Release v0.56.1

The v0.56 release cycle focused heavily on stability and improvements. Below are some of the highlights!

Installer Hash

C54DDD1D325D3C6F537CAEF2A57F763131F51CAA2BDB23B3E3360185E6032AAC

Highlights

• Upgrade notes! A big feedback items for new versions was upgrade notes. We have the release notes on GitHub as well.
• FancyZones zone limit has been increased to 128 zones. Before the limit was 40.
• Timezone conversion plugin for PowerToys Run! Thanks @TobiasSekan
• Child and Popup window support for FancyZones. To enable, go to Settings→FancyZones→Windows. These were bugs we fixed that without realizing it was a useful feature to most.
• Find my mouse will now activate via shaking the mouse with a settings change!
  

Always on Top

• Fixed excess GPU / CPU usage when enabled
• If border has focus, not closable via F4
• Changing border sizes should resize correctly for existing windows
• Border goes away with Outlook modal windows

ColorPicker

• No longer crashes during theme change

FancyZones

• Increased zone limit from 40 to 128.
• Child and Popup window support for FancyZones. To enable, go to Settings→FancyZones→Windows. These were bugs we fixed that without realizing it was a useful feature to most.

File explorer

• Fixes for Dev file preview: (Thanks @Aaron-Junker)
  • Fix fix for object reference not set.
  • Fix for encoding UTF-8.
  • Fix for file is in use.
  • Fix for saying the file is too big.

Image Resizer

• Fix for invalid operation error. @CleanCodeDeveloper!

Mouse utility

• Find my mouse will now activate via shaking the mouse with a settings change!
• Find my mouse now can excludes apps.
• Fix for crosshair thickness looking odd due to anti-aliasing
• Fix for a hard crash on crosshair (This was a hotfix for 0.55)

PowerRename

• Will not spells check file names anymore. Thanks @niels9001
• Autocomplete result box to not obscure apply button. Thanks @niels9001
• Regex fix

PowerToys Run

• Timezone conversion plugin for PowerToys Run! Thanks @TobiasSekan
• Hexadecimal and binary numbers now are supported in the calculator plugin. This was added a bit ago and we'd like to extend a belated thanks to @gsuberland
• Terminal plugin performance boost. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Terminal will now be found via the Program plugin again.
• Shutdown command is now using hybrid fast argument for shutting down
• Support for VSCodium with VS Code workplace plugin. Thanks @makeProjectGreatAgain

Video conference mute

• nVidia Broadcast software won't crash anymore

Settings

• Upgrade notes in OOBE
• Fix for settings being lost (This was a hotfix for 0.55)
• UX improvements. Thanks @niels9001

Installer

• Believe we have a fix for the long hated "app.dark.png is missing" error. Thanks to @robmen for having a great blog!
• Installer will launch PowerToys under appropriate elevation versus Admin only due to UAC prompt for installation (This was a hotfix for 0.55)
• PowerToys will now start if installed under different user

Development

• ARM64 - We removed the last .NET Framework dependency. Thanks @snickler for helping get this across the finish line!
• .NET 6 upgrade, now on the newest and hottest .NET runtime
• Code analyzers have been upgraded! Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper!
• Symbols are back!
• Code refactoring, thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper and @cyberrex5 for helping here!
• We are now on VS 2022 with the .NET 6 upgrade.

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.
@Aaron-Junker, @CleanCodeDeveloper, @cyberrex5, @franky920920, @gsuberland, @htcfreek, @jay-o-way, @makeProjectGreatAgain, @niels9001, @robmen, @snickler, and @TobiasSekan .

Release v0.55.2

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.55.1 due to an installer bug and .NET 5 doing an update for the runtime. We deemed important for stability based on incoming rates. See v0.55.0 for full release notes.

• #16203 - Installer didn't handle when a newer version was released for .NET 5

Installer SHA256 Hash

5EDA6DAF8A5312D54D1B138A0CF06FE7584B1E353436DF32D9AF553AB663B631

Release v0.55.1

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.55.0 we deemed important for stability based on user feedback. See v0.55.0 for full release notes. We'd like to thank everyone to help us diagnose and fix these.

