Microsoft PowerToys is a free, official Microsoft utility that adds five tools I use daily on every Windows install: PowerToys Run (Alt+Space launcher), Always On Top (Win+Ctrl+T window pinning), FancyZones (custom window layouts with Shift+drag), Color Picker (Win+Shift+C for HEX/RGB/HSL), and Text Extractor (Win+Shift+T OCR from anywhere on screen). Install it from the Microsoft Store or the GitHub releases.
Applies to: PowerToys on Windows 10 (22H2) and Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2, 25H2) | Last updated: April 17, 2026
Key Takeaways
- PowerToys is free and officially maintained by Microsoft — no shady third-party optimizers. Install once from the Microsoft Store and every module updates automatically.
- PowerToys Run (Alt+Space) replaces Windows Search for launching apps — it is faster, runs arithmetic, can convert units, and accepts plugins. Closest Windows equivalent to macOS Spotlight.
- FancyZones fills the gap Windows 11 Snap Layouts leaves — arbitrary grid shapes, multi-monitor profiles, and Shift+drag snapping that actually remembers what goes where.
- Text Extractor (Win+Shift+T) does OCR on any region of the screen — copy text out of screenshots, video stills, PDFs with image-based text, or any non-selectable UI.
- Every module can be disabled individually from PowerToys Settings — you pay no overhead for tools you do not use.
Quick Steps to Install PowerToys
- Open the Microsoft Store page for PowerToys (or grab the MSI from the GitHub releases).
- Click Install. The PowerToys runner starts automatically after install.
- Open PowerToys Settings from the system tray icon.
- Enable the five modules below in the left sidebar. Everything else can be turned off if you prefer a lean install.
- Start using the default shortcuts: Alt+Space, Win+Ctrl+T, Shift+drag, Win+Shift+C, Win+Shift+T.
Why PowerToys Is Worth Installing
PowerToys is the rare case where a Microsoft utility adds genuinely useful behaviour without bloat or telemetry games. It is open source on GitHub, ships through the Microsoft Store for automatic updates, and every module is written as a standalone feature you can toggle off. After ten years of fixing Windows installs in my repair shop, this is the first thing I install on any fresh machine — before Chrome, before Steam, often before Winhance.
The five modules below are the ones I actually use every day. If you want an even larger set of free utilities alongside PowerToys, see 12 free Windows utilities every user should know or the longer 22 free Windows utilities roundup.
1. PowerToys Run — Launch Anything with Alt+Space
PowerToys Run is a quick-launch prompt that opens with Alt+Space. It searches installed apps, files (including the Start menu), browser bookmarks, running processes, and control panel entries — all from a single indexed field. Windows Search is the obvious comparison; PowerToys Run is faster, shows results instantly, and does not drag in Bing web results.
Beyond launching apps, the built-in plugins cover a lot of small daily tasks:
- Calculator — type
10 + 10orsqrt(256); press Enter to copy the result. - Unit converter — type
100 F to Cor5 km to miles. - Running-process killer — prefix with
<to see running processes, Enter to terminate. - URL handler — type any URL, Enter opens it in your default browser.
If the default Alt+Space clashes with an existing shortcut, change it under PowerToys Run → Activation shortcut. Coming from macOS, this is the closest Windows equivalent to Spotlight — and on Linux, to Albert or Rofi.
2. Always On Top — Pin a Window with Win+Ctrl+T
Always On Top pins the active window above every other window on the desktop. Press Win+Ctrl+T to toggle — a coloured border appears to confirm the pin, and a chime plays (which you can mute in settings).
Where this matters in practice: reference docs during writing, a calculator while filling a form, Task Manager while troubleshooting a background process, a video call while presenting slides, and — my favourite — a picture-in-picture browser window for YouTube while working on another screen. It replaces a dozen third-party utilities that tried to do the same thing poorly on Windows 10.
3. FancyZones — Custom Window Layouts with Shift+Drag
FancyZones adds arbitrary grid layouts on top of Windows 11’s Snap feature. Instead of four or five Microsoft-decided shapes, you draw your own: three unequal columns, an L-shape around a focus area, separate zones per monitor, whatever fits your screen and workflow.
