Important software updates from Microsoft, always to improve productivity on Windows. While previous versions mainly contained improvements to existing tools, PowerToys 0.68.0 adds two new toys for its users.
PowerToys version 0.68.0 adds two new tools to the Windows Toybox. // Source: Microsoft
Windows Toy Box just got better! On Wednesday, March 1st, the PowerToys software developed by Microsoft to improve user productivity was updated to version 0.68.0.
Another beta release that doesn’t stop with improvements to existing tools and bug fixes. Two new utilities are introduced to improve copy and paste and multi-screen use.
Copy and paste without leaving any traces
First toy added to this version: “Paste as Plain Text”, translated as “Paste as Plain Text”. The name says it all because once this option is enabled in PowerToys, you can only keep the content of the text you copy from a website or document. Even if the selected text is bold underlined in a 27pt serif font, pasting this snippet into an email will only show the text.
Source: Frandroid
If modern web browsers already integrate this option via the Ctrl + Shift + V keyboard shortcut, “Paste as plain text” promises to apply it to all your software and give users the additional ability to choose their keyboard shortcut. Default is Ctrl+Win+V.
Mouse jump between screens
Second new tool: “Mouse Jump”, or “Mouse Jump”. Added in the Mouse Utilities section, this feature allows you to quickly move your cursor over long distances.
Once activated, you can use the Win + Shift + D keys to open a window with a thumbnail copy of all your screens. If you click anywhere in this window, your cursor will be teleported there. Handy for everyday use when using a very large screen or multiple monitors.
An indispensable toy box
Details on these two new features and all the fixes and improvements included in this update are listed on the PowerToys GitHub page. As we recall, after a first life on Windows 95 and XP, this suite of productivity tools has been open source since 2019.
Notably, this new version brought a tool to easily locate the mouse cursor on the screen, an omniscient search bar modeled after the macOS Spotlight model, and more recently, the ability to type specific characters (like É and Ç, which are very close to the French language hearts lie ) without looking for them in the character map.
PowerToys 0.68.0 is available on Windows 10 and 11 in both desktop version and Microsoft Store software application.
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