Two new reasons to download the Essential Toolkit for Windows

Essential Microsoft software updates, always to improve productivity on Windows. While the previous versions mainly contained improvements to the existing tools, PowerToys 0.68.0 adds two new games for its users.

Windows Toybox just got better! On Wednesday, March 1, the PowerToys software developed by Microsoft and designed to improve user productivity was updated to version 0.68.0.

Another beta version that does not contain improvements to existing tools and bug fixes. Two new tools are dedicated to improving copy-paste and multi-monitor use.

Copy and paste without leaving a trace

The first game added to this version:Paste as plain textTranslated byPaste as plain textIt’s all in the name, since once activated in PowerToys, this option lets you keep only text content you copy from a site or document. Even text marked in bold underlined 27-point serif font, pasting this snippet into an email message will display text only.

If modern web browsers already integrate this option via the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V, “Paste as plain textIt promises to apply to all of your programs, as well as to allow users to choose their own key combination. The default is Ctrl + Win + V.

Mouse jumps between screens

Second new tool:Mouse jumporMouse jumpAdded in the Mouse Utilities section, this feature allows you to quickly move the cursor over large distances.

Once activated, you can use the Win + Shift + D keys to bring up a window with a minimized version of all your screens. Clicking anywhere in this window will teleport the cursor there. Convenient in everyday life if you are using a very large screen or multiple screens.

Basic game box

Details of these two new functions and all of the fixes and improvements that are included in this update are listed on the page PowerWiz GitHub. As we remember, this collection of productivity tools has now been open source since 2019, after its first use in Windows 95 and XP.

This new version brought a tool for easily locating the mouse cursor on the screen, an omniscient search bar similar to the macOS Spotlight model, and most recently, the ability to type certain characters (such as É and Ç dear to French) without looking for them in the character table.

PowerToys 0.68.0 is available on Windows 10 and 11, both in the desktop version and in the Microsoft Store software app.

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