PowerToys 0.102 is here with two new mouse tools and a smarter Command Palette

• PowerToys 0.102 adds Mouse Button Lock and refreshes CursorHide to improve mouse control.
• Command Palette gains a quick-access shelf for pinned commands, keyboard shortcuts, and other search improvements.
• ZoomIt can transcribe spoken descriptions locally while capturing screenshots.
• Keyboard Manager, command-line tools, Color Picker, Text Extractor, and several other utilities receive improvements.

Microsoft released PowerToys version 0.102.2933.0 for Windows 11 (and Windows 10), adding two new mouse utilities, faster access to favorite commands, and several improvements across its toolset.

The update also expands command-line support for automation, adds speech dictation to ZoomIt, and makes keyboard remapping easier. Other changes include a refreshed interface for Color Picker and Text Extractor, new Peek features, and several bug fixes.

Mouse Button Lock and CursorHide add new mouse features

PowerToys 0.102 introduces two new mouse utilities designed to make everyday tasks easier.

Mouse Button Lock lets you keep a mouse button pressed without physically holding it down. Briefly press and hold a button to activate the feature, then release it to keep dragging or selecting. The button remains active until you click another mouse button. This helps with applications that require extended dragging or selection, games, or when holding a button for long periods is difficult.

CursorHide automatically hides the mouse pointer while you type, after a period of inactivity, or both. You can move the mouse to make the pointer visible again.

Command Palette gets a quick-access shelf

PowerToys adds a quick-access shelf to Command Palette’s Compact mode, letting you pin frequently used commands below the search box. You can launch pinned items using “Alt+1” through “Alt+9” or select one without running it using the “Alt + Shift + number” shortcut. You can also drag items to reorder them, right-click for additional actions, and display recent commands and applications.

The update includes several other Command Palette improvements.

• Settings search: Find settings, extensions, commands, aliases, and assigned shortcuts using fuzzy search.
• Keyboard navigation: Use the “Windows key + Alt + J” shortcut to focus the dock and navigate its items using the keyboard.
• Copilot key support: Assign the Command Palette to the Copilot key in Settings, then press the key again to toggle it.
• Multiple clocks: Pin several clocks with individual time zones and display formats.
• Language and links: Choose the application language and copy links that open pages, run commands, or navigate to specific settings.
• Interface improvements: Get sharper application icons, faster grid and gallery browsing, better loading at the end of result lists, and clearer nested menus.

PowerToys expands command-line tools and automation

The release adds command-line capabilities to several utilities, making it easier to automate tasks and manage features without opening their graphical interfaces.

• Advanced Paste: Run built-in and custom actions using files, standard input and output, or the clipboard. AI actions follow your configured providers and policies.
• Light Switch: Check status, change or toggle the theme, and manage schedules with JSON output.
• Settings: Check which utilities are enabled and turn them on or off, even when PowerToys isn’t running.
• Peek: Preview multiple files and folders from the command line.
• PowerDisplay: Uses JSON Lines output to make results and errors easier to process in scripts.

The FancyZones, Image Resizer, File Locksmith, and PowerDisplay commands can also run from any terminal directory without requiring users to navigate to their installation folders.

ZoomIt adds dictation to screenshot capture

ZoomIt can now capture spoken descriptions alongside screenshots. Enable Snip with dictation in the settings, then press the “Space” key while dragging to select an area and describe what you’re capturing.

ZoomIt transcribes the speech on your device, allowing you to paste the screenshot and its accompanying text together. Dictation uses the microphone selected under Record.

The update also introduces smoother zoom transitions, improves audio pacing in recordings, and fixes an issue that caused silent recordings on devices using multichannel or spatial audio.

Keyboard Manager improves key remapping

Keyboard Manager now supports tap-alone remaps, letting a key trigger a different action when pressed alone while still working normally in shortcuts and mouse combinations.

The updated editor makes large remapping lists easier to manage with search, modifier and application filters, and bulk deletion. A searchable key picker lets you select any key, including media keys and keys not physically available on your keyboard, and build shortcuts with the mouse.

Recording now listens only while the editor is in focus, and the Tab key moves focus out of the recording field. Network administrators can also deploy and export remapping profiles through DSC v3.

Other changes

PowerToys 0.102 includes several additional improvements across its utilities.

• Color Picker and Text Extractor: Both utilities move to WinUI 3. Color Picker also receives a new overlay, editor, and magnifier, while existing shortcuts and settings carry over.
• FancyZones: Scroll the mouse wheel while dragging a window to switch layouts, with an optional indicator showing the selected layout’s name.
• Peek: Adds read-only SQLite previews, file and subfolder counts with scanning progress, a plain-text fallback, and Alt+Left and Alt+Right navigation between files.
• Screen Ruler: Measures in device-independent pixels to account for monitor scaling and improves edge detection.
• Environment Variables: Adds a Remove duplicates action to clean up PATH entries while preserving their original order.
• Quick Accent: Adds a searchable character reference in Settings, allowing users to browse language sets and copy characters.
• Grab and Move: Lets users exclude specific applications so they retain their normal modifier-key behavior.
• Shortcut Guide: Adds shortcuts for Claude Desktop and Ableton Live and improves handling of malformed manifests.
• Workspaces: Requests confirmation before launching an unverified application configured to run as administrator.
• Awake: Allows Windows to turn off the display while the PC is locked without ending the keep-awake session.
• New+: Fixes a File Explorer memory leak and improves long-path handling.
• Settings: Adds an animated welcome scene, fixes a memory leak when switching pages, and preserves utility enablement preferences when a utility fails to load.

Download PowerToys 0.102

PowerToys version 0.102.2933.0 is available from the project’s official GitHub release page. You can download the installer for your processor architecture, with options for per-user or machine-wide installation.