- Open PowerToys → FancyZones and click Launch layout editor (default shortcut:
Win+Shift+`). - Pick a template (Columns, Grid, Priority Grid) or click Create new layout to draw custom zones pixel by pixel.
- To drop a window into a zone, grab the title bar and hold Shift (or middle-mouse-drag) — the zones light up, drop the window into one.
- (Optional) In settings, enable Override Windows Snap so Win+Arrow also snaps into FancyZones.
On ultrawide and multi-monitor setups FancyZones is the single biggest productivity upgrade PowerToys provides — arranging six to eight windows stops being a manual puzzle.
4. Color Picker — Grab Any Colour with Win+Shift+C
Color Picker is a screen-wide eyedropper. Press Win+Shift+C, hover over any pixel on any display, and click — the HEX, RGB, and HSL values are captured and copied straight to the clipboard. A history pane keeps the last colours you grabbed for quick reuse.
In the settings you can:
- Toggle which colour formats are copied and in what order (HEX is the default).
- Enable or disable the editor view, which lets you fine-tune the sampled colour before copying.
- Rebind the activation shortcut if Win+Shift+C collides with another app.
If you work on thumbnails, UI mockups, or Windhawk theming, this single feature replaces the dedicated colour-picker apps I used to recommend.
5. Text Extractor — OCR From Anywhere with Win+Shift+T
Text Extractor runs Windows’ built-in OCR engine on any region of the screen. Press Win+Shift+T, draw a box around the text you want, and the recognized text is copied to the clipboard. It works on screenshots, video stills, scanned PDFs without a text layer, error dialogs that block selection, and anywhere else text is an image instead of characters.
The OCR engine is the same one Microsoft uses internally, and accuracy on English text is excellent down to small font sizes. Additional OCR languages can be installed through Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language — once a language pack is present, PowerToys Text Extractor picks it up automatically.
Other PowerToys Modules Worth Enabling
- Awake — keeps the PC from sleeping on demand. Useful during long downloads, file transfers, or render jobs where the default power plan would suspend.
- Image Resizer — right-click any image in File Explorer, choose Resize with Image Resizer, pick a preset or custom size. Originals are kept, resized copies saved alongside.
- PowerRename — regex-powered batch rename from the right-click menu. Renaming 200 screenshots into
2026-04-{n}.pnggoes from painful to a one-liner. - Keyboard Manager — remap individual keys or whole shortcuts without editing the registry. Perfect for fixing a broken key on a laptop keyboard.
For a tour of other Windows utilities that pair well with PowerToys, see Wintoys for system tweaks, Windhawk for deeper UI customisation, and UniGetUI for package-manager-style software installs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is PowerToys safe and free?
Yes. PowerToys is open source on GitHub, signed by Microsoft, and distributed through the Microsoft Store — so every update arrives through the same channel your other Store apps use. There is no paid tier, no telemetry beyond what you opt into, and no bundled third-party software.
Does PowerToys work on Windows 10?
Yes. PowerToys supports Windows 10 22H2 (the final Windows 10 release) and every mainstream Windows 11 build. Microsoft has confirmed continued Windows 10 support for PowerToys even after the Windows 10 end-of-support date.
Can I disable individual PowerToys modules?
Yes — every module has its own toggle in PowerToys Settings. A disabled module uses zero resources. If you only want Text Extractor and FancyZones, turn everything else off and PowerToys behaves as a two-feature app.
How do I change a PowerToys shortcut that clashes with another app?
Each module has an activation shortcut field at the top of its settings page. Click it, press the new key combination, and PowerToys updates immediately. Alt+Space for PowerToys Run is the one most people change first because it collides with the legacy “move/resize” menu.
Which PowerToys module should beginners try first?
PowerToys Run (Alt+Space) gives the biggest immediate quality-of-life upgrade — it replaces Windows Search for everything except web lookups. After that, FancyZones is the one you will not be able to live without once you have built a custom layout for your monitor setup.
