--- title: Windows PowerToys is my new favorite tool date: "2024-12-25T04:07:17Z" lastmod: "2024-12-25T04:09:08Z" categories: - links - tools wp_id: 3773 description: "Windows PowerToys has become a daily-use productivity suite because a handful of small utilities like OCR, advanced paste, crop-and-lock, and cross-device control eliminate constant micro-friction." keywords: [PowerToys, Windows tools, productivity, OCR, advanced paste, desktop workflow] --- ![Windows PowerToys is my new favorite tool](/blog/assets/powertoys.webp) [Windows PowerToys](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/) is one of the first tools I [install](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/install) on a new machine. I use it so much every day that I need to share how I use it. I've been using it for a long time now, but the pace at which **good** features have been added, it's edged out most other tools and is #4 in terms of most used tools on my machine, with only the browser ([Brave](https://brave.com/), currently), the editor ([Cursor](https://cursor.com/), currently), and [Everything](https://www.voidtools.com/) are ahead.) These are the toolsI use the most: - [Text Extractor (🪟+Shift+T)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/text-extractor) is a **brilliant** feature that copies **screenshots as text** (OCR)! I use it when someone's screen-sharing presentations, to extract text from diagram images, or when I'm just too lazy to select text. - [Advanced Paste (🪟+Shift+V)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/advanced-paste) is another **brilliant** feature that **pastes text as Markdown**. Now it also supports converting the clipboard to HTML, JSON, or **any other format** (using an OpenAI API key). - [Crop and Lock (🪟+Ctrl+Shift+T)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/crop-and-lock) is another **brilliant** feature that **clones a portion of the screen** in a new window. Very useful for keeping an eye on progress, reading notes, taking notes, etc. - [Mouse without Borders](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/mouse-without-borders) is another **brilliant** feature that **controls PCs** by just moving your mouse across, with your keyboard, clipboard and files! - [Color Picker (🪟+Shift+I)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/color-picker) helps me find the exact color of a pixel from an image, quickly. - [Always on Top (🪟+Ctrl+T)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/always-on-top) is another useful feature to keep a (small) window always on top of all other windows. - [Keyboard Manager](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/keyboard-manager) helped me a lot when my old laptop's keys started conking off. I could map one key to another. - [Hosts File Editor](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/hosts-file-editor). I find this a lot easier to use than manually editing `C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts`. - [File Locksmith](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/file-locksmith) tells you which process has locked a file. - [Mouse utilities](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/mouse-utilities) help you find and highlight the mouse pointer. Useful for screen-recording or sharing. Tools I don't use because I have alternatives: - [Run (Alt+Space)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/run) launches apps. But I use [Everything](https://www.voidtools.com/) since it opens documents too. - [Environment Variables](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/environment-variables) edits environment variables. But I use the Control Panel since my fingers are used to it. - [Image Resizer](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/image-resizer) quickly resizes images. But I use [Paint.NET](https://www.getpaint.net/) for the control it offers (WebP compression percentage, etc.)- - [PowerRename](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/powerrename) renames files. But I prefer bash scripts. Tools I don't use because I don't have a need: - [Awake](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/awake) disables sleep for long-running tasks. But that's my default setting anyway. - [Command Not Found](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/cmd-not-found) suggests a winget package for missing commands. But I don't use PowerShell. - [FancyZones](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/fancyzones) creates window layouts. But I find Windows' default window snapping enough. - [Workspaces](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/workspaces) creates pre-defined window layouts. But I find Windows' default window snapping enough. - [File Explorer Add-ons](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/file-explorer) preview SVG, MD, PDF, etc. But I don't use previews. - [Peek](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/peek) previews files. But I don't use previews. - [New+](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/newplus) creates files or folders from templates. But I use VS Code, mostly. - [Quick Accent](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/quick-accent) lets you type accented characters. But I usually don't type them. - [Registry Preview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/registry-preview) simplifies editing the registry. But I usually don't. - [Screen Ruler](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/screen-ruler) measures pixels on the screen. But I usually don't.