PowerToys gets a Windows 11 makeover

PowerToys

Microsoft is here with another update for PowerToys, its opensource collection of tools designed to improve the usage experience on its modern operating systems.

Although the popular utility has its roots in Windows 95, it was Windows 10 where it was born again.

The rebirth has continued with Windows 11, where the developers have been busy at work not only adding new features to PowerToys, but also giving it a makeover that is more in line with the latest version of the OS.

To that end, version 0.49.1 is now available.

And this release primarily centers around modernizing the user interface of PowerRename, while also adding a welcome new mouse utility. Also, notably, the Video Conference Mute feature has been merged into the stable releases of the toolkit.

Getting back to PowerRename, as the name gives away, this utility lets you rename documents and pictures comfortably. It also helps you correct mistakes you may have made when previously naming files.

With this version, Microsoft has introduced a new Windows 11 inspired design for renaming files.

Thanks to this new design, the renaming dialog is now simpler and easy to use.

PowerToys has also added a new feature that goes by the name of Find My Mouse. This little utility lets you quickly locate the cursor on your display, or multiple displays even, simply via a double press of the left Ctrl key on your keyboard.

Pressing it will darken your screen and highlight the position of the cursor. The spotlight can be dismissed by either moving the cursor or hitting the Esc key.

This feature is particularly helpful for devices with ultrawide monitor setup, or screens that have 4K or even high resolutions.

Developers claim that the Find My Mouse functionality in PowerToys offers a much better experience than the existing implementation in Windows 10 and Windows 11 to locate a mouse. A night and day difference, they add.

Those of you who would like to try PowerToys can do so by grabbing the installer of this version from the GitHub page of the app.

Download: PowerToys 0.49.1