Available as a standalone app for Windows 10 and 11 customers, Microsoft PowerToys incorporates a ton of nifty utilities which can be in place to assist customers to finish duties with ease, thus enhancing their productiveness considerably. In this text, I’ll present you a few of my favourite options and the way I exploit them all through the day to boost my productiveness.
Mouse Without Borders
Right off the bat is the Mouse Without Borders utility, which shipped to PowerToys lately. It’s just like Apple’s Universal Control characteristic in macOS Monterey, permitting customers to regulate a number of screens utilizing a single mouse and keyboard pairing.
What’s extra, the characteristic can even permit customers to share clipboards and information throughout all of the screens. If you are like me, who copies a bunch of things to make use of all through the day, you may marvel at this characteristic.
You ought to be capable to entry this utility already. If not, make sure you’re operating the newest PowerToys model by way of the Microsoft Store.
Awake
Awake is one among my favourite utilities in PowerToys. This is as a result of it lets me maintain my Windows PC energetic with out essentially having to navigate via the Settings app.
We’ve all been in a scenario the place we have been engaged on one thing necessary, after which the system entered sleep mode routinely. This negatively impacts your productiveness and hinders you from hitting your targets, particularly if it is a time-conscious activity.
While most apps can block your system from going to sleep should you’re dealing with an necessary activity like a gathering on Teams, it is nonetheless necessary to make sure that your system does not transition to sleep mode routinely after some time.
Here’s the place the Awake utility is useful. With PowerToys, you possibly can stop your Windows PC from going to sleep by enabling the characteristic first.
You’ll then be required to pick out between Keep Awake indefinitely and Keep Awake quickly. The latter can even require you to outline the length you want this characteristic to be enabled whereas working in your system.
PowerToys Run
Windows 11’s Start menu has acquired a number of backlash, with some customers expressing dissatisfaction. It’s in place to assist customers launch information, folders, and apps.
However, PowerToys ships with a neat utility dubbed PowerToys Run, which I discover extraordinarily helpful. You may already remember that Windows does not characteristic an in-built app launcher, however with this utility, you possibly can rapidly discover what you are in search of.
And not like the Windows search expertise, PowerToys Run supplies a extra streamlined expertise because it solely options native information. When operating a search on Windows, you may discover that the outcomes additionally embrace net outcomes, thus making it tougher to seek out what you are in search of.
Image Resizer
As a tech fanatic, I work together with many pictures all through the day. This makes me admire the Image Resizer characteristic in PowerToys. Most of the images and screenshots I come throughout typically require a little bit of modifying, particularly concerning dimensions.
You can rapidly resize pictures to satisfy your most well-liked requirements and dimension by way of the Image Resizer characteristic in PowerToys. The software options predetermined sizes you could readily use. Alternatively, you possibly can enter the precise dimensions you need and configure the encoding high quality.
What’s extra, Image Resizer is constructed into the File Explorer. As such, you possibly can rapidly resize a picture by right-clicking on the picture and deciding on the Resize image from the menu. Who does not like comfort redefined?
Always on Top
PowerToys additionally ships with the Always On Top utility. It’s designed to persistently maintain any app in entrance of others, even should you shift focus and transition to different home windows. Most apps already ship with this functionality, however Always On Top ensures you could have something pinned.
This is useful, notably for older functions that do not assist this functionality. The utility additionally incorporates a Game Mode toggle which permits customers to run video games in full display above pinned apps.
What’s extra, you possibly can customise this expertise additional by configuring the settings to point out a coloured border round a pinned app. You can even have PowerToys play a sound each time you pin an app. Hit Windows + Ctrl + T keyboard shortcut to allow Always On Top.
FancyZones
PowerToys ships with FancyZones, vital utility on the high of the record for customers with ultrawide screens and even a number of screens of their setup. The characteristic is designed to permit customers to customise their monitor layouts.
It will allow you to reorder the home windows in your display. Additionally, it can assist you to break up your display primarily based in your choice. You can even leverage the characteristic’s capabilities to create and edit layouts whereas incorporating as many zones as you like.
File Locksmith
File Locksmith is a Windows shell extension designed to assist customers examine which information are on their gadgets at a selected second. It may also be used to confirm which system processes the information use.
Users can leverage the characteristic’s capabilities to know why they’re encountering uncommon file habits. For occasion, should you’re making an attempt to delete a file out of your system however can not, you should use File Locksmith to know why you might be being blocked from deleting it.
Peek
And lastly, the Peek utility that you should use to rapidly preview information in File Explorer. If you work together with a number of information every day, it may be irritating combing via a number of information in search of a particular file.
Once you might have the characteristic enabled in PowerToys, head over to File Explorer and right-click on the file. There will likely be a shortcut that may assist you to open the file in preview. This approach, it is going to be simpler to skim via a file and discover what you might be in search of with out really opening it.
Screen Ruler
If you are extra of a technical Windows person, then you definitely’ll admire the Screen Ruler utility. It is designed to assist customers measure the gap between objects in your display
The utility options 4 completely different modes via which you’ll measure distance. First up, is the oblong space. Simply choose any given area in your show, no matter whether or not it cuts throughout a number of home windows. And there you might have it. Rectangular distance secured.
Finally, you may as well decide distance between objects utilizing the crosshair choice, horizontal choice, and vertical choice.
It’s price noting you could entry most of those options by way of the Taskbar fast entry characteristic for PowerToys. This means you could rapidly leap into a few of these utilities straight from the Taskbar utilizing the flyout included into the System Tray.
