Apart from the coolest name for system utilities, PowerToys has a long history with Windows. PowerToys for Windows debuted back in Windows 95 to help optimize and tune your Windows operating system (OS).
At the time, these capabilities were high-tech magic. You may have used TweakUI to customize the Windows XP interface or FlexiCD to play a music CD from the taskbar. Traditional PowerToys from the 90s are now almost entirely built into Windows or easily added through various applications.
However, Microsoft has revived PowerToys for Windows 10. They’ve also taken a new stance on open source and got the most out of the GitHub acquisition. As open source, you can add your own functionality to PowerToys. Most likely, there will be developers adding new features that Microsoft might not have thought of.
Download and Install PowerToys for Windows 10
Follow this link, there will be a list of several issues, the top one is the most recent. Find PowerToysSetup.msi and click on it to download the installer. If you want to work with the source, click on Source Code (zip) or Source Code (tar.gz).
After downloading PowerToysSetup.msi, double-click it to install it like any other program. There are options for where to install it, create a shortcut on the desktop, and launch it on Windows startup. The default settings are fine for most people.
Once installed and launched, PowerToys will launch in the system tray by the clock. Click the icon to open General PowerToys Settings.
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The first settings you’ll see allow you to turn individual PowerToys on and off. On the left side of the General Settings window, you can access the PowerToy settings.
Luxury Areas at PowerToy
Fancy Zones is touted as a way to “create window layouts that make multitasking easier.” If you are working on several programs, you need to switch between them, this may make your life a little easier.
- To use Fancy Zones, start the editor with the Win Key + ~ keyboard shortcut. It’s the tilde key in the upper left corner of most keyboards.
- Select a zone template. In this example, we have selected three equal columns. When you choose a layout, it previews on your screen how it will look.
- Do you see three transparent areas in the background? This is a preview. Click the Apply button to set the layout.
- Press and hold the Shift key and then click and hold the top bar of any program. Drag it across the screen. When you move to different zones, it will correspond to that zone. Release the mouse button to place it in the desired area.
- Do this with three different programs and you will see how zones work.
PowerRename
By adding a function to the context menu, PowerRename gives you the ability to bulk rename files or folders. You can do this with simple search and replace, or even more powerful regular expressions.
In the image below, you can see how easy it would be to rename all the files in a series of book chapters.
- First select all the files you want to rename. Then right-click and select PowerRename from the context menu.
- The PowerRename window will open. There are several options. In this example, we are sticking to the basic “Match All Occurrences” feature. The most powerful option is to use regular expressions.
- If you know or are learning about regular expressions, with this tool you can do almost any renaming task you can think of. Regular expressions are useful to learn if you are ever programming in any language, working with any type of text.
- As you type in the “Look for:” and “Replace with:” fields, you will see a preview of the changes at the bottom of the window. This is a great way to prevent errors before you commit the change by clicking the Rename button. As soon as you press the button, changes are made instantly.
Shortcut directory
Of the three PowerTools for Windows, Keyboard Shortcuts Guide should definitely be a part of Windows. This is an instant cheat sheet for the most common Windows shortcuts. Once activated, all you have to do is hold down the Windows key for about a second. A transparent overlay appears on your screen showing you the Windows shortcuts.
- To use any of the keyboard shortcuts, hold down the Windows key and press the corresponding keyboard shortcut shown. For example, if you want to open Windows Explorer, you have to press and hold the Windows key and then press D.
Pay special attention to the bottom of the Shortcut Guide. See how the numbers match up with the currently open programs? It shows you that you can switch between these programs using the Windows key and the corresponding number key.
In the example below, 1 opens the Edge web browser, 2 opens File Explorer, 3 opens the Windows Store, and so on.
More PowerToys?
There are only three PowerToys right now. However, much older versions had over 20 instruments. Also, this is an open source project, so expect to see more PowerToys added by Microsoft and independent developers.
Three more are currently in development; Expand to New Desktop, Completion Tool, and Animated GIF Screen Recorder.
Deploy to New Desktop will allow you to create a new desktop and send this application to a new desktop, fully enlarged in size. There is no preview of what this might look like right now.
The Process Termination Tool (PTT) will provide a shortcut to quickly terminate a running program. The Alt + F4 keyboard shortcut already allows you to do this for any program that currently has focus, so what’s the point of PTT?
It will work when the program is not responding and cannot be closed by normal means or through the task manager. It will be much easier than killing the process from the command line.
It is assumed that the user will gain access to PTT using the Alt + Shift + X key combination. In the PTT window, the user presses and holds the left mouse button and drags it over the program he wants to kill.
An Are you sure you want to kill this program? A prompt will open and the user can select Yes or No. The image below shows a prototype from the Process Completion Tool page on GitHub.
Animated GIF screen recorder does what you think. The tool will be used to capture any area of ??the screen and create an animated GIF of what is happening there.
Beyond making memes easier, making animated GIFs is a good way to show people how to do things on a computer without having to write a lot. The image below shows a prototype of what a screen recorder might look like. This is from the Animated GIF Maker spec page on GitHub
Is that all?
Given that Microsoft is new to the open source philosophy, they really embrace it. In addition to the three already released tools and three in development, there are ten more tools in the pipeline.
So 16 Free PowerToys for Windows is really something to be appreciated and anything that makes your job easier is always appreciated.
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