A major copy-and-paste overhaul is on the way for some Windows users, which might give them a big sigh of relief.
The company announced that it will bring the “paste in plain text” option to Windows 11 and Windows 10 apps with PowerToys, giving users of the open-source platform a much smoother experience when copying information.
Previously, PowerToys users were slightly bothered by the lack of a full paste feature, which would allow users to simply copy the text as is, without retaining any formatting such as size, color or other differences.
Copy and Paste PowerToys
The update was discovered in a Github post (opens in a new tab)where the responsible developers explained how the feature, triggered by the familiar Ctrl + Win + V keys (although users can modify and create their own custom shortcut), will work in any application where PowerToys is running.
“This is heavily based on the work done for the ‘Text Extractor’ module, then removes anything that may be unnecessary. The same KeyboardMonitor is implemented and used,” the developers said.
“The interesting logic really falls inside the KeyboardMonitor as this is where the clipboard is opened/read/modified and then a ctrl+v input sequence is injected.”
There’s no news on when the Paste as Plain Text tool will start rolling out, but given how many PowerToys users have been asking for it, the launch may well start soon.
PowerToys is an open-source tool suite for advanced Windows users, designed to help bypass certain settings and perform actions that aren’t available by default. It also offers a wider range of customization options.
Since its relaunch in 2019, Microsoft has regularly provided PowerToys with new tools and features, an extended model with the latest release.
Another PowerToys update earlier in 2022 also included several useful additions, including an “Always on Top” utility that allows users to toggle a highlighted window to be on top by quickly pressing Win + Ctrl + T Microsoft also changed the hotkey to disable your webcam and microphone from Win+N to Win+Shift+Q to avoid conflict with an existing Windows 11 hotkey.
The latest version of PowerToys is available through the Microsoft Store (opens in a new tab) and the GitHub page (opens in a new tab).
Via: Neowin (opens in a new tab)