• #15910 - Shortcut keys retain taken after disabled for Shortcut Guide, Mouse highlighter, Mouse pointer crosshair. This was a bug we had for a while but with the increased mouse utilities using the shared code path, it was just noticed.
• #15450 - Fixing a bug where settings wasn't properly saving. This bug was introduced with 0.53 installer update and now is fixed with 0.55.1.
• #15487 - After install, PT won't automatically start as admin unless dont-elevate arg is used. This bug was introduced with 0.53 installer update and now is fixed with 0.55.1.
• #15869 - Removed a dead code path and unused DLL
• #15885 - Mouse pointer crosshairs crashing race condition bug.
• #15348, #15488 - Small UX fixes for helping wayfind.
• #15887 - Revert part of a Window Walker improvements in #6084 that did a IsCloak check. This impacted virtual desktop users.

Installer SHA256 Hash

C470EECA26AEBBDB28BF7D35694065C1897A123A64FB5103033FC23207D6C4A5

Release v0.55.0

The v0.55 release cycle continued our progress toward getting PowerToys ARM64 ready, fix some top issues and new utilities. Work from last month helped us enable us to upgrade the code base to .NET 5 and next month onward to .NET 6. This will provide stability and speed improvements.

We're also extremely excited to bring on 3 new PowerToy utilities.

• File Explorer add-on: Developer files for preview pane. This should add about 150 file extensions total. We are using the Monaco Editor to power this experience. Thanks @aaron-junker!
• File Explorer add-on: STL file format thumbnail generation! Since STL is a common 3D file format, this allows a quick visual check. Thanks @pedrolamas! Preview pane support is already in Windows.
• Mouse Utility: Crosshair over pointer via Ctrl+Alt+P. This feature was co-developed with the accessibility team at Microsoft. When the team told us about the idea and described trying to find your cursor by looking through a straw, we knew we could leverage code from the other mouse utilities to quickly enable this feature. Below is a quote from one of the testers with a rough validation build:

"This will change my life and allow me to use any PC without constantly losing the pointer. This is huge! I will be able to work at my normal speed again. It is a total game changer for people with visual field impairments!" – Joanna A.

Installer Hash

2241C78386D6347AAE2EDA9AD16A980DB00F596038FDE1A176838F24302A2D07

Change log

General

• .NET runtime is now on 5, our next release will be upgraded to .NET 6. Moving to .NET 5 and then 6 helped reduce our moving parts in a single release so we went this route. Why this is important is this is one of the major work items needed for ARM64 support. In addition, this should help provide a speed boosts once we are on .NET 6.
• @jsoref's spelling plugin help

Always on Top

• Fixed one of two borders showing incorrectly bugs.
• Border defaults to OS accent color now. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Reduced CPU / GPU activity. Not done improving, we know we can do better.

FancyZones

• Bug fixed to not lose zones after update
• Fixed editor margin issue for Chinese language. Thanks @niels9001

File explorer add-ons

• GCode thumbnails now have transparency. Thanks @pedrolamas
• New Utility - Developer files for File Explorer preview pane. This should add about 150 file extensions total. We are using the Monaco Editor to power this experience. Thanks @aaron-junker!
• New Utility - STL thumbnails added! Preview pane support is already in Windows. Thanks @pedrolamas!

Image Resizer

• Fixed bug with too much meta data. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper
• Fixed bug resizing bug for constant height while maintaining aspect ratio. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper

Mouse utilities

• New Utility - Crosshair over pointer via Ctrl+Alt+P. This feature was co-developed with the accessibility team at Microsoft. Thanks @niels9001 for helping with the icon!

PowerRename

• Files are sorted now how File Explorer sorts.

PowerToys Run

• Improved speed and fixed bugs with Window walker plugin. Thanks @htcfreek
• Window Walker will now show path of elevated apps. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Added UEFI command to system commands. Thanks @htcfreek
• Fixed crashing bug in EnvironmentHelper class. Thanks @htcfreek
• Fix URI plugin bug with ^:. Thanks @franky920920
• VS Code plugin not showing workspaces with latest Code version was corrected. Thanks @ricardosantos9521
• Fixed bug that caused plugins to not load. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Fixed crash in Uri plugin and Web search plugin. Thanks @cyberrex5!

Settings

• Fixed a regression with settings being reset when moving from admin to non-admin

Video Conference Mute

• Fixed crashing bug with Zoom and other clients. We found someone we could remotely debug with and identify the actual crashing part.
• Change of behavior: When leaving a meeting, VCM will now leave your microphone in the state it was. This mimics behavior of applications if VCM was not present.
• Change of behavior: When you exit PowerToys, your current microphone state will remain.

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.
@Aaron-Junker, @bdoserror, @CleanCodeDeveloper, @cyberrex5, @davidegiacometti, @edwinzap, @franky920920, @jay-o-way, @jsoref, @niels9001, and @ricardosantos9521

Release v0.53.3

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.53.3 we deemed important for stability based on user feedback. See v0.53.1 for full release notes.

