The first public version of the Microsoft PowerToys tool is now available for free download and brings some very useful improvements to the Windows 10 interface. For those who are younger, Powertoys was in Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows XP, a series of official Microsoft tools that brought more options and functions on the operating system, such as virtual desktops, the choice of default folders, a graphing calculator and then TweakUI, the tool to customize the appearance of Windows. The Powertoys project was then abandoned for years until it now returns to an open source version that will see numerous updates in the future to add functionality to Windows 10.
PowerToys for Windows 10 thus becomes an activator of new features integrated into the system, very useful as appropriate.
On the home screen you will find a section of general settings, General Settings, from which to activate or deactivate the Powertoys features.
Each instrument has its own configuration menu which can be selected on the left side of the Powertoys window and can be activated or deactivated via switches on the General Settings screen. For each function you can click on the demonstration page ( Overview ) and on the attached video to understand what it is. Also in the General Settings you can enable or disable the automatic activation of Powertoys when the PC starts ( Start at login ).
In the second version of Microsoft Powertoys for Windows 10 there are three tools : Fancy Zones, PowerRename and the guide to shortcuts .
Once the function is activated in the General Settings, press on the right side of Powertoys on FancyZones to configure its behavior. Under Zone Configuration, press on Edit Zones to configure the preferred layout in which to arrange the windows. You can choose one of the ready-made models, also deciding how many spaces to devote to the windows you want to have, if 3, 4 or more. Obviously the more spaces you want, the more the windows will be smaller. This selection screen can be quickly viewed with the combination of Windows keys ~ (pity that the ~ key does not exist on the Italian keyboard and should be next to key 1, where we have the \ key).
However, after choosing the layout, in the configuration of Fancyzones you can choose how to activate it. By default, just hold down the Shift key and then drag a window with the mouse to see the arrangement of Fancyzones in the background. You can then drag the window to position it in the section you want. For example, choosing the column model divides the screen into three columns, while if you choose a grid model with 4 sections, you can arrange the windows at the 4 corners of the screen with a division into 4 parts.
There are also other Fancyzones options that allow you to maintain the arrangement of the windows if you change the layout and to choose the background color of the sections when they are highlighted.
Once installed, Powertoys is activated automatically and can be configured by pressing its icon in the notification area, in the taskbar. If you don't want it to start automatically every time you turn on your computer, you have to disable the Start at login option in the general settings.
Microsoft plans to release additional tools in the future inside Powertoys, with four of these that are already described on the project page and are: Tool to rename files in batch, the animated gif recorder, tools to terminate processes and tools to maximize a new desktop widget.
If you like the idea and wanted a program with more configuration options and additional tools for Windows 10, then I refer to the program page to modify everything in Windows 10, including Winaero Tweaker which has always been the true heir TweakUI of the old Windows XP Powertoys.
PowerToys for Windows 10 thus becomes an activator of new features integrated into the system, very useful as appropriate.
What Powertoys does for Windows 10
To open the Powertoys configuration screen, after installing and starting it (see below for the download link), you must click on the icon that appears in the Windows 10 notification area, at the bottom right near the clock ( if you use the taskbar at the bottom). If the icon is not visible, press on the arrow in the notification area to see it.On the home screen you will find a section of general settings, General Settings, from which to activate or deactivate the Powertoys features.
Each instrument has its own configuration menu which can be selected on the left side of the Powertoys window and can be activated or deactivated via switches on the General Settings screen. For each function you can click on the demonstration page ( Overview ) and on the attached video to understand what it is. Also in the General Settings you can enable or disable the automatic activation of Powertoys when the PC starts ( Start at login ).
In the second version of Microsoft Powertoys for Windows 10 there are three tools : Fancy Zones, PowerRename and the guide to shortcuts .
FancyZones
The function called FancyZones allows you to choose a layout in which to arrange the windows on the screen . While in Windows 10 it is possible to drag a window to the right, to the left, up or down to be able to resize it and position it automatically so that it occupies half of the screen, it is not possible, however, to simply and automatically arrange three or more windows to keep them all under the eyes. With Fancyzones it is therefore possible to make this automatic arrangement, choosing whether the windows are to be placed side by side on the screen vertically or horizontally or stacked or in other customized ways.Once the function is activated in the General Settings, press on the right side of Powertoys on FancyZones to configure its behavior. Under Zone Configuration, press on Edit Zones to configure the preferred layout in which to arrange the windows. You can choose one of the ready-made models, also deciding how many spaces to devote to the windows you want to have, if 3, 4 or more. Obviously the more spaces you want, the more the windows will be smaller. This selection screen can be quickly viewed with the combination of Windows keys ~ (pity that the ~ key does not exist on the Italian keyboard and should be next to key 1, where we have the \ key).
However, after choosing the layout, in the configuration of Fancyzones you can choose how to activate it. By default, just hold down the Shift key and then drag a window with the mouse to see the arrangement of Fancyzones in the background. You can then drag the window to position it in the section you want. For example, choosing the column model divides the screen into three columns, while if you choose a grid model with 4 sections, you can arrange the windows at the 4 corners of the screen with a division into 4 parts.
There are also other Fancyzones options that allow you to maintain the arrangement of the windows if you change the layout and to choose the background color of the sections when they are highlighted.
PoweRename
PowerRename is a function that allows you to quickly rename multiple files in a folder. To use it, with Powertoys active in the background, just select two or more files in a folder and then press on it with the right mouse button and select the PowerRename option. From the window that opens, you can use the two fields at the top to search and replace the characters you want to change in the file name: what you enter in "search" is removed from the original file name, while what is written on Replace is added to the file name. Below you can use options to exclude specific files or and other criteria to rename the file.Shortcuts guide
The Shortcut Guide is a very useful function for learning the most important Windows 10 key combinations with the Windows key. If you activate the Powertoys Shortcut Guide tool, when you then press the Windows key for about a second, a help screen appears telling us what happens if you press another key. You will then discover that you can quickly open a folder by pressing Window-E together or go to the desktop with the Windows-D keys and much more.Download and install Microsoft Powertoys for Windows 10
To download the first official version of Microsoft Powertoys you must open the dedicated page on Github and download the latest release. The file to download is the one called PowerToysSetup.msi which is the installation file.Once installed, Powertoys is activated automatically and can be configured by pressing its icon in the notification area, in the taskbar. If you don't want it to start automatically every time you turn on your computer, you have to disable the Start at login option in the general settings.
Microsoft plans to release additional tools in the future inside Powertoys, with four of these that are already described on the project page and are: Tool to rename files in batch, the animated gif recorder, tools to terminate processes and tools to maximize a new desktop widget.
If you like the idea and wanted a program with more configuration options and additional tools for Windows 10, then I refer to the program page to modify everything in Windows 10, including Winaero Tweaker which has always been the true heir TweakUI of the old Windows XP Powertoys.
