Microsoft PowerToys gains screen ruler, text extractor, and quick accent tool in latest update

What you need to know

• The latest update to Microsoft PowerToys adds three new features, a screen ruler, a quick accent tool, and a text extractor.
• The update also adds a plugin that lets you search in past query results.
• You can grab the latest version of PowerToys now through the Microsoft Store or GitHub.

Microsoft PowerToys just received an update to version 0.62.0. The update adds a screen ruler, a quick accent tool, and a text extractor to the program. The latest version of the app also includes a plugin that lets you search in past query results.

With the Screen Ruler, users can measure pixels on their screen. The Quick Accent tool lets you write letters with accents. The Text Extractor tool has an interface similar to that of the snipping tool, but instead of taking an image it pulls text from the selected region.

Here are the highlights of the update, as listed on GitHub:

• New utility: Screen Ruler is a quick and easy way to measure pixels on your screen.
• New utility: Quick Accent is an easy way to write letters with accents. Thanks @damienleroy!
• New utility: Text Extractor works like Snipping Tool, but copies the text out of the selected region using OCR and puts it on the clipboard. Thanks @TheJoeFin!
• PowerToy Run ships with a new Plugin letting you search in past query results. Thanks @jefflord!

Microsoft notes that the text extractor “fails to recognize text in some cases on ARM 64 devices running Windows 10.” The complete list of known issues is available on the GitHub page for the release of version 0.62.0.

As is normally the case, the update also includes a long list of bug fixes.