• #15364 - PowerToys Run perf regression due to disabling list virtualization to improve scroll speed on some computers
• #15305 - PowerToys Run Uri plugin had an exception with a bad format.
• #15344 - PowerToys Run crashes due to duplicate key. This was due to community driven plugin having the same name as one of our plugins.

Installer SHA256 Hash

4CA9B08C66AF900C062956EDE0887DE804CD8DCF0F561BC2FC1CB73038883132

Release v0.53.1

The v0.53 release cycle was designed for a maintenance sprint but with some amazing community support, it is loaded with greatness. We're still working on improving the installer but this should drastically improve things. 3 things you will want to check out are G-code support in file explorer preview pane and thumbnails, the new web search plugin from PowerToys Run via ?? action phrase, and the new Always on Top utility via Win+Ctrl+T.

Installer Hash

D7D37972E7C9C090779671B04AA9894AFFC29A8429F26987DF493BFE5F1520D4

Change log

Things to be aware of

• The new installer currently has a visual quirk when upgrade if you have a custom install path. It will show the default install path but it will actually overwrite the current location. We are investigating how to fix this.

Always on Top

• Welcome to the family! With a quick Win+Ctrl+T, the window in focus is toggled to be on top. Toggle again, and it reverts back to normal.

ColorPicker

• HEX input improvements for adjust color menu including support for hex code without hashtag and short hex code like #CF0. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Better bottom right screen detection for overlay

FancyZones

• Increased negative space margin
• Fix for not snapping child windows
• Fix for clearing keyboard focus on editor launch
• Fix to improve overlays to reduce brightness and hide numbers. Thanks @davidegiacometti

File Explorer

• Added G-code support for thumbnails and preview pane. Thanks @pedrolamas

Image Resizer

• Fixed regression from Metadata tag removal of ColorSpace. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper

PowerRename

• Row highlighting + preview support now implemented. Thanks @niels9001
• Fixed AltGR input issue
• Improved folder renaming support
• Opens on active monitor

PowerToys Run

• Web searching has been added! ?? What is the answer to life will go to your favorite search engine via your browser. You can change the default action key too! Thanks @cyberrex5 for primary implementation and @franky920920 and @htcfreek for supporting
• VS Code workspace improvements. Thanks @ricardosantos9521
• Binary and Hex number support. Thanks @gsuberland
• Ability to use factorials in calculations
• PT Run will not show in Window Walker results anymore. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Fix log / ln calculations
• Fix to make previous results clear
• Fix to detect symlinks and prevent recursive loops
• Fix for trackpad scrolling being too fast
• Removed unneeded nuget package. Thanks @ChaseKnowlden
• Better detection for if a packaged app can be elevated
• Improve crash resiliency for Program plugin. Thanks @davidegiacometti
• Improved Windows setting results. Thanks @htcfreek
• Fixed a bug where some similar activation phrases aren't working as expected. Thanks @htcfreek and @cyberrex5.

Video conference mute

• Disabled by default as this requires elevation to register the virtual camera.
• Changed (default) hotkey for mute camera & microphone from Win+N to Win+Shift+Q to not conflict with a Windows 11 keyboard shortcut

Settings

• Multiple accessibility, layout, image, string and icons fixes. Thanks @niels9001

Runner

• Improved mutex support to prevent multiple PT Run instances from running

Installer

• NOTE: The new installer currently has a visual quirk when upgrade if you have a custom install path. It will show the default install path but it will actually overwrite the current location. We are investigating how to fix this.
• Large progress toward user based installing vs machine wide. Upgrade scenario still needs additional work.
• Removed custom bootstrapper and now are using a WiX bundle.
• Removed unused image assets that were still being shipped. Thanks @niels9001

ARM64 support

• Setting WinUI3 proof-of-concept and validate we do need at least one more feature, elevation support from WinUI 3 unpackaged applications.

Dev improvements

• New YAML based pipeline for building our signed installer. This will allow us to consolidate our CI to use same file. This was critical for us to unblock ARM64 and .NET 6 migration.
• Our submodules will no longer auto fetch to prevent locking issues. If you want a refresher on how to do this, head to our dev docs
• Localization system shifted to Touchdown from CDPx. This should remove many of the loc issues.
• Consolidated a lot of the naming of EXEs and DLLs along with projects
• Update to spell checker. Thanks @jsoref
• /dup response has been added
• /reportbug /bugreport will ask for a "report bug" zip

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.
@Aaron-Junker, @ChaseKnowlden, @CleanCodeDeveloper, @cyberrex5, @davidegiacometti, @franky920920, @gsuberland, @jay-o-way, @jsoref, @niels9001, and @ricardosantos9521

Release v0.51.1

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.51.1 we deemed important for stability based on user feedback. See v0.51.0 for full release notes.

