Mouse utilities) - This utility allows you to move or jump your mouse cursor over long distances on a single or multiple screens.

Screen capture of the Mouse jump PowerToy

This utility can be handy if you use a large or multiple monitors and want to get your cursor across the screen(s) quickly.

v0.69.0 - Released 4/6/23

Registry Preview - This utility allows you to edit and preview Windows Registry files (.reg). It is a great way to visualize the contents of Registry files.

Screen capture of the Registry Preview PowerToy

And when you are done editing your Registry file, you can save them to file or write them to the Registry.

v0.70.0 - Released 5/23/23

Mouse Without Borders - This utility allows you to use a single mouse across multiple devices. This can come in handy if you have a couple of devices next to each other.

Screen capture of the Mouse Without Borders PowerToy

If this utility sounds familiar, it has been a project at the Microsoft Garage for some time. Glad to see it made its way into the PowerToys.

Peek - This utility lets you preview a file inside File Explorer. That way, you do not have to have the preview pane on for all file types.

Screen capture of the Peek PowerToy

Once open, you can pin the Peek window to its current location or open the file with the program associated with the file type.

v0.72.0 - Released 8/1/23

Value Generator - This handy plug-in for the PowerToys Run utility can generate a GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) for a URL namespace.

Screen capture of the Value Generator plug-in for the PowerToys Run utility

It can also generate SHA1 (Secure Hash Algorithm 1) hash strings and encode text strings to Base64.

v0.73.0 - Released 8/31/23

Crop And Lock - This handy utility allows you to crop a running app into a smaller window or thumbnail. This can be helpful if you run multiple programs at the same time.

Screen capture of the Crop And Lock PowerToy

You can control an app inside a window but not with a thumbnail. Some apps will not work correctly with Crop And Lock, so I recommended testing a program before trying to use Crop And Lock with it.

v0.75.0 - Released 10/30/23

Environment Variables - This handy utility allows you to manage user and system environmental variables easily. You no longer have to go through multiple screens to get to the environmental variables.

Screen capture of the Environment Variables PowerToy

With the Environment Variables utility, you can also create profiles so that you can quickly apply a set of preconfigured variables. But remember that you can only use one profile at a time.

v0.77.0 - Released 1/9/24

Command Not Found - This handy PowerShell module detects an error thrown by a command-line and suggests relevent available WinGet package(s) to install.

Screen capture of the Command Not Found PowerToy

This utility requires PowerShell 7.4 or greater and WinGet Client PowerShell Client module to be installed. If they are not installed, you can easily install them using the buttons on the Command Not Found page of the PowerToys settings.

v0.79.0 - Released 3/4/24

Keyboard Manager - This handy utility allows you to customize your keyboard by remapping the keys. You can also create your own keyboard shortcuts too.

Screen capture of the Keyboard Manager PowerToy

For example, you can remap the letter A key so that when you press it, it inserts the letter Z. But there are a few system key combinations you cannot modify, like the Ctrl + Alt + Del.

If you would like to give the PowerToys a try, I include two (2) links at the bottom of this article. The PowerToys are only available for the 64-bit versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11. As I told you before, the PowerToys download is on GitHub, and for an average Windows user may be kind of hard to find.

The first link is to the PowerToys project description page. It has an overview of all of the programs included in the PowerToys.
Windows 10 / Windows 11 PowerToys download link on GitHub
The second link is to the PowerToys releases page. The link to download PowerToys is in the Assets section at the bottom of each release.

Windows 10 / Windows 11 PowerToys on GitHub - Description page

Windows 10 / Windows 11 PowerToys on GitHub - Download page

RAW Image Viewers for Windows

When I migrated from Windows XP to Windows 7, one of the things I have missed is the Microsoft Powertoys. A couple of the functions have been integrated into Windows 7 (Open Command Window Here and Power Calculator). However, there are a few I am still looking for applications to replace them with.

One of them is the RAW Image Viewer. I am into digital photography and like to organize and work with digital RAW image files in Windows Explorer (much as you can with JPEG images). But Windows does not have support for this format built-in. Well, I am glad to say I have found a replacement for it.

FastPictureViewer is a free collection of 32 and 64-bit RAW Image Decoders for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.

Once installed, you have the same features for RAW image formats in Windows as you do with JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, and TIFF, complete with thumbnails in Explorer, preview, slide show support in Photo Gallery / Photo Viewer, and metadata search integration.

For more information and to download FastPictureViewer, please visit their web site.

Image Resizer Powertoy Clone for Windows

Updated October 13, 2020

When I migrated from Windows XP to Windows 7, one of the things I have missed is the Microsoft PowerToys. A couple of functions have been integrated into Windows 7 (Open Command Window Here and Power Calculator). However, there are a few I am still looking for applications to replace them with.

One of the applications you could integrate into Windows Explorer was Image Resizer. With a right-click on a picture, you could quickly resize a photo without opening an application. Well, I am glad to say I have found a replacement for it.

Image Resizer PowerToy Clone is, as its name implies, a clone of the original Microsoft PowerToy. Image Resizer has also been incorporated into the Windows 10 PowerToys.

Right-click on a photo and choose 'Resize Pictures' from the context menu.

Then select a size to make the pictures smaller, not larger, or to resize the originals, or make copies. Then click OK. It's that simple. And it's available in both 32 and 64-bit versions for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

For more information and to download Image Resizer PowerToy Clone for Windows, follow the links below.

Image Resizer for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

Image Resizer (Windows 10 PowerToys) for Windows 10

Free Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP

PowerToys add fun and functionality to the Windows experience. What are they? PowerToys are additional programs that developers work on after a product has been released.

Color Control Panel Applet
Professional-level photographers and designers know that getting consistent, accurate color from file to screen to print and beyond is a requirement for great results. This new tool helps you manage Windows color settings in one place. Download or learn more.

SyncToy
With new sources of files coming from every direction (such as digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops), SyncToy can help you copy, move, and synchronize different directories. Download or learn more.

RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer
Are you a serious photographer? Now you can organize and work with digital RAW files in Windows Explorer (much as you can with JPEG images). This tool provides thumbnails, previews, printing, and metadata display for RAW images. Download or learn more.

ClearType Tuner
This PowerToy lets you use ClearType technology to make it easier to read text on your screen and installs in the Control Panel for easy access.

HTML Slide Show Wizard
This wizard helps you create an HTML slide show of your digital pictures, ready to place on your Web site.

Open Command Window Here
This PowerToy adds an "Open Command Window Here" context menu option on file system folders, giving you a quick way to open a command window (cmd.exe) pointing at the selected folder.

Alt-Tab Replacement
With this PowerToy, in addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps immensely when multiple sessions of an application are open.

Tweak UI
This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.

Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003.

Power Calculator
With this PowerToy, you can graph and evaluate functions and perform many different types of conversions.

Image Resizer
This PowerToy enables you to resize one or many image files with a right-click.

CD Slide Show Generator
With this PowerToy, you can view images burned to a CD as a slide show. The Generator works downlevel on Windows 9x machines as well.

Virtual Desktop Manager
Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar with this PowerToy.

Taskbar Magnifier
Use this PowerToy to magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.

Webcam Timershot
This PowerToy lets you take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connected to your computer and save them to a location that you designate.

Since Windows XP has reached its end-of-life, Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP is no longer available for download.

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