PowerToys: The Windows Feature Pack You Didn’t Know You Needed

Wait... What Even Is PowerToys?

It’s like a toolkit of mini superpowers for Windows. Think of it as a pack of quality-of-life upgrades that Microsoft didn’t include by default—but probably should’ve.

You don’t need to hack your registry or install shady apps from forums. Just open the Microsoft Store, type “PowerToys,” install, grant admin rights when asked, and boom—you’re in.

My Favorite Features (aka The Ones I Use Daily Without Realizing)

1. Text Extractor (Windows + Shift + T)

Ever tried to copy text from a pop-up, menu, or locked-down app and Windows just laughs at you?
Yeah, this fixes that. Hit the shortcut, draw a box, and it’ll OCR (read) the text and copy it for you. It’s not always perfect, but for grabbing that annoying error code or serial number, it’s a life-saver.

2. Mouse Highlighter (Double Ctrl)

Perfect for screen recordings or live demos. Double-tap Ctrl and your cursor gets a halo. You’ll feel like a wizard. And yeah, it disappears after a few seconds unless you want it to stick around.

3. FancyZones

Window snapping on steroids. Create custom layouts, assign zones, and drag apps into perfect alignment. Productivity nerds, rejoice.

4. PowerToys Run (Alt + Space)

If you’ve ever used Spotlight on macOS, this is the Windows version.
Open apps, search files, run commands, calculate stuff, or even do fuzzy matching like a boss. It's fast, sleek, and feels way better than digging through your start menu.

5. Paste as Plain Text

We’ve all been there—copying a nicely formatted sentence only for it to paste with a different font, color, and six layers of CSS rage.
With this, you can just paste clean text and move on with your life.

Hidden Windows Features While We’re At It...

PowerToys got me in the mood to explore more of Windows’ underrated stuff. So here are two bonus features already on your machine:

Clipboard History (Windows + V)

Windows actually remembers your last few copied items. You just have to turn it on. Press Win + V, and boom—clipboard history. Super handy if you’re copy-pasting like a maniac all day.

Snipping Tool (Windows + Shift + S)

Okay, maybe not a secret, but worth a shout. It’s a fast, clean way to grab screenshots, crop, and paste them directly with Ctrl + V. No need to open Paint like it’s 2003.

Final Thoughts

PowerToys is like discovering cheat codes for your desktop. And the best part? It’s free.
If you’re working in tech, coding, designing, writing documentation—or you just love not being annoyed by basic things—it’s worth installing. I wish I found it sooner.

Also, shoutout to Microsoft for finally giving Windows users something that feels... kinda premium? Wild.