Cool Free Windows Utilities to Use EVERYDAY | PowerToys

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Dive into the world of Microsoft PowerToys, a set of professional tools designed to boost your productivity in Windows. This video is a comprehensive guide to PowerToys, showcasing its various free utilities and how they can enhance your Windows experience.
✨ Key Highlights:
▪️ Always on Top: Learn how to pin any window to stay always on top.
▪️ Awake: Keep your computer from sleeping during important tasks.
▪️ Text Extractor: Copy text from anywhere on your screen easily.
▪️ Mouse Utilities: Discover useful features like 'Find My Mouse' and 'Mouse Highlighter'.
▪️ Run/App Launcher: Quickly launch apps with a simple shortcut.
▪️ Screen Ruler: Measure pixels on your screen for precise image work.
▪️ Global Color Picker: Pick and use colors from anywhere on your screen.
▪️ Image Resizer: Resize multiple images at once with ease.
▪️ Fancy Zones: Customize your screen layout for multitasking.
▪️ More PowerToys: Explore additional tools like Keyboard Manager, PowerRename, Quick Accent, and Shortcut Guide.
With PowerToys you get a set of free AND super useful tools and utilities for customizing Windows. These free apps work with both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
They are designed to improve your Windows experience and give you additional functionality that Windows currently lacks.
PowerToys is free to download and use on Windows 10 and 11 PCs.
00:00 Microsoft PowerToys
00:59 How to Download and Install PowerToys
01:50 Always on Top
02:33 Awake
03:37 Text Extractor
04:22 Mouse Utilities
05:25 Run | App Launcher
05:38 Screen Ruler - Measure Pixels
06:14 Global Color Picker
07:20 Image Resizer
08:40 FancyZones - Custom Screen Regions
11:05 More PowerToys
11:31 Shortcut Guide
12:03 Wrap Up
⯆ DOWNLOAD PowerToys on GitHub:
github.com/microsoft/PowerToys
🎬 LINKS to related videos:
- 5 Mind-Blowing FREE Windows Apps: • 5 Mind-Blowing FREE Wi...
- Windows 11 Settings You Should Change NOW!: • Windows 11 Settings Yo...
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#powertoys #windows

[@LeilaGharani]

I hope you don't mind the hoarse voice 🙂. I had a cold in that week. Stay up to date with the latest by signing up to my FREE XelPlus Weekly newsletter: www.xelplus.com/newsletter/

[@uds.4679]

Hi, Hope you are feeling better now..

[@sammourad4757]

Great tools. Thank you and take care of yourself.

[@goppykrishna2613]

Thanks a lot and Hope you're fine

[@GunSpeed_BulletProof]

اجر وعافية اخت ليلى 👩🏻‍⚕️

[@LearningandTechnology]

Hope you are feeling better - everything sounded fine!

[@dominiqueleroy3826]

This should be by default on Windows !

[@Na-uy4ot]

But it's not...I bought a new laptop with windows 11 and still needed to download it.

[@The_Penguin_City]

You have this in KDE, Gnome, Cinnamon since ages.

[@casey18982]

It will be...in a couple of years

[@cwcole]

This is one of the most comprehensive PowerToys overviews I have seen. Thank you! I remember using it on Windows 95 and 98. It certainly has come a long way since then.

[@LeilaGharani]

Thank you Craig.

[@SanDiegan100]

This was an amazing presentation of something that has been hidden in plain sight!!

[@polycrystallinecandy]

They actually abandoned it and only brought it back a couple years ago. It's on github now.

[@jaypaans3471]

And it's still under construction

[@benbel3140]

Great video. But they have some bugs in a few features. I hope they will fix them soon.

[@jonasfermefors]

Great video - I use quite a few of these. Two other tips: 1) File Locksmith - checks which files are in use.. useful especially to see what is blocking a disk from being ejected or what files a process is locking. 2) Powertoys Run - has many uses. I use it to quickly launch apps and files, as a quick calculator, starting/stopping services, finding registry keys and more The power renamer is also good but takes a bit of work to get into.

[@faradraissa7805]

Thank you, Leila, for this in-depth tutorial. I've been using power toys for a while and am attempting to demonstrate them to coworkers. As I need to do a lot of online training, I use the Focus on the mouse the most. The list of shortcuts is one I was unaware of. I'm familiar with some of them, but this is such a creative way to present them. Thank you very much...

[@IsaSoandso]

This is excellent to see. I had totally forgotten about PowerToys and used to have it as part of my standard toolkit back in the day. Thank you for such a great presentation on it overall, as well as going in depth on some of the most commonly used tools.

