Microsoft PowerToys 0.97.0

What's new in this version:

Advanced Paste:
- Added hex color previews in clipboard history
- Added automatic placeholder endpoints when required fields are left empty
- Fixed a grammar issue in the AI settings description
- Fixed loading order so custom action hotkeys are read correctly
- Updated Advanced Paste descriptions to reflect support for online and local models
- Fixed clipboard history item selection so it doesn’t duplicate entries
- Prevented placeholder endpoints from being saved for providers that don’t need them
- Added image input support for AI transforms and improved clipboard change tracking

Awake:
- Fixed Awake CLI so help, errors, and logs appear correctly in the console

Command Palette:
- Fixed background image loading in BlurImageControl
- Fixed SDK packaging paths and added a CI SDK build stage.
- Aligned naming and spell-checking with .NET conventions
- Added drag-and-drop support for Command Palette items
- Added a PowerToys Command Palette extension to discover and launch PowerToys utilities.
- Fixed grid view bindings and layout issues
- Fixed a line-break issue in RDC extension toast messages
- Made the Settings button text localizable
- Hid the RDC fallback on the home page and fixed MSTSC working directory handling
- Optimized result list merging for better performance
- Added Small/Medium/Large detail sizes in the extensions API
- Hid fallback commands on the home page when no query is entered
- Added back navigation support in the Settings window
- Added a Command Palette solution filter
- Updated Extension SDK documentation links to Microsoft Learn
- Added a custom search engine URL setting for Web Search
- Added pinyin matching for Chinese input
- Bumped Command Palette version to 0.8.
- Removed subtitles from built-in top-level commands
- Refined separator styling in the details pane
- Added a built-in Remote Desktop extension.
- Added a Peek command to the Indexer extension.
- Improved default browser detection using the Windows Shell API
- Added Escape key behavior options
- Added theme and background customization options
- Improved WinGet package app matching
- Added an auto-return-home delay setting
- Added fallback ranking and global results settings.
- Removed the selection indicator in the context menu list
- Added a developer ribbon with build and log info
- Updated the “Learn more” string for Command Palette
- Added arrow-key navigation for grid views
- Fixed version display when running unpackaged
- Added a native debugging launch profile
- Reduced redundant property change notifications in the SDK
- Improved section readability and accessibility
- Made gallery spacing uniform
- Added sections and separators for list and grid pages

Crop & Lock:
- Added a screenshot mode that freezes a cropped region into its own window

Cursor Wrap:
- Improved Cursor Wrap behavior on multi-monitor setups by wrapping only at outer edges

FancyZones:
- Fixed editor overlay positioning on mixed-DPI multi-monitor setups
- Added a FancyZones CLI for command-line layout management

File Locksmith:
- Added a File Locksmith CLI for querying, waiting on, or killing file locks

Find My Mouse:
- Improved spotlight edge rendering for clearer Find My Mouse visuals
- Added telemetry to track how Find My Mouse is triggered

Image Resizer:
- Fixed Fill mode cropping when Shrink Only is enabled
- Added a dedicated Image Resizer CLI for scripted resizing

Light Switch:
- Added telemetry events for Light Switch usage and settings changes
- Added a Follow Night Light mode to sync theme changes with Night Light
- Clarified LightSwitchService and LightSwitchStateManager roles in docs
- Added a Quick Access dashboard button to toggle Light Switch quickly
- Ensured Light Switch honors GPO policy states with clear status messaging

Mouse Without Borders:
- Continued refactoring Mouse Without Borders by splitting the large Common class into focused components
- Completed the Common class refactor with Core and IPC helper extraction

Peek:
- Hardened Peek previews with strict resource filtering and safer external link warnings.
- Improved SVG preview compatibility by rendering via WebView2.

PowerRename:
- Added HEIF/AVIF EXIF metadata extraction and extension status guidance for related previews.
- Fixed undefined behavior in file time handling
- Optimized memory allocation for depth-based rename processing
- Fixed Unicode normalization and non‑breaking space matching
- Fixed date token replacements followed by capital letters

PowerToys Run Plugins:
- Fixed a plugin name typo and added Project Launcher to the third‑party list
- Added the Open With Antigravity plugin to the third‑party list

PowerToys Run:
- Avoided unnecessary hotkey conflict checks when settings change.
- Added QuickAI to the third-party PowerToys Run plugin list

Quick Accent:
- Added localized quotation marks to Quick Accent
- Fixed duplicate and redundant characters in Quick Accent sets
- Fixed DPI positioning issues for Quick Accent on mixed-DPI setups

Settings:
- Added a new tray icon that adapts to theme changes
- Centralized module enable/disable logic for cleaner Settings UI updates
- Simplified Settings utilities by removing ISettingsUtils/ISettingsPath interfaces
- Improved Settings UI consistency and disabled-state visuals
- Added semantic headings to the Dashboard for better accessibility
- Introduced Quick Access as a standalone host with updated Settings integration
- Fixed Dashboard toggle flicker and sort menu checkmarks
- Added Native AOT-compatible settings serialization
- Standardized mouse tool description text
- Added a global SettingsUtils singleton to reduce repeated initialization

Development:
- Fixed broken devdocs links to the coding style guide
- Migrated main and installer solutions to .slnx for improved build tooling
- Restored local installer builds after the WiX v5 upgrade with signing and versioning fixes
- Added incremental review tooling and structured AI prompts for PR/issue reviews
- Documented bot commands and cleaned up devdocs structure
- Updated WinAppSDK pipeline defaults to 1.8 and fixed restore handling
- Updated the COMMUNITY list to reflect current roles
- Maintained community member ordering and added a new entry
- Re-enabled centralized PackageReference for native projects with VS auto-restore
- Disabled MSBuild caching by default in CI to avoid build instability
- Updated the latest WinAppSDK daily pipeline for split-dependency restores
- Suppressed experimental build warnings and aligned WrapPanel stretch handling
- Reordered the spell-check expect list for consistent automation
- Migrated native projects to centralized PackageReference management
- Cleaned spell-check dictionary entries and capitalization
- Synced commit/PR prompts and wired VS Code to repo prompt files
- Added VS Code build tasks and improved build script path handling
- Updated Windows App SDK package versions in central package management
- Migrated cmdpal extension native project to PackageReference and fixed outputs
- Reverted PackageReference changes back to packages.config where needed
- Bypassed a release version check for a failing DLL to keep pipelines green
- Consolidated Copilot instructions and fixed prompt frontmatter
- Added signing entries for new Quick Access binaries and CLI version metadata
- Fixed install scope detection to avoid mixed per-user/per-machine installs
- Added a Module Loader tool to quickly test PowerToys modules without full builds
- Added update telemetry to understand auto-update checks and downloads
- Updated the telemetry package for new compliance requirements
- Documented missing telemetry events in DATA_AND_PRIVACY
- Fixed UI test pipeline restores for .slnx solutions
- Added UI automation coverage for Advanced Paste clipboard history flows
- Stabilized FancyZones UI tests with more reliable selectors and screen recordings