PowerToys — Microsoft Officially Patches Up the Missing Features in Windows
In one sentence: A free productivity toolset from Microsoft that fills in a dozen useful features missing from Windows.
These Small Things Windows Is Missing — Microsoft Fixed Them Itself
Windows comes with many basic features, but the longer you use it, the more inconveniences you notice: snapping two windows side by side requires manual dragging; picking a color value requires opening Photoshop; batch renaming files has no option besides pressing F2 one by one; copying text from an image requires opening OCR software.
You might look for third-party tools to fill these gaps — AquaSnap for window management, ColorMania for color picking, Bulk Rename Utility for batch renaming. Each is a separate tool requiring its own download, installation, and update.
PowerToys is made by Microsoft itself. The name “PowerToys” dates back to the Windows 95 era — a small team inside Microsoft felt the system was lacking in some areas and created enhancement tools, calling them PowerToys. The name was revived by Microsoft in 2019 as an open-source project, releasing a completely new PowerToys that continues to be updated to this day.
It contains a dozen utility tools, each independently toggleable. You don’t need to use them all — just enable the ones you actually need.
The Most Worthwhile Tools in PowerToys
1. FancyZones — Window Layout Manager
Windows 11 has built-in window snapping (Win+Arrow keys), but only offers a few preset layouts. FancyZones lets you create any custom layout — unequal two-column, three-column with large left, or even complex grids with hundreds of cells.
Usage: Press Win+Shift+` (backtick) to open the layout editor, select a template or custom-drag to create your own. After that, hold Shift while dragging a window, and it will automatically snap to your defined zones.
For ultrawide (21:9 or 32:9) monitors and multi-monitor setups, FancyZones solves the biggest shortcoming of Windows’ native window management.
2. Text Extractor — Copy Text From Images
You receive a screenshot on WeChat with an order number. You can’t copy it — you have to type each digit by hand.
With PowerToys installed, press Win+Shift+T. A semi-transparent selection overlay appears. Drag a box around the text area in the screenshot and release — the recognized text is already in your clipboard. Ctrl+V and paste. Supports both Chinese and English.
No need to open any OCR software or upload images to online recognition sites. Works on images, PDFs, paused video画面, and even non-copyable text on web pages.
3. Color Picker — Screen Color Picker
A godsend for designers and front-end developers. Press Win+Shift+C, your cursor turns into an eyedropper. Move it anywhere on the screen and click — that pixel’s color value (HEX, RGB, HSL, etc.) is automatically copied to your clipboard. No more screenshotting and opening Photoshop to pick colors.
4. PowerRename — Right-Click Batch Rename
Select a batch of files → Right-click → “PowerRename.” A clean renaming window pops up: top line is the text to replace, bottom line is the replacement. Real-time preview of the rename results, click Apply when ready.
Just one extra right-click menu entry over the system default, but it solves a frequent need — previously, you’d need to install Bulk Rename Utility or write a script for batch renaming.
5. Keyboard Manager — Key Remapping
Remap rarely-used keys on your keyboard to other functions. For example, your Caps Lock key is almost never used — map it to Ctrl. Or map the right Alt to mute. No Registry editing needed — configure it directly in the Keyboard Manager GUI.
6. Image Resizer — Right-Click One-Click Image Scaling
Select a batch of images → Right-click → “Resize pictures.” Choose a preset size (Small/Medium/Large/Phone/Custom) for one-click batch resizing. When emailing reduced photos or uploading to a site requiring uniform sizes, no need to open any image editing software.
7. Awake — Keep Your Computer Awake
When giving a presentation or running a long task and you don’t want the computer to sleep. Awake sits in the system tray — right-click to set it to “Stay awake indefinitely” until you manually turn it off. No need to change power settings in the system control panel.