[@supinderbabra7068]

Only yesterday I was wishing for more windows snap areas and then this video came out. Thank you Leila. This is God sent

[@Haulin81]

I wish she would have told us about the margin toggle switch with fancy zones. It took a while to turn them off. Thank you Leila! I appreciate all you do! I bought 3 of your MS Power courses!

[@PatrickKalinowski]

I have known about Powertoys for years. But I do not use them often. You explain their usefulness in a crystal clear way, calm and to the point. Thank you!

[@wrockage]

oh leila thank you so much. i read an article about this but suffice it to say this makes things much clearer! i have been scouring the internet for something like fancy zones and can't wait to try it. thanks for sharing!

[@w6263]

Fabulous! Didn't even know these existed. Love it when find new features. Already loving the 'Always on top'. Much appreciated for the video. Thank you.

[@stappys]

I have always loved power toys and they change how I use windows. Truthful I thought it had been discontinued. Thanks for showing the updated toys! I used to use always on top exactly like you to keep my stickies where I can see them.

[@iqbaliba]

WOW, that is amazing. I’m in need of few already. Thank you so much.

[@neosinan1]

I was using fancy zones for awhile but boy did I miss a lot of useful stuff for many years. Thanks

[@Vangienator]

You had me at mouse finder (I literally needed that 5 minutes before I started this video) and fancy zones sealed the deal. Thanks for this.

[@thierryhoornaert9950]

I already used the Find my mouse in combination with the CTRL-radar, the Windows+V (multi-clipboard, the Paste as Text. I will probably use the Pick color and the Keep in front a lot! Thanks for the great presentation!

[@VulpineKING]

extremely grateful for this ! Obviously always on top is really helpful, but extracting text from photos excites me. People screenshot me daily and this will reduce my time significantly! Thank you for all you do!

[@dhammaplayer]

Win+Shift+T, didn't know. Thank you very much & Happy Christmas

[@Shri_V]

Awesome! I used to use Deskpins to keep a window on top but will switch to this now.

[@kewltracks3454]

I am glad that the PowerToys are back, at least I think they were taken away some years ago. I am definitely going to add them to my toolbox! Thanks Leila. Happy holidays!

[@thomaspc0]

I love utilities like this. I look forward to learning more about what it does.

[@PaulSmith-pl7fo]

Hi Leila. They are so much clearer when properly explained - thank you.

[@lindamood6268]

So glad you covered PowerToys, ever since I discovered it it's been an absolute *must* on any computer I use regularly! My favorite is definitely Fancy Zones, I'm the type of person who likes every window to have its place, but I'm far too impatient to set them manually every time!

[@goldilocks1964]

Another amazing instructional video as always, Leila! Thank you for making it and sharing these helpful tools. I was happy that my IT department authorized installing PowerToys and I'm sorry I didn't watch this one and ask them about it 6 months ago! Wow, so many favorites! Paste as Plain Text, Always on Top, Find My Mouse/Highlighter, Color Picker, and Zones are very handy to my work! Building new muscle-memory keystroke habits to activate them will be the key that allows me remove my newest PostIt note that's now affixed to my monitor haha. Thank you again for the excellent video.

[@triplex86]

Wow! That was like being shown Aladdin's cave, full of treasures. I've already downloaded it and now tweaking it for what I need. Thank you so much for this - very useful indeed.

[@LeilaGharani]

Glad you like it!

[@LeoAlves-dv8lx]

I can't believe I never heard of PowerToys before, what an useful set of tools, when we install Windows Microsoft prefer to advertise some third-party apps than it's own useful software lol. Thank you very much, I'm so glad I found this video.

[@SevenExousia]

Oh wow. Thanks for the informative video. I've been wishing for some of those features for years.

[@WebbChannel1]

Another excellent video - thank you!

[@charlesbonfante9188]

Just wanted to say Thank you. I've been meaning to get into power toys for some time and I love how succinct and relevant you made it. Great job!

[@LeilaGharani]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@SteveSwanson999]

Thanks! Can't wait to try

[@bendunaway8296]

I've used windows for years, knew about, but never used Power Toys. I will know. Great video!

[@kstaxman2]

Nice video power toys is a handy program but knowing it's features can be tough to figure out. A simple demo like your's really helps.. thanks you're on my subscribe list now that I've found you.

[@rohit_in]

Thank you for making this video. All these tools are very useful.

[@Watever44]

I had no idea. This will change the way I work. ! Thank you

[@kevinme]

this is definitely going to be one of those apps to always have installed on my computer!

