Files
PowerToys/doc/devdocs/modules
moooyo 18efa0559c Introduce new utility PowerDisplay to control your monitor settings (#42642)
<!-- Enter a brief description/summary of your PR here. What does it
fix/what does it change/how was it tested (even manually, if necessary)?
-->
## Summary of the Pull Request
Introduce a new PowerToys' module PowerDisplay to let user can control
their monitor settings without touching monitor's button.

Support feature list:
Common:
1. Profiles support
2. Integration with LightSwitch (auto switch profile when theme change)
3. TrayIcon
4. Save and restore settings when startup
5. Shortcut
6. Rotation
7. GPO support
8. Auto re-discovery monitor when plugging and unplugging monitors.
9. Identify Monitors
10. Quick profile switch

Especially for DDC/CI monitor:
1. Brightness
2. Contrast
3. Volume
4. Color temperature (preset profile)
5. Input source
6. Power State (poweroff)


Design doc:
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/yuleng/display/pr/3/doc/devdocs/modules/powerdisplay/design.md

AOT compatibility:
I designed this module for AOT from the start, so I'm pretty sure at
least 95% of it is AOT compatible. But unfortunately, PowerToys still
have a AOT blocker to block this module publish with AOT.

Currently PowerToys will check the .net file version (file version not
lib version) to avoid crash. So, all modules should reference Common.UI
or add UseWPF to avoid overwrite the .net file with different version
(which may cause crash).

Todo:
- [ ] BugBash
- [ ] Icon
- [ ] IdentifyWindow UI improvement


Demo

Main UI:
<img width="546" height="671" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b0ad9ac5-8000-4365-a192-ab8c2d66d4f1"
/>

Input Source:
<img width="536" height="674" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/80f9ccd7-4f8c-4201-b177-cc86c5bcc9e3"
/>


Settings UI:
<img width="1581" height="1191" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6a82e4bb-8f96-4f28-abf9-d7c45e1c8ef7"
/>

<img width="1525" height="1146" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/aae81e65-08fd-453a-bf52-02a74f2fdea0"
/>



Closes: 
#42942
#42678
#41117
#38109
#35564
#34932
#28500
#1052
#18149

<!-- Please review the items on the PR checklist before submitting-->
## PR Checklist

- [x] Closes: #1052
- [x] **Communication:** I've discussed this with core contributors
already. If the work hasn't been agreed, this work might be rejected
- [x] **Tests:** Added/updated and all pass
- [x] **Localization:** All end-user-facing strings can be localized
- [x] **Dev docs:** Added/updated
- [ ] **New binaries:** Added on the required places
- [ ] [JSON for
signing](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/main/.pipelines/ESRPSigning_core.json)
for new binaries
- [ ] [WXS for
installer](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/main/installer/PowerToysSetup/Product.wxs)
for new binaries and localization folder
- [ ] [YML for CI
pipeline](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/main/.pipelines/ci/templates/build-powertoys-steps.yml)
for new test projects
- [ ] [YML for signed
pipeline](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/blob/main/.pipelines/release.yml)
- [ ] **Documentation updated:** If checked, please file a pull request
on [our docs
repo](https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/windows-uwp/tree/docs/hub/powertoys)
and link it here: #xxx

<!-- Provide a more detailed description of the PR, other things fixed,
or any additional comments/features here -->
## Detailed Description of the Pull Request / Additional comments

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wherever possible, but list manual validation steps taken as well -->
## Validation Steps Performed

---------

Co-authored-by: Yu Leng <yuleng@microsoft.com>
Co-authored-by: Niels Laute <niels.laute@live.nl>
Co-authored-by: moooyo <lengyuchn@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Copilot <198982749+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-02-03 13:53:25 +08:00
..

PowerToys Modules

This section contains documentation for individual PowerToys modules, including their architecture, implementation details, and debugging tools.

Available Modules

Module Description
Advanced Paste Tool for enhanced clipboard pasting with formatting options
Always on Top Tool for pinning windows to stay on top of other windows
Awake Tool to keep your computer awake without modifying power settings
Color Picker Tool for selecting and managing colors from the screen
Command Not Found Tool suggesting package installations for missing commands
Crop and Lock Tool for cropping application windows into smaller windows or thumbnails
Environment Variables Tool for managing user and system environment variables
FancyZones (debugging tools) Window manager utility for custom window layouts
File Explorer add-ons Extensions for enhancing Windows File Explorer functionality
File Locksmith Tool for finding processes that lock files
Hosts File Editor Tool for managing the system hosts file
Image Resizer Tool for quickly resizing images within File Explorer
Keyboard Manager Tool for remapping keys and keyboard shortcuts
Mouse Utilities Collection of tools to enhance mouse and cursor functionality
Mouse Without Borders Tool for controlling multiple computers with a single mouse and keyboard
NewPlus Context menu extension for creating new files in File Explorer
Peek File preview utility for quick file content viewing
Power Rename Bulk file renaming tool with search and replace functionality
PowerToys Run (deprecation soon) Quick application launcher and search utility
Quick Accent Tool for quickly inserting accented characters and special symbols
Registry Preview Tool for visualizing and editing Registry files
Screen Ruler Tool for measuring pixel distances and color boundaries on screen
Shortcut Guide Tool for displaying Windows keyboard shortcuts when holding the Windows key
Text Extractor Tool for extracting text from images and screenshots
Workspaces Tool for saving and restoring window layouts for different projects
ZoomIt Screen zoom and annotation tool

Adding New Module Documentation

When adding documentation for a new module:

  1. Create a dedicated markdown file for the module (e.g., modulename.md)
  2. If the module has specialized debugging tools, consider creating a separate tools document (e.g., modulename-tools.md)
  3. Update this index with links to the new documentation
  4. Follow the existing documentation structure for consistency