Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of small utilities that enhance and streamline the use of Windows. Many PowerToys utilities rely on keyboard shortcuts: you first assign your preferred shortcut to a utility, and after that you can access a specific function quickly, for example during teaching sessions.
What do I need?
You can install PowerToys on your computer through the Company Portal. You can find the self‑service software installation portal by opening the Start menu and typing company portal or yritysportaali in the search field.
Read more on the intranet about installing software available to Tampere Universities: Software installation self-service
What do I need to do?
Below you will find an introduction to useful PowerToys tools and ways to use them.
The most useful tools for teaching
ZoomIt
Draw on the screen on top of any application. For example, you can temporarily highlight specific parts of a web page you have open. ZoomIt also includes other functions such as a timer and screen zoom.
Mouse Utilities / Mouse Highlighter
Use a shortcut to make the mouse pointer more visible as a “laser pointer” (Circle highlight) or highlight the pointer location with a “spotlight”. This helps you direct viewers’ attention to a specific part of the screen.
Mouse Utilities / Find My Mouse
Momentarily highlight the mouse pointer location with a spotlight. This is helpful when you need to quickly draw attention to a precise area on your screen.
Always On Top
Pin any application to stay visible on top of other windows. For instance, you can keep a calculator or another tool you frequently need in teaching constantly available.
Additional tips for personal use
Advanced Paste
Set Paste as plain text directly to the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V, and you can paste unformatted text even in applications that do not support this shortcut or use another one, such as Microsoft Office. Advanced Paste also includes several other enhancements for copying and pasting content.
FancyZones
Especially useful for users with large monitors. Divide your display into custom zones so that applications automatically resize to fit the designated area. For example, you can create a fixed-size zone for the application you share in Teams or Zoom, ensuring that text and elements remain readable to meeting participants even if you join from a laptop.
Image Resizer
Define preset image sizes and then quickly resize images directly in File Explorer. Right-click an image or multiple images and select Resize with Image Resizer.
Color Picker
Capture the colour code of any colour visible on your screen. This is particularly useful for graphic work where precise colour selection is important.
What should I take into account?
The PowerToys collection is actively developed and entirely new utilities are released regularly. You can view the latest features by selecting What’s new at the bottom left of the application.
Read more:
Microsoft PowerToys – Windows Utilities for Power Users | Microsoft Learn