This Microsoft Add-On Is the Ultimate Windows 11 [and Windows 10] Customization Tool

Microsoft's own PowerToys utility can help you unlock the full potential of the Windows desktop.

There's no shortage of utilities to tweak, customize, and modify Windows, but one of the best utilities is made by Microsoft itself. PowerToys is a free and powerful customization tool for Windows 11, and well worth installing if you want to see what's possible beyond the default settings and layouts of Microsoft's operating system.

From window management to image resizing, there's a lot to explore. Here I'll introduce you to some of the best features PowerToys brings with it, giving you enough of an introduction that you feel able to play around with it yourself. It's grown to include so many different tools, most people are going to find something of use here.

Once you've downloaded and installed the utility, you'll be met with a dashboard where you can browse through the various modules available and customize them as needed.

FancyZones

Specify zones for your windows.

Courtesy of David Nield

FancyZones can bring some order to an unruly desktop. It lets you set specific layouts on screen for your windows to drop into, and these layouts can be saved for later use too, so you can switch between different configurations as needed.

Choose Launch layout editor from FancyZones settings and you're able to pick between different layouts for windows on the screen. You can stack windows in columns, for example, or have them in rows on top of each other, or keep them stacked in one corner of the screen. It's particularly handy for widescreen monitors, or when using multiple displays.

With FancyZones enabled and your preferred layout selected, just hold Shift while dragging a program’s window to drop it into a zone, where it will snap into position. You can even tweak zone colors, and the margins between the zones.

Keyboard Manager

If you feel a little bit limited by the keyboard customization options you get with Windows, give Keyboard Manager a go. This PowerToys module lets you remap keys and key press combinations so they do something different than the defaults.

For example, maybe you never use the Scroll Lock key on your keyboard, and you want to set it up to minimize all the windows on screen when pressed. Shortcuts can be set up to only work in specific apps if you want, and you're also able to have certain keys produce specific blocks of text—handy if you're always typing out certain sentences and phrases.

Use the Remap a key and Remap a shortcut links in the Keyboard Manager settings pane to get the keyboard working the way you want it to. Note there are some system keys you won't be able to remap—Microsoft explains that here.

Crop and Lock

The best way to understand Crop And Lock is to see it in action, but if I were going to attempt a description, I'd say it works like an “always on top” mode for a video player—only instead of a video, you can lock anything, anywhere on screen.

Maybe you're waiting on a countdown to ticket sales for an event: With Crop And Lock, you can have the countdown part of the website visible in its own window, which always stays on top of everything else on the screen. There are lots of ways to use it.

The default shortcut for Crop and Lock is Win+Ctrl+Shift+T, though you can change it if you want to. Press this combination, then drag your mouse over the part of the screen you'd like to pin, and it pops up in a new window.

PowerToys Run

If you've used macOS as well as Windows, you'll know how useful the Spotlight search tool can be: A floating bar in the middle of the screen which helps you find files, search the web, and launch applications.

PowerToys Run brings something similar to Microsoft's operating system. Once it's enabled, you can launch it with the Alt+Space keyboard shortcut (you can change this if needed). Then, type whatever it is you're looking for into the box.

You can use the same box to run calculations, conversions, and system commands too. Use the settings available in PowerToys to change various aspects of the search box behavior, including how many search results you get at once.

Image Resizer

PowerToys can enhance Windows’ File Explorer in a variety of different ways, and Image Resizer is one of them. As the name suggests, it enables you to quickly resize images without having to open up a photo editor.

It's best used for processing batches of pictures that you need to get into a consistent size and shape (for publishing on the web, for example). In the settings for Image Resizer, you're able to specify the preset sizes you'd like to work with, and the file formats you want your images to end up in.

As long as Image Resizer is enabled, you'll see it when you right-click on a picture in File Explorer and choose Show more options. You can work with images one by one, or select a whole group of them and right-click to resize them all together.

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