Windows 11 is one of my favorite versions of Windows ever, and it brought with it many improvements. Design was a big focus, and Windows 11 does indeed look beautiful, but there are also productivity improvements like Snap Layouts, and more recently, tabs for File Explorer and Notepad. But while Windows has always been great for productivity, it's not perfect, and that's where PowerToys comes in.

Long-time Windows users probably remember PowerToys as a set of tools aimed at power users that dates all way back to the late 90s. Many of them greatly increased the speed of specific common tasks that many users complete regularly. PowerToys was dormant for a long time, but in 2019, Microsoft rebooted the concept with new tools and community-backed development. This meant that not only was Microsoft creating new tools, but users were creating and helping to refine these tools, too, bringing even more value to the table. The PowerToys we have today is far more capable than the version released in 2019, and it keeps expanding.

Today, there are nearly 20 tools built into the software. While they're all useful in some way, there are a few that stand out for one reason or another. I use many of these tools frequently, and they make life so much easier. Some of these ought to be built right into Windows itself, but for now, let's take a closer look at what I'd consider the best PowerToys features.

1. FancyZones

FancyZones skyrocketed to the top of this list because I've started using an ultrawide monitor. But anyone with a high-end monitor or a complex multi-monitor setup could really benefit from using FancyZones. In fact, it's one of my personal most wanted features for Windows 12.

You can think of FancyZones like Snap Layouts on lots of steroids. It gives you a handful of preset layouts that you can use to re-organize the windows on your screen, splitting the screen in the way that's most convenient to you. But the real power of FancyZones is in its customizability. You can create and edit your own layouts with as many zones as you want. So if you want to have six apps (or even more) on screen at once, you can do that, and you can keep them all organized easily. My most common use (seen above) is actually very simplistic, but you can go so much further.

More than that, FancyZones makes it extremely easy to slot apps into the layout. Simply hold Shift on your keyboard while dragging a window, and as soon as it's inside the zone you want, you can release it, so it's properly resized. No need to drag windows to the edge of the screen and move them around to put them in the right place like with Snap Layouts. You can even switch between FancyZones layouts with keyboard shortcuts to help you adapt to the changes.

FancyZones is such a huge upgrade over the traditional window management in Windows 11 that I can't fathom why it shouldn't just be built into the OS.

2. Image Resizer

Tell me if this sounds familiar — you're about to send someone a picture or upload an ID photo on a website, and you're hit with a message saying the image is too large. It may not be as common these days, but file size or resolution limitations are still a problem in many cases, such as when using WordPress. If you're resizing one or two images, the Windows 11 Photos app can do the job, but if you have a lot of pictures that need to be smaller, the PowerToys Image Resizer is a lifesaver.

It's not a complicated feature, but it makes resizing images super convenient. Simply use File Explorer, right-click on the images you want to resize, and click Resize images. You can choose from a few preset maximum sizes or set a custom size. You can even create your own presets in the PowerToys settings, so you can quickly compress images to the specific dimensions you need for a given situation.

On top of that, the PowerToys Image Resizer lets you strip unnecessary metadata from the image, choose whether you want to overwrite the original images or create copies, and more. You can even set the level of compression, change the target format, and modify the naming scheme for resized images in PowerToys settings. It's something you might not need all the time, but there's a good chance you've had the need to resize images in the past, and PowerToys makes that so much easier.

3. Mouse utilities (Find My Mouse)

I'm not sure if this is a common problem for a lot of people, but when you have multiple monitors or a large screen, it can sometimes be easy to lose track of your cursor. Many times I'll find myself shaking the mouse all over the place to see if I can spot it, and that usually works. For when that doesn't work, the mouse utilities in PowerToys come in handy.

One utility is Find My Mouse, which is the best for addressing the problem above. Simply press Ctrl (left) key on your keyboard twice, and your entire screen will turn darker, except for a small circle around your mouse cursor, so you can easily spot it. You can also make it so that this highlight appears when you shake the mouse as I just described. Once you move the mouse again, the highlight fades away.

You can also highlight mouse clicks, and there's even a mouse jump feature, which shows you a miniaturized version of your displays and lets your mouse cursor jump to where you want it to go without having to move it across the entire screen.

It's not necessary for everyone, but if you've ever lost track of where your mouse is, PowerToys' mouse utilities are very welcome.

4. Text extractor

Have you ever been looking at a picture or a scanned document and wished you could copy the text from it without typing it out by hand? PowerToys' Text Extractor tool, which is a fairly recent addition, lets you do just that. Just install the optical character recognition pack for the language you want to copy (it should be installed by default if it's your primary Windows language), and Text Extractor will let you select any area with text on the screen, even if that text isn't normally selectable, and let you copy it to your clipboard for future pasting.

This all happens automatically, so you can't really see the results of your text extraction until you try pasting somewhere, but it's certainly very useful. For example, if you have a long page of text that you want to search in, that text can't be searched if it's an image. But paste it into a Word document, and it becomes a lot easier to find what you're looking for.

5. Always on Top

Like most PowerToys utilities, Always on Top may not be something you think you need until you hit a specific situation. Say you have an app that you want to keep visible on the screen at all times. Some apps do have "always on top" options built-in, but many don't, and this PowerToys add-on is a great fix for that. Simply open the app you want to stay on top, press the keyboard shortcut (Windows + Ctrl + T is the default), and that app will stay on top of all the others. You can repeat it for multiple apps, too. When you're done, press the keyboard shortcut again to return the apps to normal.

It's a simple tool but very useful, especially if you have an app like a calculator that doesn't let you keep it always on top by default, or something like Notepad or Sticky Notes. You may also be able to use it for some video apps if you want to keep a movie or video on the screen while you do something else.

There are a lot more in PowerToys

I highlighted five of my favorite PowerToys features here, but the truth is, a ton of these tools can be super useful depending on what you need. PowerRename is really useful if you want to change the name of multiple files to follow a specific format, for example. I've also had some use for the Awake tool, which keeps your computer awake for a set period of time when you activate it. I've found it useful for some video and calling apps that sometimes fail to keep the computer awake when they should.

PowerToys Run is also a great launcher for any app on your system. It's easier than the built-in Run dialog in Windows since you don't need to know the exact name or path of the file you want to run, just the user-friendly name. It's also more responsive and accurate than Windows Search, so it's actually a great replacement if you want to quickly open apps using just your keyboard. All of these features are useful in different ways and for different people, so don't take these highlights as a definitive list of the best tools in the suite. There's a lot that's worth checking out here.

If any of these features have convinced you to download PowerToys, you can find it on the Microsoft Store or GitHub. And you can even contribute to the project yourself if you have an idea that can increase productivity for users. PowerToys is legitimately one of the more exciting Microsoft projects right now, and it's constantly growing in scope. Even if you don't think you're a power user, give it a shot, and you're bound to find something you like.