
In certain cases - such as a video-to-GIF recorder Microsoft had planned - the feature gets rolled elsewhere into Windows. The PowerToys roadmap in GitHub offers a look ahead at what Microsoft has planned.
Video Conference Mute: A quick shortcut to turn off your mic and camera. Text Extractor: Using optical character recognition (OCR), this tool extracts the text from an image and gives you workable text to edit or paste. Shortcut Guide: If you’ve forgotten all of the available Windows shortcuts that use the Windows key, this utility lists them. Quick Accent: If you are très perturbé (very disturbed) by the lack of accent marks on the PC keyboard, you may need this shortcut utility. PowerToys Run: PowerToys Run is a quick launcher for apps and files.
PowerRename: If you want to search for/highlight and batch rename a number of files, this is the utility to use.
Mouse Utilities: Though called “Mouse Utilities,” this is essentially a shortcut to the “Find My Mouse” utility we’ll explain below. Keyboard Manager: Remap your keyboard’s keys, including keyboard shortcuts, simply and quickly. Image Resizer: A simple way to resize images without needing a separate photo editor to do so. Hosts File Editor: A tool to edit the local “Hots” file, useful for migrating a Web site to a new hosting provider. File Explorer add-ons: This beefs up File Explorer, allowing you to preview file types like PDF documents and SVG images without a separate editor. File Locksmith: Can’t uninstall a program because it’s being used by…something? File Locksmith will figure it out. Arrange and snap your windows to a variety of arrangements on your screen. Color Picker: Want to know the exact color of an image underneath your cursor? Color Picker will identify and even copy it. Awake: Your PC will stay awake at full power, without needing to manage the Windows Power & Sleep settings. Always on Top: While you can use whatever app you want, Always on Top prevents Windows from burying an app underneath another window. We’ve linked each to Microsoft’s per-tool support document, which goes into more detail on how they can be used. Here’s a list of each PowerToy and what it does. Mark Hachman / IDG What are Microsoft’s PowerToys?