[@Saurabh.P]

Window Walker is quite useful. Helps me find out opened application. It's much quicker than win+tab or alt+tab when you have too many apps open.

[@ITGyaan]

Great Tool, Thanks for sharing I think Always on top and Bulk image resize will help me.

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

Terrific. I admit I've looked at powertoys every few years then forgot about them. But the current crop look really handy and I'm back on board with them. Thanks

[@bcwest619]

I am a data analyst and work on a 50 inch 4k TV as my monitor. It would be a huge pain if I didn't have Fancy Zones. It's so incredible! I have a bunch of different layouts that I can activate with hotkeys depending on what I'm working on.

[@PaulNemchik]

Thanks for this video , A lot of useful short cut keys were presented here

[@suzannejohns4332]

First Leila I want to say thank you. Not only are you knowledgable but you have a beautiful demeanor & calming presence about you. I love your tutorials. You are my first "Go To" person whenever I have a problem that I need help with. Today, I have a simple request. Where do you get your sticky notes? The colored ones are not me. Actually, anyone can answer if you know the answer. Thanks to All

[@mart99]

I already used some of the "toys", but your explanations revealed some hidden features I've not discovered yet.

[@vinaynagaonkar8592]

Thanks it's wonderful to use. How does the pointed text or section is encircled with live marking which tool is that you are using please.

[@karinamdominguez]

I have been using image resize for years as a stand alone plugging, but I didn't knew the other tools, thanks a lot!

[@LeilaGharani]

My pleasure, Karina.

[@Fahad-AlGhamdi]

Thank you for this simple explanation

[@behramcooper3691]

Great tutorial. I will definitely download them and use them with my Windows 10 PC. Do the Power Toys start up automatically with Windows, or do I need to manually start them after every boot up?

[@furrukh66]

You are genius Leila Gharani. I appreciated your tips for windows and other application programs.

[@karennguyen7083]

Amazing video again, Leila. Thank you so much ❤

[@MrsJaydot]

I never knew... Thank you! Started using some of the tools practically before they finished installing :).

[@LeilaGharani]

Perfect!

[@grsthapit]

Thank you for your videos about tools.

[@terryherrin3388]

Thank you so much!! Never knew and now I do!!! :)

[@davidcunningham2388]

I really enjoy your videos! Thanks for taking the time to share them!

[@jankrzykwa5522]

I've been using Fancy Zones for 6 months or so and LOVE it!!

[@LeilaGharani]

It's awesome!

[@stefanopantaleoni9232]

Fancy Zone is something I've been wanting for years. I found some third-party apps long time ago, but they did not were as integrated as I wish they would be, and I stopped using them. I found some very nice, pretty advanced integrated tools on Linux, and I was wondering why Microsoft wouldn't catch up. Now I've discovered Fancy Zones, that makes me save a lot of time, and those scattered windows won't make me angry anymore!

[@geoserban2503]

Thank you for your videos, very informative! I wanted to ask you what computer you recommend for advanced Excel calculations to be Fast, Array formulas for big Excel Files or VBAs? If you cannot recommend , what are the specs for your computer? Thanks!

[@doc_huebi]

One of my favorite tools is the samradapps excel date picker, which let's you pick up dates in an excel sheet. MS haven't added something like this for decades which I don't understand.

[@512Squared]

Loved this video - so many goodies with PowerToys

[@anandspatel6185]

Really amazing video...its made my work easy...thanks...keep posting 👌👌💐💐🙏🙏

[@ziadmohamed2547]

OMG! How come I did not know about this before your video! Thanks a lot! This is totally a game changer! I really love the always on top feature! I mean, now the sticky notes can be actually "sticky LOL!

[@dylan4331]

Thanks 🧡 a great sharing :)

[@antoniogarrido3058]

Excelent set of tools, thanks for sharing!👍

[@biohazard737]

Wow so many useful features! Thanks as always!!

[@rizwansarfraz9936]

exactly what I needed, thanks ❤

[@ericjohnson1470]

these are some great tools, thanks for sharing :)

[@kersal74]

Hi Leila, Kudos always for your videos. I wanted to ask you if you know a Windows APP that allows you to highlight windows when they are in the task bar. For example, if I have 6 excel files open, I'd like to be able to change the colour of as reference, so I can spot it straight away!

[@manwinkler]

Brilliant & Thank You

[@rlischer3]

Thank you for this!

[@Alyssa_aria]

Thanks for this!

[@silverlicious2086]

Those are interesting utilities. Thanks for posting. Feel better soon and Happy Holidays.

[@LeilaGharani]

Thank you! Same to you!

