9ee025f2a7
## Summary of the Pull Request `PowerToysPathResolver.GetPowerToysInstallPath()` now resolves the PowerToys installation directory from the **running executable''s own location** first, and only falls back to the registry when the caller is not running from within the PowerToys install tree. Previously the resolver always went through the registry (the `powertoys` protocol registration) for release builds. For the common callers — module executables that ship in the PowerToys install folder (Settings deep links from Color Picker, FancyZones, Image Resizer, Workspaces, etc.) — the install directory is simply the folder the binary was loaded from, so reading it from the running process is more direct and does not depend on the registry registration being present or up to date. The registry path is retained as a fallback for callers that legitimately run **outside** the install tree — notably the packaged Command Palette extension host (MSIX, deployed under `WindowsApps`), which has no other way to locate a separately-installed PowerToys to launch `WinUI3Apps\PowerToys.Peek.UI.exe`. ## PR Checklist - [ ] Closes: #xxx - [x] **Communication:** discussed with core contributors - [ ] **Tests:** Added/updated and all pass - [x] **Localization:** No end-user-facing strings changed - [x] **Dev docs:** Not applicable - [x] **New binaries:** None added ## Detailed Description of the Pull Request / Additional comments `GetPowerToysInstallPath()` (release path) now: 1. Resolves from the current process location first via the existing `GetPathFromCurrentProcess()` helper. This works for both per-user and per-machine installs and for any caller that runs from inside the install tree. 2. Falls back to the registry only when step 1 yields nothing — i.e. for the packaged Command Palette extension host that runs from `WindowsApps`. The per-machine (HKLM) registration is consulted for any process running with administrator rights, since the per-user (HKCU) registration is only meaningful for the interactive user. The change reuses existing helpers (`GetPathFromCurrentProcess`, `GetPathFromRegistry`) and adds no new public API, dependencies, or binaries. Debug-build behavior is unchanged. ## Validation Steps Performed - Built `ManagedCommon` (Release) — compiles clean, 0 warnings / 0 errors. - Verified the three callers of `GetPowerToysInstallPath()`: - In-tree module callers (Settings deep links, Workspaces) resolve via the running executable location. - The packaged Command Palette Indexer (`PeekFileCommand`) still resolves via the registry fallback, since it runs from `WindowsApps` and PowerToys is installed separately. --------- Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Boliang Zhang (from Dev Box) <bozhang@microsoft.com> Copilot-Session: 41b6b39b-b620-4e02-b7ca-8ae470a9c1e2
Microsoft PowerToys
Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of utilities that help you customize Windows and streamline everyday tasks.
Installation · Documentation · Blog · Release notes
🔨 Utilities
PowerToys includes over 30 utilities to help you customize and optimize your Windows experience:
Advanced Paste
Always on Top
Awake
Color Picker
Command Not Found
Command Palette
Crop And Lock
Environment Variables
FancyZones
File Explorer Add-ons
File Locksmith
Grab And Move
Hosts File Editor
Image Resizer
Keyboard Manager
Light Switch
Mouse Utilities
Mouse Without Borders
New+
Peek
PowerDisplay
PowerRename
PowerToys Run
Quick Accent
Registry Preview
Screen Ruler
Shortcut Guide
Text Extractor
Workspaces
ZoomIt📦 Installation
For detailed installation instructions and system requirements, visit the installation docs.
But to get started quickly, choose one of the installation methods below:
Download the .exe file from GitHub
Go to the PowerToys GitHub releases, scroll down and select Assets to reveal the installation files, and choose the one that matches your architecture and install scope. For most devices, that would be x64 per-user.
Microsoft Store
You can easily install PowerToys from the Microsoft Store:
WinGet
Download PowerToys from [WinGet](https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli#installing-the-client). Updating PowerToys via winget will respect the current PowerToys installation scope. To install PowerToys, run the following command from the command line / PowerShell:
- User scope installer (default)
winget install Microsoft.PowerToys -s winget
- Machine-wide scope installer
winget install --scope machine Microsoft.PowerToys -s winget
Other methods
There are [community driven install methods](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/powertoys/install#community-driven-install-tools) such as Chocolatey and Scoop. If these are your preferred install solutions, you can find the install instructions there.
✨ What's new?
To see what's new, check out the release notes.
🛣️ Roadmap
We are planning some nice new features and improvements for the next releases – a brand-new Shortcut Guide experience, ensuring it's easier to find and install Command Palette extensions and so much more! Stay tuned for v0.100!
❤️ PowerToys Community
The PowerToys team is extremely grateful to have the support of an amazing active community. The work you do is incredibly important. PowerToys wouldn't be nearly what it is today without your help filing bugs, updating documentation, guiding the design, or writing features. We want to say thank you and take time to recognize your work. Your contributions and feedback improve PowerToys month after month!
Contributing
This project welcomes contributions of all types. Besides coding features / bug fixes, other ways to assist include spec writing, design, documentation, and finding bugs. We are excited to work with the power user community to build a set of tools for helping you get the most out of Windows. We ask that before you start work on a feature that you would like to contribute, please read our Contributor's Guide. We would be happy to work with you to figure out the best approach, provide guidance and mentorship throughout feature development, and help avoid any wasted or duplicate effort. Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you grant us the rights to use your contribution and that you have permission to do so. For guidance on developing for PowerToys, please read the developer docs for a detailed breakdown. This includes how to setup your computer to compile.
Code of conduct
This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct.
Privacy statement
The application logs basic diagnostic data (telemetry). For more privacy information and what we collect, see our PowerToys Data and Privacy documentation.