If it feels as though it has been a while since PowerToys received an update, that’s because it has been a number of weeks. But now this changes. Microsoft has launched PowerToys v0.92.0 as part of a release cycle that focuses on new features, stability, optimization improvements, and automation.
Every PowerToys release causes fans of the utility suite to ask whether any new modules have been added. This time around there are no completely new utilities to play with, but there a so many modules that have gained new features and improvements that it’s hard to remain disappointed for long.
Things kick off with a welcome addition for the suite as a whole – a simple toggle to show or hide the PowerToys system tray icon. It is something that, on paper, seems like a minor change, but it’s a significant improvement for many people.
So many of the various modules that makes up PowerToys have received updates that it’s hard to know quite where to start. But one of the most recent addition to the utility collection, Command Palette, has been given a lot of attention this time around.
Most of the updates to this particular module are fixes or improvements to existing features, but there is also a new “Copy Path” command in App search results. In addition to a slew of problems being addressed, developers have also started to lay the groundwork to prepare the Command Palette for future Ahead-of-Time (AOT) publishing which will lead to dramatic performance improvements.
Color Picker has been improved with the option to choose different actions for different mouse buttons. The Registry Preview tool now has an Extended data preview option which can be used to explore REG_BINARY, REG_EXPAND_SZ, and REG_MULTI_SZ types, while Peek has been improved with codec detection and automatic linking to download missing codecs.
Other modules that have received attention include PowerToys Run, Mouse Without Borders, FanzyZones, and Crop & Lock.
The front-of-house changes will be seen by PowerToys users, but there a lot happening in the background as well. Microsoft highlights numerous developmental improvements:
- Updated .NET libraries to 9.0.6 for performance and security.
- Updated WinAppSDK to 1.7.2 for better stability and Windows support.
- Introduced a one-step local build script that generates a signed installer, enhancing developer productivity.
- Generated portable PDBs so cross-platform debuggers can read symbol files, improving debugging experience in VSCode and other tools.
- Simplified WinGet configuration files by using the Microsoft.Windows.Settings module to enable Developer Mode.
- Adjusted build scripts for the latest Az.Accounts module to keep CI green.
- Streamlined release pipeline by removing hard-coded telemetry version numbers, and unified Command Palette versioning with Windows Terminal’s versioning method for consistent updates.
- Enhanced the build validation step to show detailed differences between NOTICE.md and actual package dependencies and versions.
- Improved spell-checking accuracy across the repo.
- Upgraded CI to TouchdownBuild v5 for faster pipelines.
- Added context comments to Resources.resw to help translators.
- Expanded fuzz testing coverage to include FancyZones.
- Integrated all unit tests into the CI pipeline, increasing from ~3,000 to ~5,000 tests.
- Enabled daily UI test automation on the main branch, now covering over 370 UI tests for end-to-end validation.
- Newly added unit tests for WorkspacesLib to improve reliability and maintainability.
PowerToys v0.92 is available to download here, but you can also use the Check for updates button within the General section of your currently installed version to update seamlessly.