• #13214 - FZ losing layouts due to VirtualDesktopManager init
• #14701- PT Run due to duplicate older plugins

Installer SHA256 Hash

CDD2C65A30017DA05A0BF5A8B144DB8E523E17225FD180FFC3BD4C8B81F72994

Release v0.51.0

The v0.51 release cycle introduces some new things regarding our mouse utilities. First is we've added in a presentation mode helper to highlight your mouse when you click. We've also added additional settings toward Find my mouse to enable more customization.

Next we've been focusing work on "Always on Top" system to help make any window you want to be the top most. A lot of thought is currently going into interaction models to make sure it 'feels' right for toggling as well as visualizing.

Last, we've been working on our engineering systems this month and into next. This work will improve our localization integration and our 'build farm' match our CI system far more. Behind the scene work but very important work for working faster.

Installer Hash

D815FA165A39ADE56848E2ADC5A21AD8B2F639D6FD075B60120E10BCC9DF1BAC

Change log

Things to note

• We shifted our localization internal service and are working on adding automated integrations back in.

PowerToys Awake

• System tray and settings use same language for turning things on.

Color Picker

• New formats added to copy colors as a float or decimal value.
• Adjust color window now accepts lower-case HEX codes.

FancyZones

• New window switching functionality! Now users can assign multiple windows to a zone and cycle between them using the Win + PgDn/PgUp commands by default. Thanks @FLOAT4!
• Added functionality for zones to adopt system accent color and theme. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Added visual preview of zone appearance in settings menu. Thanks @niels9001!
• Fixed bug where FancyZones crashes on launch.

Image Resizer

• Fixed bug where resizing images creates empty folders.
• Added option to remove non-essential metadata. Helps significantly reduce the size of files. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper!
• Fixed bug caused by Image Resizer receiving an unexpected property type or value. Thanks @CleanCodeDeveloper!

Mouse utilities

• Find My Mouse: Improved functionality to activate when user double click time configuration is set above 100ms.
• Find My Mouse: Fixed display on all virtual desktops as opposed to only the virtual desktop where it was created.
• Find My Mouse: New settings to enable a lot more customization based on your feedback.
• Minor UI tweaks for fluent icons, appearance, Ctrl usage, and utility descriptions. Thanks @niels9001!
• New Mouse Highlighter PowerToy! When enabled, activate mouse highlighting with Win + Shift + H by default to begin displaying visual cues on your display when either the left or right mouse buttons are clicked. There is a much more powerful tool called SysInternal ZoomIt that is very helpful as well.

PowerRename

• Improved rename performance! This is now at parity (or better) with the prior version based on multiple tests.
• Added keyboard accelerators with Enter and Ctrl + Enter to execute rename. Thanks @niels9001!
• UI tweaks to now add number of items selected, grid-lines for improved readability, reduced font sizes & margins, and improved window resizing.
• Fixed UI focus issues. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added default window width and height. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added PowerRename event logging for BugReportTool

PowerToys Run

• New entries added for settings plugin. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Added support for application URI handling like mailto: and ms-settings:. Thanks @franky920920!
• Added DevContainer workspaces to search results of the VSCode Workspaces Plugin. Thanks @JacobDeuchert!
• Fixes for crashing issues.

Shortcut Guide

• Added rounded corners to keys and tooltips, and system accent colors for desktop backdrop. Thanks @niels9001!

Settings

• Fixed default settings window size to prevent it from opening offscreen. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

Video Conference Mute

• Minor UI tweaks for icon, clear button, and overlay image selection #14248. Thanks @niels9001!

Prototype work

• Always on top prototype of being actively worked on. Right now you hit a key-combo and it enables it. We are investigating ways to highlight the window in some form as well.

Installer

• Investigated how to fully shift to WIX bootstrapper and remove custom boot strapper
• Investigated how to fully shift to HKCU vs HKLM.

Random helping out

• Spell check fix - Thanks @franky920920!
• Fix a URL - Thanks @JeffersonQin!

