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Jun 11, 2026
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Microsoft PowerToys turns a stock Windows installation into a power user's machine - custom window snapping, bulk file renaming, a launcher that beats the Start menu, and a screen ruler, color picker and keyboard remapper, all official, all open-source, all free.
Version 0.100.0, released June 9, 2026, is one of the largest updates the project has shipped: the entire suite moved to .NET 10, which cut the installer size by about 15% and noticeably improved startup speed.
If you are new to the suite, the What is the Use of PowerToys? guide walks through every module before you commit to the download.
What PowerToys Actually Does - in Plain Terms
PowerToys is not one program but a toolbox of independent utilities you can switch on or off individually.
FancyZones lets you design custom window snap layouts far beyond what Windows offers natively - essential on ultrawide and multi-monitor setups.
PowerRename batch-renames hundreds of files with search-and-replace or regular expressions.
Keyboard Manager remaps keys and shortcuts system-wide.
Command Palette (the successor to PowerToys Run) opens apps, files and searches from a single Alt+Space hotkey.
Around these headliners sit smaller gems: Color Picker, Image Resizer, Text Extractor for grabbing text out of screenshots, File Locksmith for finding which process is holding a file hostage, and Peek for previewing files without opening them - a feature that pairs nicely with Media Preview if you also want video thumbnails directly in Explorer.
What's New in PowerToys 0.100.0
The headline feature is the Extension Gallery inside Command Palette - an app-store-style browser that lets you discover, install, update and remove Command Palette extensions without leaving the tool.
The Shortcut Guide has been completely rebuilt and now detects the active window, showing relevant shortcuts for the app you are actually using.
ZoomIt gains webcam feed overlay support, which is great for demos and tutorials - and combines well with ShareX if you record or share what's on screen.
Under the hood, the move to .NET 10 makes downloads smaller and installs faster, and auto-update now backs up your configuration before applying a new version, so settings survive a botched update.
The Dock and Power Display utilities introduced in version 0.99 also received multi-monitor and responsiveness improvements.
Who PowerToys Is For - and Who Should Look Elsewhere
If you live on a Windows desktop - juggling many windows, renaming files in bulk, or constantly digging through the Start menu - PowerToys pays for its 5-minute setup within the first day.
Developers, video editors and anyone running multiple monitors will get the most out of FancyZones and Command Palette.
If you only use a laptop for browsing and email, the suite is harmless but largely unnecessary; the built-in Windows snap layouts will cover you.
Note that PowerToys does nothing for media playback - if your actual problem is a video that won't play, you want the K-Lite Codec Pack or a self-contained player like VLC Media Player, and the browser-based Codec Finder can tell you exactly which decoder a stubborn file needs.
Before You Install: System Requirements and Setup Notes
PowerToys requires Windows 10 version 2004 or later, or any Windows 11 build, on x64 or ARM64 hardware.
It is MIT-licensed and developed in the open on GitHub, so there is no telemetry-for-features trade or hidden bundleware. Every module can be toggled off in Settings, and the suite idles in the system tray with minimal resource use.
If you are setting up a fresh Windows 11 machine, install PowerToys alongside FlyOobe to streamline the out-of-box experience, make sure DirectX is current for graphics-heavy tools, and consider FxSound to round out the audio side.
Power users who script their media workflows will also find Command Palette a fast way to launch FFmpeg jobs or fire up yt-dlp commands. You can see the interface in action on the screenshots page before installing.
Get PowerToys 0.100.0 Free for Windows 11/10
Download PowerToys 0.100.0 - virus-free, the official Microsoft release, no bundled extras. Install it, enable two or three modules, and Windows starts behaving like the operating system it always should have been.
If a codec or filter ever misbehaves after heavy system tweaking, the Codec Tweak Tool can repair playback configuration in a couple of clicks, and our Multimedia Tools section has the rest of a complete Windows toolkit.