Full Tool List Overview
| Tool | Function | In One Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| FancyZones | Window Layout | Custom window snap zones |
| Text Extractor | OCR Text Extraction | Copy text from anywhere on screen |
| Color Picker | Screen Color | One-click color value anywhere |
| PowerRename | Batch Rename | Right-click batch file rename |
| Keyboard Manager | Key Remapping | Remap any keyboard key |
| Image Resizer | Image Scaling | Right-click batch resize images |
| Awake | Prevent Sleep | Temporarily prevent computer sleep |
| PowerToys Run | Quick Launcher | Like Spotlight/Alfred |
| File Locksmith | File Lock Check | See which process is using a file |
| Mouse utilities | Mouse Enhancement | Double Ctrl to show mouse position |
| Paste as Plain Text | Plain Text Paste | Ctrl+Win+V paste unformatted text |
| Peek | File Preview | Like macOS Quick Look |
| Hosts File Editor | Hosts Editor | GUI management of hosts file |
| Screen Ruler | Screen Ruler | Measure pixel distance on screen |
Professional Media and User Reviews
| Media | Review |
|---|---|
| The Verge | ”PowerToys is the best thing Microsoft has done for Windows power users in years” |
| How-To Geek | ”FancyZones alone justifies the download — everything else is a bonus” |
| Windows Central | ”These are the features Windows should have built in from the start” |
What Real Users Say
“After switching to a 34-inch ultrawide, Windows’ native snapping was nowhere near enough. FancyZones let me split the screen into three columns — main workspace center (60%), reference materials left (20%), communications right (20%). Used it for a year and can’t go back to the system default.” — Programmer, V2EX
“Text Extractor is the feature I use most. Our运营 often sends poster images and asks me to extract the copy — previously I had to type it by hand looking at the image. Now Win+Shift+T, box it, and it’s copied. High accuracy — Chinese is basically error-free.” — Content Editor, Xiaohongshu
Competitor Comparison
PowerToys’ value isn’t in any single tool outperforming a specific competitor, but in packaging a dozen frequently-needed solutions into one officially maintained package.
| PowerToys Tool | Third-Party Alternative | PowerToys Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| FancyZones | AquaSnap, DisplayFusion | Free, Microsoft-maintained, seamless system integration |
| Text Extractor | Tianruo OCR, PandaOCR | No internet needed, local recognition, very fast |
| Color Picker | Just Color Picker | Integrated in the suite, no hotkey conflicts |
| PowerRename | Bulk Rename Utility | Simpler, more intuitive, right-click accessible |
| Keyboard Manager | SharpKeys, KeyTweak | GUI, instant effect |
| PowerToys Run | Wox, Flow Launcher | Microsoft-maintained, stable, no plugin conflicts |
| Peek | QuickLook | More stable than QuickLook (latter occasionally crashes) |
Price: All free. License: MIT open source.
Download & Installation Guide
Official Download (Recommended)
PowerToys has three official distribution channels:
| Channel | Download Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub (Recommended) | github.com/microsoft/PowerToys | Official open source repo with latest stable and preview |
| Microsoft Store | Search “PowerToys” in Store | Auto-updates, most hassle-free |
| winget command | winget install Microsoft.PowerToys | One-command CLI install |
Safety reminder: The only official PowerToys repository is
github.com/microsoft/PowerToys. Microsoft does not distribute PowerToys through any other website. Of the search results for “PowerToys download,” only GitHub and Microsoft Store are safe. The software has built-in Chinese — no “localized version” is needed.
3-Minute Quick Start
- Open github.com/microsoft/PowerToys, find the latest Release, download
PowerToysSetup-x64.exe - Check “Run PowerToys at startup” during installation
- After installation, the PowerToys icon appears in the system tray (colored gear), double-click to open the main interface
- In the left sidebar, click each tool and toggle it on:
- FancyZones → Press Win+Shift+` to open the layout editor
- Text Extractor → Press Win+Shift+T to box-select text on images
- Color Picker → Press Win+Shift+C to pick colors on screen
- PowerRename → Select a file and right-click to try it
- Keep unused modules toggled off on the left — they consume no resources
FAQ
Q: Does PowerToys affect computer performance? Almost none. Most modules are resident but idle — consuming no CPU when not in use. Total memory usage is usually between 100-200MB. If you feel your computer is slow one day, open PowerToys settings and turn off unused modules.
Q: PowerToys updates frequently — do I need to keep updating? No. Unless a new version fixes a bug you’re experiencing, you can stay on your current version. Checking for updates every 3-6 months is sufficient. The Microsoft Store version updates automatically.
Q: How well does Text Extractor recognize Chinese? Very well. Text Extractor uses Windows’ built-in OCR engine, which has high Chinese recognition accuracy. The only requirement: Windows 10 1903 or later, with the Chinese language pack installed (usually present on systems out of the box).
PowerToys is Microsoft itself filling in the gaps where “Windows is great, but it’s missing something.” Install one and you effectively install a dozen well-crafted utilities.