Microsoft PowerToys 0.102 Released: New Mouse Utilities, Command Palette Upgrades, and CLI Automation

Microsoft’s popular suite of productivity tools for Windows, PowerToys, is back with a massive update. PowerToys version 0.102 lands with a host of powerhouse additions designed to streamline workflows, enhance accessibility, and supercharge automation. From brand-new mouse helpers and an upgraded Command Palette to terminal automation features and modernized UI components, this release packs plenty for power users.

For broader context on past releases and updates, you can check out Microsoft PowerToys coverage on WinCentral.

Let’s break down everything new, improved, and refined in PowerToys 0.102.

 Smarter Navigation: Mouse Button Lock and CursorHide

Managing precise mouse actions and reducing screen distractions just got a whole lot easier with two brand-new mouse utilities.

• Mouse Button Lock: Tired of holding down a mouse button during extensive drags, selections, or gaming sessions? This utility lets you press and hold a mouse button for a moment and then release it. Windows will continue treating the button as held down until you click any other button. It’s a game-changer for accessibility and pro workflows alike (PR #49279).

• CursorHide: Say goodbye to stray mouse cursors blocking your text. CursorHide automatically hides your mouse pointer while you type, after a set period of inactivity, or both—bringing it back instantly the moment you move your mouse (PR #50271).

Command Palette Gets a Quick-Access Shelf and Advanced Fuzzy Search

The Command Palette continues to evolve into an essential productivity hub, receiving a major update geared toward speed and keyboard-first navigation.

• Quick-Access Shelf in Compact Mode: You can now keep your favorite commands just one keystroke away. Enable the quick-access shelf in Settings > Appearance > Compact mode to display pinned items right below the search box when collapsed. Use Alt+1 through Alt+9 to launch items instantly, or Alt+Shift+number to select without running them.

• Fuzzy Settings Search: Quickly find options, extensions, commands, aliases, and assigned shortcuts with deep fuzzy search that takes you straight to your target.

• Keyboard-First Dock & Copilot Integration: Jump straight to the dock using Win+Alt+J to navigate items completely from the keyboard. You can also assign the Command Palette as your Copilot key app in Windows Settings.

• Multiple Clocks & UI Polish: Pin multiple dock clocks with distinct time zones, enjoy sharper app icons, and experience faster grid and gallery browsing.

ZoomIt Adds Snip Dictation

The screen-zooming and annotation tool ZoomIt has gained a clever new trick: Snip with dictation.

By turning on this feature in ZoomIt settings, you can press the Spacebar while dragging out a screen snip to describe what you are capturing. Using on-device speech transcription, a single paste operation will deliver both the screenshot and your transcribed text. This update also introduces smooth zoom transitions and improved audio pacing for recordings.

 New Command-Line Tools for Full Automation

PowerToys 0.102 brings unprecedented scriptability directly to the terminal, letting users automate core utilities without needing the graphical user interface:

• Advanced Paste: Run built-in and custom actions directly via files, stdin/stdout, or clipboard.

• Light Switch: Check theme status, toggle themes, and manage automated schedules with clean JSON output.

• Settings & Peek: Check which utilities are active and toggle them on or off even when the main PowerToys app isn’t running, or preview multiple files and folders directly from the command line.

• PowerDisplay & Global Path Access: Utilize JSON Lines output for script consumption and run commands for FancyZones, Image Resizer, File Locksmith, and PowerDisplay from any terminal folder.

Keyboard Manager: Tap-Alone Remaps and Advanced Editing

Keyboard customization becomes even more flexible with Keyboard Manager:

• Tap-Alone Remaps: Map a key to perform a completely different action when tapped by itself, while letting it function normally within complex shortcuts and mouse combinations.

• Easier Bulk Editing: Manage large remapping lists effortlessly using search filters, modifier/app filters, and bulk deletion.

• Searchable Key Picker: Easily pick media keys or keys your keyboard doesn’t physically possess using a searchable key visual picker. IT admins can also deploy and export remapping profiles using DSC v3.

Other Notable Enhancements

• WinUI 3 Migrations: Both Color Picker and Text Extractor have been modernized to WinUI 3, bringing a fresh overlay, editor, and magnifier for Color Picker while preserving existing user shortcuts and settings.

• FancyZones Layout Switching: Simply scroll your mouse wheel while dragging a window to cycle through available layouts on the fly.

• Peek Improvements: Added read-only SQLite previews, folder scanning progress with file/subfolder counts, plain-text fallbacks, and quick Alt+Left/Alt+Right navigation between files.

• Environment Variables: Features a new “Remove duplicates” action to clean up the system PATH cleanly while preserving original order.

• Awake Enhancement: Windows can now successfully turn off the display while your PC remains locked, without terminating your keep-awake session.

Get the Update

Whether you are looking to automate workflows with new CLI tools, secure cleaner text entry with CursorHide, or speed up navigation with the Command Palette’s quick shelf, PowerToys 0.102 has something for every Windows power user.

You can grab the update right now by opening your PowerToys app, checking for updates, or downloading it directly from the official GitHub release page.