Key Takeaways
- PowerToys affords 26 totally different utilities to boost the best way your Home windows laptop computer runs.
- Notable PowerToys embrace Colour Picker, FancyZones, and File LockSmith.
- PowerToys additionally includes a Textual content Extractor, Picture Resizer, Keyboard Supervisor, and Mouse Utilities.
Microsoft’s PowerToys is a free app suite that provides superior options to your Windows 11 laptop. It is easy to obtain and nearly acts like a free Windows replace for customers who need to get essentially the most out of their OS. They’ve dramatically improved my very own person expertise, and have actually helped me max out my effectivity.
The present model of PowerToys has 26 utilities that every unlock some facet of your laptop computer’s full potential. Not all are equal, and on this article, I will talk about the seven finest PowerToys apps I take advantage of to make my life simpler.

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1 Colour Picker
Replicate any colour in your display
Colour Picker is the right device for matching colours from totally different apps. As soon as activated, it lets me transfer my cursor anyplace on my display and seize the colour of something it is hovering over. I can then carry particular colours off photos, websites, and extra and switch them into Photoshop or Pixlr for simple replication.
The useful Color Picker utility can save colours in lots of fashionable codecs, like HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV, and extra. It is going to additionally mechanically show colours much like the one I’ve picked, so I can evaluate them to seek out the most effective. The app additionally shops these picks, so I can simply discover them later with out repeating the method and doubtlessly shedding some favorites.
Colour Picker is the right device for matching colours from totally different apps.
2 FancyZones
Create zones in your show to arrange your home windows
FancyZones helps me transfer and prepare open home windows into preset zones on my display. It makes multitasking extra manageable, particularly when utilizing twin screens. I can drag open Home windows throughout my show, and so they’ll mechanically resize and match into the chosen zone after I drop it. I can then have a number of home windows neatly displayed on the identical display with out overlapping or altering their dimension manually.
Customization is simple, and I can create separate templates for every show in no matter orientation I like. I normally have two equally sized zones on my major monitor, with one massive zone and three smaller horizontal zones on my secondary monitor for displaying a number of websites concurrently. I may even create a zone spanning a number of screens or change their opacity and look. FancyZones additionally gives keyboard shortcuts to navigate by means of varied home windows rapidly with out a mouse.

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3 File LockSmith
Unlock these pesky information with out restarting your PC
I normally have numerous apps and background duties operating concurrently, and discovering out why some applications are locked or why I am unable to delete sure information might be difficult, if not blatantly irritating. File LockSmith makes it simple by scanning all my operating processes to establish which information they’re presently utilizing. The app can scan a single file or total folder and its subdirectories to seek out which applications are utilizing the information.
File LockSmith is among the most user-friendly PowerToy options. As soon as it is activated, I right-click on the file or folder I need it to scan, then click on on Present extra choices, and choose Unlock with File LockSmith to get it working. I do not use this PowerToy characteristic day by day, however it’s useful when shifting and deleting information.

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Seize textual content from photos and movies
Textual content Extractor is a nifty device for snagging textual content from photos. It is easy and efficient, and it makes my life infinitely simpler to extract textual content from pictures, movies, posters, and different photos with out typing them out manually. I discover it significantly helpful for capturing textual content from on-line shows and conferences when I’ve restricted time to repeat the onscreen slides.
Textual content Extractor is user-friendly and grabs textual content in seconds with out diving into menus or sophisticated settings. I press the Home windows + Shift + T keys to activate the app, and I can spotlight any textual content with the cursor. I can then paste it into Phrase, Google Docs, or one other program. The app can format the textual content as a single line or a desk, however you may have to obtain further OCR packs to extract languages apart from English.

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5 Picture Resizer
The simple approach to resize photos
The Picture Resizer device in PowerToys is a completely easy approach to improve or lower the scale of your photos with out requiring graphics software program like PhotoShop. The app consists of preset small, medium, massive, and telephone sizes, and I can simply create customized settings to go well with my necessities. I may also alter the JPEG high quality degree and TIFF compression sort, in addition to create a brand new timestamp to indicate when the picture was resized.
After activating this too, it is really easy to simply get going. All I do is right-click on a picture and click on on Resize with Picture Resizer. The Picture Resizer menu opens, and I can choose the scale I need from the presets or use a customized setting. After clicking the Resize button, the app will create a reproduction picture in the identical folder utilizing the brand new dimension.

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6 Keyboard Supervisor
Remap keys and create shortcuts
The PowerToys Keyboard Supervisor utility is the best approach to change my key mapping or create shortcuts to activate sure options or apps. Most customers keep on with the default settings, however it may be helpful when you have a international language keyboard or present a fast repair if particular keys aren’t functioning. I take advantage of the Keyboard Supervisor to remap my seldom-used Operate keys to regulate media and swap the left Shift and Management buttons for quicker crouching in video games.
It could’t overwrite the Home windows defaults baked into the system.
This device can be useful for creating shortcuts however cannot overwrite the Home windows defaults baked into the system. Nonetheless, creating different shortcuts permits me to entry capabilities or open applications with keypress mixtures as an alternative of navigating to my desktop icons. I can launch the Snipping Device, Paint, and different generally used apps with out exiting the CMS I am working in.

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7 Mouse utilities
Monitor your cursor anyplace in your show
The Mouse Utilities device has some useful options that make monitoring simpler after I transfer my mouse throughout a number of shows. Discover My Mouse is simple to make use of, and it circles my cursor after I press the left management button twice. I may also customise the circle’s radius, colour, zoom, and period to maximise its effectiveness with out getting in the best way of my work. Most phrase processors and CRMs have white backgrounds, so I alter my cursor colour to crimson or pink to face out much more when highlighted by Discover My Mouse.
Allow Mouse Highlighter is one other nice characteristic that gives visible indicators once you left or right-click in your show. It is a easy device that shows circles round my cursor in several colours with each mouse click on. Customizing the circles is simple, and I can change their colours, dimension, and extra to go well with my preferences.
I do not use this device usually, however I discover it helpful when sharing my display throughout shows or educating others tips on how to use Home windows options.

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