PowerToys is Microsoft"s open source project that offers a collection of nifty tools that people can use to customize the Windows 10 UI and experience to their liking. As we know, depending upon feedback and general stability, some of the utilities also make their way to the OS. A prominent example of this is Snap Layouts and Span Groups in Windows 11 which borrow heavily from the FanzyZones tool in PowerToys.
Earlier this month, Microsoft released PowerToys version 0.45.0 with a ton of bug fixes, new settings menu with Fluent Design and stability updates. Today, the company has rolled out version 0.47.0 which focuses on optimizing existing features, increasing stability, and making accessibility improvements. If you"re wondering why 0.46.0 was skipped, it wasn"t, that was an experimental release.
The lengthy change log for PowerToys 0.47.0, along with all the credits to contributors, can be seen below:
Change log
- Upgraded WinUI to 2.7.0.
- Reduced installer size by compressing GIFs. Thanks @niels9001!
- Replaced ShortcutTextContorl with MarkdownTextblock. Thanks @niels9001!
- Added functionality to invoke SHCangeNotify SHCNE_ASSOCCHANGED when thumbnail providers are turned on/off. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
- Consolidated nuget packages. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
- Additional logging and error handling added to PowerToys Run. Thanks @htcfreek!
- Moved away from the legacy windevbuildagents pool.
- Added support for embedded MSIX apps in PowerToys.
- Replaced ListView with ComboBox for Image Resizer. Thanks @niels9001!
- Build error fixes.
General
- Fixed issue with new updates changing the PowerToys install location.
- Fixed settings with NumberBox elements overlapping the delete button.
- Fixed issue with the bug report tool not generating .zip files.
- Updated the shortcut configuration experience in Settings. Thanks @niels9001!
- Fixed inconsistent width of sidebar icons. Thanks @niels9001!
- Fixed sidebar UI not scaling for longer text strings in certain localizations. Thanks @niels9001!
- Fixed issue with settings not displaying invalid keystroke assignments. Thanks @niels9001!
- Added user defined shortcuts when set to the "Welcome to PowerToys" instead of the default shortcuts.
Color Picker
- Accessibility issues addressed. Thanks @niels9001!
- Added CIELAB and CIEXYZ color formats. Thanks @RubenFricke!
- Fixed bug where changing RGB values manually doesn"t automatically update the color displayed. Thanks @martinchrzan!
FancyZones
- Fixed regression where restarting computer resets user defined layouts to the default selection.
- Fixed issues with Grid layout editor not showing the "Save" and "Cancel" buttons.
- Fixed accessibility issue where users could not add or merge zones using the keyboard.
- Added a flyout describe the prerequisites for the "Allow zones to span across monitors" option.
- Fixed various crashing bugs.
File Explorer add-ons
- Added PDF Thumbnail Provider for Windows Explorer. Thanks @rdeveen!
Image Resizer
- Added default values for newly added sizes. Thanks @htcfreek!
- Fixed regression where spaces in the filename format settings couldn"t be registered.
- Corrected scaling issues with Image Resizer Window. Thanks @niels9001!
- Fixed issue where PowerToys crashes when json settings are not formatted properly. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
Keyboard Manager
- Fixed crash when adding a shortcut.
- Fixed issue with Re-mappings window not displaying.
- Fixed issue when remapping a shortcut to Alt+Tab breaks the Alt+Tab navigation with arrow keys.
PowerToys Run
- Improvements on subtitle layout for Settings plugin. Thanks @htcfreek!
- Added path filters for Settings plugin via > key. Thanks @htcfreek!
- Translation improvements for Settings plugin. Thanks @htcfreek!
- Added translation support for Settings Plugin. Thanks @htcfreek!
- Fixed issue with PowerToys Run not being in focus when launched.
- Fixed crash on empty/deleted environment variables when updating variables after a change. Thanks @htcfreek!
- Corrected Registry Plugin query results.
- Fixed crash in Registry plugin queries.
- Fixed crash when Windows shuts down.
- Added better description in the global results settings for plugins. Thanks @niels9001!
- Added a confirmation box before running system commands. Thanks @chrisharris333 and @davidegiacometti!
- Added option to use system localization our universal terminology for system commands. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
Shortcut Guide
- Re-added the long Win key press to activate utility.
Video Conference Mute
- Fixed an issue with the first hotkey input in the settings being focused when the page loads. Prevents unintentionally shortcut reassignment. Thanks @niels9001!
Moving forward, an experimental version of PowerToys 0.47 will be released in the week of October 4th, introducing improvements to the Video Conference Mute utility. All updates from the v0.47.0 release will still apply in v0.48.
If you are using PowerToys in Windows 11, you can grab it in the Microsoft Store. For others in Windows 10, you can open the app and click on "Check for updates" under the updates section on the General tab. Those who would like to try PowerToys for the first time can grab the version 0.47.0 installer from the app"s GitHub page.