How to install and use Microsoft PowerToys on your Windows 10 PC

If you are a power user, chances are high that you use a computer in a little different way from everyday users. Power users know how exactly a computer should be used so that a lot of work can be boiled down to simpler tasks with the sole intention to boost productivity. If you are on Windows, there are a number of ways to boost your productivity and streamline your everyday workflow. If you are on Windows 10 however, you should know about the Microsoft PowerToys, which is a set of additional tools that can help you boost your productivity and is a must for every user. 

Even if you do not consider yourself to be a power user, and you use your computer for normal tasks, the Microsoft PowerToys can still be helpful for you in a number of ways as it comes with easy to use tools for all types of users out there. Microsoft PowerToys was initially released for windows 95 and even though the official version of PowerToys is no longer available, you can still download Microsoft PowerToys with a set of handy tools from GitHub. After you download Microsoft PowerToys on your computer you can discover a number of new ways to carry out your everyday activities in the simplest way. Even if you are using multiple programs for a number of different tasks, Microsoft PowerToys is the one that you should definitely have installed on your computer.

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Downloading, installing and using Microsoft PowerToys

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So, without any further delay, let’s get started with how you can download Microsoft PowerToys on your computer and use the tools available within it.

Step 1: Download Microsoft Power Toys MSI installer.

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Just click on the following link to go to the page where you can download Microsoft PowerToys on your computer.  Click on the MSI link of this tool on the Github page and it will start automatically downloading of Microsoft Power Toys MSI installer.

Step 2: Run PowerToys from Windows 10 system tray

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After you have downloaded PowerToys, install the program in the same way you install other Windows programs. After the installation is complete, you can find Microsoft PowerToys running in the Windows system tray. Just double-click on the icon to open it and explore the options available.

Step 3: Enable FacyZones & other tools

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Now, just enable FancyZones, PowerRename, and Shortcut Guide, the three tools available with PowerToys, if they are not enabled by default.

FancyZones Settings

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FancyZones is one of the best modules available with PowerToys that can essentially create multiple zones on your desktop to align multiple windows and eventually streamline your workflow. This can be useful, obviously if you have a big monitor, and you don’t need to open every single window maximized. Just click on the FancyZones tab, and enable or modify the options that you find important.

After that, when you are dragging a window, just use the ‘Shift’ button, and you can assign the selected window to any of the available zones.

Here is how the window alignment will look like zones aligned to 3 columns.

You can also use the ‘Windows  + `’ shortcut key to configure the zones.

Microsoft PowerToys- PowerRename Settings

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With the PowerRename function, you can rename files in bulk, and replace certain characters in the filenames with some new characters, enumerate them, and apply some other criteria to rename files. PowerRename isn’t the best tool to rename files on your Windows computer as it doesn’t have all the necessary features, but it can still be useful to certain users nevertheless.

To use the PowerRename feature, select all the files that you want to rename, right-click on the selection, and click on ‘PowerRename’.

Hence, just choose the way you want to rename the files. PowerRename is basically all about renaming files by replacing characters within the filenames with additionally number them one by one.

Shortcut Guide Settings

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The last option available within PowerToys is a Shortcut Guide that will show you a list of shortcuts that you can use on your Windows computer in combination with the Windows key. 

Just long-press the Windows key to find a list of handy shortcuts that can be used in combination with the key. You can also change the opacity of the shortcuts display, and configure the delay of the long-press of the Windows key before the shortcut keys are displayed.

Here is how it will look.

So PowerToys add some cool improvements to your computer running Windows 10, and you can also tweak a few settings on your Windows computer.

So, that was all about how you install and use the PowerToys on your Windows computer. Do you have anything to say? Feel free to comment on the same below.

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