Development relevant

• Focusing on cleaning up backlog of issues and developing a method to aid in prioritizing. @Dend and @crutkas are partnering to see if we can develop one signal to see what we are calling 'centers of gravity'.
• Our primary dev branch is now named Main.
• Adjusting plugin folder structure for PT Run #10796
• Working on shifting our release pipeline onto same system that Windows Terminal uses.
• Improvements to environment variable usage/update process in PT Run. Thanks @htcfreek!
• Update .NET to 3.1.20.
• Centralized process list in the BugReportTool.
• Registry handling improvement for MSI and File Explorer add-ons.

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.

@AnonymousWP, @Aaron-Junker, @CleanCodeDeveloper, @davidegiacometti, @FLOAT4, @franky920920, @htcfreek, @JacobDeuchert, @Jay-o-Way @JeffersonQin, @niels9001, and @rdeveen.

Release v0.49.1

This is a patch release to fix issues in v0.49.0 we deemed important for stability based on user feedback. See v0.49.0 for full release notes.

• #14063 - After updating, the settings are not localized
• #14044 - [FindMyMouse] False positive on activation
• #14058 - Typo: the word english isn't capitalized
• #14009 - Typo in logging

Installer SHA256 Hash

31962E9947318F00086269B903E3B53B4613C9E9ABE32A71D1128E3437222B2C

Release v0.49.0

The v0.49 release cycle introduces exciting new updates primarily centered around modernizing PowerRename's UI, adding a brand new mouse utility, and merging Video Conference Mute into the stable releases!

PowerRename's new UI brings a refreshed experience that reflects the modern UI theming of Windows 11, along with helpful regular expression guidance and file formatting tips.

With the new mouse utility, PowerToys introduces functionality to quickly find your mouse position by double pressing the left ctrl key. This is ideal for large, high-resolution displays and low-vision users, with additional features and enhancements planned for future releases. Special thanks to Raymond Chen for providing the base code PowerToys used to develop this feature. To learn more, check out our Mouse Utilities documentation on Microsoft Docs!

As Video Conference Mute becomes available in the stable releases, there are still known bugs that we are actively working to address. These bugs are tracked on our GitHub, and we welcome any and all feedback as we work to isolate and resolve the cause.

Additionally, Color Picker's HEX format will no longer have the # character. This addresses issues with various color inputs that only accept six characters cutting off the last value. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes as we understand it impacts users who may prefer having # included. However, we believe this is the best solution while the custom string functionality (#8305) is in development.

Additional work in this release include stability updates and optimizations, installer updates, general bug fixes, and accessibility improvements.

Installer Hash

6E8F1C3BFBA3374FF1AEACC15519D27B5AC32C07F1B96DECFC38A95B32FDDD7E

Change log

General

• Find My Mouse utility added! Utilize the functionality to quickly locate the cursor on your displays! Learn more on our Mouse Utility docs.
• Accessibility and minor UI improvements to the settings page. Thanks @niels9001!
• Added deep links to the Settings menus for various utilities within their respective editors. Thanks @niels9001!
• Settings improvements to improve clarity for various options. Thanks @niels9001!
• Improved settings window to adjust size and position as needed when multi-monitor conditions change. Thanks @davidegiacometti!

PowerToys Awake

• Screen reader improvements for accessibility.

Color Picker

• Color Picker's HEX format was changed to remove the # character. Thanks @niels9001!
• Accessibility improvements for screen reader and UI to distinguish colors from the border when matching. Thanks @niels9001!

FancyZones

• Fixed Color Picker and OOBE windows from being snapped by FancyZones. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed regression with layouts not being changed via shortcuts.
• Fixed crashing issue with FancyZones editor.
• Fixed zone layouts resetting after screen locking.
• Accessibility improvements for screen reader in editor.

Keyboard Manager

• Fixed crashing issue when the editor is opened at high zoom on 4k monitors.

PowerRename

• New UI update! We hope you enjoy the modern experience and take advantage of new tool-tips to describe common regular expressions and text/file formatting. Thanks to @niels9001 for all the support on this redesign!

PowerToys Run

• Windows Terminal Plugin added. Open shells through Windows Terminal via _ activation command by default. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Added environment variables to Folder plugin search. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
• Fixed certain schemas that were overwritten with HTTPS. Thanks @franky920920!
• Fixed issue with program plugin getting caught in infinite loops as certain file paths are recursively searched.

Video Conference Mute

• VCM added to stable releases of PowerToys!

Community contributions

We'd like to directly mention certain contributors (in alphabetical order) for their continued community support this month and helping directly make PowerToys a better piece of software.

@Aaron-Junker, @davidegiacometti, @franky920920, @htcfreek, @Jay-o-Way, @martinchrzan, @niels9001, @pritudev, and @TobiasSekan