[@vinaynagaonkar8592]

Thank you Madam, its always enriching to watch your videos, I am learning a lot about MS OFFICE

[@OntarioAndrews415]

Brilliant! Thank you!

[@jmx143]

Another great video! Are these tools available and compatible with AVD multi-session Win 10? I like the keyboard shortcuts, just wondering if it would pass through correctly to am AVD desktop?

[@metallmad77]

I personally loved the Color Picker, it helps a lot in my job as a developer

[@jaypaans3471]

Just curious - do you have some software that kalibrated or changes the color/hue of the screen? 'cus I know that Color Picker is (usually) nor able to poke throught the altered colors...

[@zgralewski]

For screenshots - SHAREX (select area, file is saved, folder with file selected is open). For images FastStone Image Viewer (you hit F3 and mass resize, change format, add items and many many more all in seconds). I mostly use resize to 50% selected in FastStone.

[@mouradje9027]

Hi Leila, you are doing an amazing job here! keep up the good work. I was wondering if you can make a video on how to convert normal date to Julian date showing only 3 digits. for example, 12/12/2022 convert to 346. I have never seen anyone talking about this formula and I thought you are the best one to make video on this issue. best of luck always

[@yadavvml]

Thanks for the informative video Ms. Leila.. 🙂

[@kostaskolotouros4345]

Your videos are so professional! Well done!

[@alex626ification]

The always on top is a real game changer! Especially if you are using a touch screen applications.

[@susank6122]

Leila, You are the BOMB!!! If I could have an idol, you would be her! WOW!!!!!!! Clip and paste text from anywhere and rename multiple files in explorer are my favorite. And color picker, very useful for my job. WOWWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!

[@tifouraamina1761]

😃amazing, I'll install it for sure 😎 you're the best Leila 🤩🤗👏👏👏

[@justscrollthru84]

Hi Leila, hope you will feel better. I am about to buy your course, but I don’t have license to use excel for practice. Should I use google sheets as an alternative?

[@therisingsun4828]

Will be downloading this today!

[@hfftu]

Fantastic tools Thanks Leila 😊

[@kd5byb]

Awesome!!! Thanks!

[@ajchafa]

i cant like this video enough times! I've been using windows for years and i haven't discovered this thank you!

[@keion7938]

Really helpful!

[@vijayarjunwadkar]

Never knew these PowerToys! Thank you Leila for this quick tutorial to get started! 🙂I will use them now on.

[@GratefulThird]

I, too, had played with these years ago and dismissed them. This video has me excited. Thank you!

[@LeilaGharani]

I'm curious what will be your favorite.

[@CreatorOfWorlds]

Can you suggest a screen ruler more in terms of just working with two screens and support the need to have a ruler on screen like you would on a piece of paper?

[@ramprasad1211]

Hi, I would like to split the default browser to be used based on domain name, let's say all my company internal sites I want to use Microsoft edge, but all others firefox/chrome. Is there a way I can do this?

[@AjayKumar-fd9mv]

Great video,thanks

[@nioxic77]

Text extractor is amazingly useful for programmers watching a video, or something, and want to grab a code snippet from there. It was a hyped feature for iOS a year or two ago... and its also in safari now, for the mac and my samsung phone can do it as well. always wanted it for my windows pc. thank you

[@roeko10]

Amazing! thank you

[@OhSoCheesy]

Wow it's really grown up since the old days. Thanks for reminding me of this!

[@LeilaGharani]

👍

[@theodorelapointe3624]

You made my life so easier, always on top was something i needed for a long time. Thank you very much

[@LeilaGharani]

Glad I could help!

[@TheBearDenPhotography]

Great timing on this post. I have a 89 page document I need to scan and enter into Google Sheets. Hopefully the Text Extractor does the job for me. Otherwise I have a ton of data entry ahead of me.

[@ReidThaler]

I tried the Always on Top with my screen capture program, FastStone Capture. I got the blue border to show but it doesn't stay on top. Is it possible it only work with Sticky Notes, which did work?

[@jameskern8339]

These are great tools! Thank you for a great presentation as well! Does anyone know of an app that will allow the tool bar to be moved from the bottom to the side in Windows 11? That one change has dramatically reduced my efficiency.

[@h.f.4095]

excellent video!!. I'm sold.

[@winters4960]

I used to download separate software to pin any window on top of another. After knowing powertoys some moons ago, it really have awesome features. My top feature is Always ontop and mouse utilities.

[@LeilaGharani]

👍

[@yousefhassan7365]

My life is getting easier with every video you upload thanks ❤